Fukuoka, Japan
Rainy days in Fukuoka
Our impressions of Fukuoka
Chillest city in Japan: Situated southwest on the island of Kyushu near South Korea, Fukuoka is Japan’s sixth largest city. It carries the reputation of being Japan’s fastest growing city and a hub for Japanese start-up activity. Despite it’s size and growth, we found it to be very laid-back compared to other popular destinations in Japan like the bustling metropolis’s of Tokyo and Osaka that leave you with sensory overload. We thoroughly enjoyed walking around the city’s hip neighborhoods and never felt overwhelmed or rushed doing so. It is an under-appreciated destination for those visiting Japan and one we suspect will get more popular in years to come
Hakata food culture: One of the best parts of visiting Fukuoka is trying Hakata staple dishes from the source and experiencing Hakata food culture. We rejoiced in trying the rich and delicious Hakata-style tonkastu ramen and getting to experience the lively Yatai food stands at night (even with the rain!). Food alone is a reason to visit this amazing, laid-back city
Incessant rain but not our parade: A rarity on our travels, it rained relentlessly for most of our time in the city. Despite the incessant rain, we had a wonderful time walking around the city and found the pedestrian-friendly streets and sea of clear umbrellas (we were in awe of the consistency in umbrella choice here) to showcase the romantic side of the city
What we saw in Fukuoka
Fukuoka Art Museum: After a warm and comforting tomato-based ramen meal at Sanmi we set out on a long stroll through the relentless rain to Fukuoka Art Museum. By the time we arrived we were so drenched that the kind woman operating the ticket counter debated turning us away before handing us a plastic bag to house our sopping wet rain coats while we browsed the galleries. The museum itself is a beautiful reddish-brown brick and tile building resembling 70s architectural style (in a good way). We enjoyed visiting the various well-curated galleries inside, including one on surrealist art featuring works from Dali, Basquiat, Warhol, and various Japanese contemporary artists. We also found ourselves in a hilarious experience making stamps of our first initial in Japanese characters with a jolly old Japanese man who spoke no English in the citizen exhibit workshop area (it didn’t hamper his demonstration at all!)
Tenjin Chikagai: Tenjin Chikagai is an underground mall consisting of a network of brick avenues lined with shops and eateries. It was packed on the rainy day that we decided to descend and walk around each of the avenues (it is no surprise that an underground shopping mall is the perfect rainy day activity). It was also another reminder that brick and mortar retail is alive and well in Asia! We enjoyed our dry stroll down the avenues with architectural elements that interestingly resembled old European streets, stopping every now and then to try a Japanese sweet or browse the boutique shops
Exploring Daimyo, Tenjin, and Akasaka: We were lucky to be staying in the trendy Daimyo neighborhood. We spent much of our time in Fukuoka walking around Daimyo and admiring its vintage clothing stores and cozy restaurants. We also made an effort to walk wherever we went, exposing us to other bustling and interesting areas like Tenjin and Akasaka with its boutique home goods shops. Despite all of the trendy and boutiquey goods the only thing we ended up buying were new shoes from Montbell (we would soon find out this brand is ubiquitous in Japanese outerwear). The incessant rain had put the final nail in the coffin for the shoes that had carried us around the world for 9 months causing irreparable damage (and horrendous smells)
Where we ate and drank
Sanmi Tomato Ramen: we kicked off our Japan eats nearby our hotel at a ramen shop known for its unique tomato-based broth. We worked our way through the vending machine ordering system with the help of Google translate before cozying our rain-soaked bodies up at a table inside. The tomato-based broth accompanied by blanched greens and celery was tangy, spicy, and delicious. It was the perfect piping hot bowl of noodles to counteract the cool and rainy weather outside. The comic strips and shogun tomato mascot covering the walls also made for a fun and playful ambiance to slurp our noodles
Yatai: Yatai are glorified food stands unique to Fukuoka that set up each evening along certain stretches of the city. Yatai serve locals and tourists alike a quick and casual meal of Hakata staples like ramen, gyoza, and yakitori (skewers of meat, fish, and vegetables grilled over a live fire). They are one of the best features of Hakata eating culture. Despite the rain on the night we set out do some Yatai hopping, we found many of the stands opened for business with coverings over the dozen or so counter seats. We picked one that looked comfortably crowded run by a friendly husband wife team and grabbed two open seats at the counter. While none of the dishes were worth calling home about, it was a fun place to try some Hakata staples like mentaiko (pollack roe sacs cured with salt and chili), scallop yakitori, and Hakata ramen. The highlight for us was the social atmosphere – we found ourselves in conversation over large bottles of Asahi with the character of a man seated next to us, Mitso, who reminded us of Jessie’s NY uncle David. Dinner and a show!
Kamakiri: Still hungry after our Yatai experience and tired of walking around in the rain we decided to hop from Yatai’s to a proper indoor restaurant. We landed on Kamikiri, a small and cozy restaurant near our hotel known for their hand-made udon noodles. Jessie went with the shrimp tempura hot udon noodles and Doug with the Sudachi kake-style cold udon noodles (served in a cold citrus and yuzu broth). The noodles were fresh and chewy and the respective broths and accouterments delicious. We loudly and proudly slurped our noodles (the right way to do it in Japan) at the counter at what would become our favorite spot in Fukuoka
Shin Shin Ramen: We returned to Shin Shin a second time early in the afternoon after balking at the long line the first time around. Doug was determined to try what is widely touted as the best representation of Hakata-style ramen in Fukuoka (the dish’s birthplace), a dish characterized by its rich, milky tonkatsu broth made from pork bones and topped with braised pork belly. After waiting for an hour in the rain we were finally up to be seated at the counter inside. The dish lived up to its hype and its incredibly rich and flavorful broth was Doug’s ramen favorite during our time in Japan
Fukuoka Craft: Fukuoka Craft is a well-known Japanese craft brewery with a taproom situated up the street from our hotel in the trendy Daimyo neighborhood. We started one of our evenings posted up at one of the tables inside the small space sipping on son of juice-esque hazy IPAs (IYKYK) and snacking on chips and guacamole
Sushizanmai: Sushizanmai is a no-frills chain sushi restaurant known for serving up quality, yet affordable sushi (zanmai translates in Japanese to indulgence or luxury). It was our first sushi feast in Japan after a 4-year hiatus and the expectations were high after our incredible omakase experiences in Tokyo in 2019 that left us reminding everyone back home that “Sushi is just different in Japan”. We crafted our own omakase feast that included lean and fatty tuna, sweet shrimp, flounder tail, and uni. It was only $49 for 2 people and was some of the best nigiri we’ve had. We left feeling giddy at the sushi meal we just had and excited for those to come. Sushi is just different in Japan!
CocoICHI Curry House: We made one last stop at CocoICHI on our way out of Fukuoka for a pre-Shinkansen meal. We realized we had seen so many Japanese-style curry restaurants but had not yet given the dish a try in the US or Japan. CocoICHI is a popular casual curry chain with locations around Japan (and we would later learn, the world!). We stuffed our giant osprey bags in the belonging baskets under the counter and took our seats. You have the opportunity to customize your portion size, spice level, and toppings at CocoICHI. We both opted for slightly spicy with Jessie topping hers with spinach and Doug with pork katsu. It was a delicious and comforting meal that left us regretting we hadn’t indulged in Japanese-style curry sooner
Where we stayed
Lamp Light Books Hotel: Lamp Light Books Hotel was the type of place that was everything as advertised and then some. The first floor and lobby is a cute and trendy coffee shop lined with books for sale and frequented by both hotel guests and local creative types. The top floors featured new, comfortable, and simple but tastefully decorated rooms. They housed new and affordable coin laundry machines in a room tucked back by the ground floor elevators. The best part was its location in the middle of the trendy Daimyo neighborhood known for its narrow pedestrian-friendly streets lined with vintage clothing shops and cozy restaurants
