After Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo, and Hiroshima we made our way as far south as we could to go to Kyushu to get the best chance to see the cherry blossoms. In recent years there’s been a push to get more tourists to visit Kyushu to combat over-tourism in Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo. Overtourism comes with two big problems: congestion on the trains and the roads and misbehaving tourists. Wherever you travel, there are residents and locals who are living their lives, commuting and going to work and everyone’s competing for space on the train and it gets even worse when people are schlepping rolling behemoths of suitcases on the train (guilty!). Most tourists’ behaviour is acceptable, but people who treat other countries like playgrounds and acting the fool are why we can’t have nice things.
I definitely believe that visiting less touristy/more off the beaten path places is when you truly see and appreciate the country you’re visiting, like it’s the most authentic experience you can get. I really think you see the real England when you go to smaller towns and less visited cities. There are so many wonderful places outside of London! Similarly I feel like you see the real America when you visit small towns, or do a road trip.
For the most part I didn’t see a lot of western tourists in Fukuoka or Kumamoto (I did see a couple of Australians though), mostly Asian tourists since the Fukuoka Airport only has flights within Asia, no direct flights to Europe or America. The reason for this is a lot of westerners are sticking to the typical tourist route, also known as the Golden Route.
Sightseeing in Fukuoka
The shinkansen ride from Hiroshima to Fukuoka (Hakata Station) wasn’t very long so we arrived a bit early to check into our hotel. We left our bags in the bag storage area of the hotel and walked around the city in search for some cherry blossoms after eating some lunch and checking out the Pokemon Centre! Each Pokemon Centre has a different Pokemon statue so gotta catch em all!
We were desperate for any vegan food and it’s not as easy to find outside of the most touristy cities. Thankfully in the train station there’s a ekiben shop that has vegan bento boxes called Evah Dining Macrobiotic. Some have nine dishes with some rice, while others are just a main dish with some rice. Sometimes fed is best. The Hakta train station branch isn’t exclusively vegan, but they have a case full of vegan bento boxes. I managed to get a vegan bento box in Tokyo, but this was the first time that I saw vegan bento boxes explicitly labelled as vegan. Absolute lifesaver, this place! It’s before the ticket gate, so you don’t need a train ticket to buy from there.
One of the top spots recommended for viewing them in the city is in Maizuru Park, near the Fukuoka Castle Ruins. After walking around there, we walked around Ohori Park and to a shrine.
For dinner we went to Buguro All Vegan, which was right near our hotel. We went a second time for dinner after the baseball game. This is where I had one of my favourite desserts of the whole trip: it was a sakura milkshake that tasted as beautiful as it looked, really sweet and idk, like how the colour pink would taste! I also really liked the dan dan noodles. On the second visit, I also had sakura tea. The flowers taste a bit salty!
Day Trip: Kumamoto
Eoin and I decided to take one day trip and we decided on Kumamoto to see Kumamoto Castle. When we visited there some construction and maintenance being done and we were worried that it might be closed or have shortened hours and we were glad we decided to walk and check and it turns out that it was still open as usual.
Instead of bussing there from the train station, we decided to walk to get some steps in and save some money. On the way there, we went to a shrine and used the Google Translate app to translate the Japanese signs so we could understand the significance of all the things in the shrine.
We walked along the river and saw some cherry blossoms and then made our way to the shopping area. I look up and I see this eye-catching vintage store called Grapefruit Moon with beautiful looking clothes on display, not streetwear, but actual vintage clothes. I was worried the prices would be insane, but they were actually quite reasonable. In the window I saw this beautiful drop waist dress with a psychedelic print. Usually I don’t go for these styles anymore but I had to because the print of the fabric was so perfect. I asked the shop assistant if the dresses on display were for sale since some shops have limitations on it, but it was okay. I go into the changing room and try it on and I’m like this is perfect and like what, £25? You’d pay a lot more in London for this, that’s for sure!
After the vintage store, Eoin and I went to a vegetarian restaurant nearby called Ganjin Shokudou. We each ordered a dan dan noodles meal and a dumpling on the side.
Finally, we walked to the castle, saw the cherry blossoms and went to the castle. The cherry blossoms right in front of the castle were paid actors, making the photos look great! Inside the castle there’s an exhibition that goes through the history. Since it’s not as touristy as Osaka Castle, the information inside is all in Japanese and if you want to know what it says in English or your language, you’ll need to download an app or use Google Translate.
Honestly, I wish we’d stayed in Kumamoto instead since I felt it was more interesting than Fukuoka, but at the same time the train to Osaka would have been longer.
Baseball Game: SoftBank Hawks vs Nippon-Ham Fighters
This was a last-minute decision and we were lucky to get tickets. We were deciding between a day trip or a baseball game. Organised day trips didn’t seem worth the money for us and it’s tiring being on a bus. Baseball season in Japan had just begun and we loved going to the baseball game in Tokyo, so we wanted to catch a baseball game somewhere in Japan. Timing didn’t work out for us in Hiroshima, but it did work out in Fukuoka. A lot of people speak highly of the SoftBank Hawks, last year’s champions. The stadium, Mizuho PayPay Dome is really modern and it has a retractable roof so no need to worry about umbrellas and on a sunny day, no need to worry about sunscreen.
To save money, we walked to and from the stadium. This also came with the benefit of seeing more of Fukuoka. I find that you miss out on sights and cool things if you’re too dependant on the bus or train. If we’d taken public transport there, we wouldn’t have seen things like the Flower Festival and all its beautiful displays, the 80s looking shopping centre Canal City, and a Buddhist Temple Daienji with a beautiful pagoda.
For lunch, we went to a vegan cafe called Sonu Sonu. I ordered a soup, an açai bowl, and a maple latte. I highly recommend getting peanut butter with the açai bowl. Maybe it’s because I hadn’t had peanut butter in a couple of weeks, but it’s really the perfect combination with a smoothie bowl. When I got home, I made smoothies with peanut butter to bring back that food memory in a lazy way since I’m not good at cooking. We liked the food so much that we came back the following day for lunch. That time, I got an avocado veggie burger and the açai bowl, it was so good I had to have it as a dessert.
I definitely recommend coming to a baseball game in Japan and every stadium seems like is a different experience because each team has their own traditions and their own signature songs. But there are also similar things you’ll see at each stadium like cheerleaders, everyone getting up and chanting and cheering, and over the top announcements that feel like you’re in an anime. The energy is infectious and it’s a real experience! This was one of the first games of the season and there was a whole ceremony at the beginning with the championship ring. One of the freebies we got at the game was a replica ring and some baseball cards. Because we got our tickets through Tickets in Japan, we got a couple of drawstring storage bags with baseballs and bunnies on them.
Unlike the Yakult Swallows game, there weren’t two cheering sections that made up the whole stadium. Each team had a cheering section with people leading the cheers and playing brass instruments, but there were also mixed sections with fans of both teams sitting by each other. There was also a different tradition. Yakult Swallows fans are known for their umbrella dance. The SoftBank Hawks have a 7th inning tradition where fans blow up balloons and release them. Their theme song sounds like a cross between something I’d hear in a video game and some communist music. It’s a banger!
Fun fact, the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters are the team that Shohei Ohtani played for before the MLB. He played for the Fighters from 2013-2017. You really can’t go anywhere in Japan without seeing some Ohtani ad. Ohtani’s dog, Decoy, even has a Wikipedia page.
Nanzo-in Temple: The Largest Reclining Buddha Statue in the World + Ferry to an Island
One of the top recommendations for visitors to Fukuoka is visiting Nanzo-in Temple, which is just outside of the city and a short train ride from Hakata Station, about half an hour. Every year about one million people visit the temple, home to the world’s largest reclining buddha statute. There are people who come here on a pilgrimage so the rules seem to be stricter here compared to other temples we’ve visited. You’ll need to be mindful of what you’re wearing (make sure your shoulders, knees, and stomach are covered or bring a coverup if it’s hot) and mindful of your behaviour. There are a bunch of no photography signs in certain places, so be aware. It’s a big temple with a lot to see so it’s definitely worth the trip because it’s not just the Reclining Buddha and it’s not far from Fukuoka.
The train station had some beautiful cherry blossoms around it and there’s this bridge with a xylophone on it and you cross it to get to the temple and you can use one of the mallets there to play the song.
Afterwards, we went for lunch at Sonu Sonu and we took a ferry to Nokonoshima Island and walked around the island looking at the views of Fukuoka. Very peaceful and quiet. If you need a break from the city, a ferry to a small, quiet island is really nice!
Fingers crossed I’ll do a third Japan trip in a couple of years!
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