Arrival into Fukuoka

Off to Fukuoka

They included a salad bar at the hotel buffet breakfast today. I descend on the broccoli, tomatoes and cabbage like a vulture.

We catch a cab to the train station and then onto the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Fukuoka.
The cabs are all impeccably clean and the drivers wear suits or uniforms and some also wear caps. Japan is one of the few countries we’ve travelled to where I don’t worry that the taxi driver is trying to rip you off.

It is overcast and hot today…going up to 27°. It is also supposed to rain later.

It’s about an hour’s ride to Fukuoka. Upon our arrival, we plan to store our bags in a locker and catch a train to our first site, Nanzoin Temple.

Nanzoin Temple

This temple is located about a half hour outside of the city.

John and I forget to store our luggage at the station before going through the ticket gates to get the local train from Fukuoka-Hakata to Nanzoin. The train station near the temple is small and doesn’t have luggage storage so we take turns visiting the temple while the other person waits at the station with the luggage.

Fortunately the temple is just a 4 minute walk from the station. I first cross Melody Bridge with which has xylophones built into it. There are xylophone sticks which you can play them. So whimsical and fun.

Nanzoin Temple is home to the world’s largest reclining, bronze Buddha. It weighs 300 tons and is 42 metres long and 11 metres high.

There is construction around the Buddha but you can still see it. The surrounding forest is filled with small shrines and various types of statues.

1. 
   
   Team Lab Forest

We catch the train back into Fukuoka and drop off our luggage at the hotel, grab some lunch and head to TeamLab Forest.

There are TeamLabs all over Japan and each one is different. It is hard to describe so this is how they explain it

“Team Lab is an international art collective, an interdisciplinary group of artists formed in 2001 in Tokyo, Japan. The group consists of artists, programmers, engineers, CG animators, mathematicians and architects who refer to themselves as “ultra-technologists”. TeamLab creates artworks using digital technology.”

It is like a virtual, interactive artsy playground. Closest way I can describe it is like the Immersive Van Gogh shows but a lot more interactive and physical. Click here for a short video.

Canal City and Ramen Stadium

We head back to the hotel for a quick breather. I am pooped. The steps to get out of the subway seem so long. Oh that’s because they are long.

Rested, we head to Canal City which is a huge eating, entertainment and shopping centre.

They have a artificial canal going through it.

Fukuoka has a special ramen dish called Hakata Ramen. So of course we have to have it. Canal City has a a whole floor of just ramen restaurants called Ramen Station so that’s where we go.

Supper is good but totally filling.

After supper we make our way to the Sound, Light and Fountain show at the canal. Unfortunately it’s closed for maintenance until October 31.

Street Restaurants

On the way back to the hotel, we pass numerous small (10-16 people), outdoor street food restaurants. Every single one of them is 100% filled with customers and has long lineups of people waiting to get seats.