Fukuoka means homesick

Not literally, of course. Fukuoka, our first big city in Japan, can be translated to “fortunate hill”, even though there is no hill anywhere in the city. It was simply named as such by the Daimyō (the feudal lord back then) because he missed his hometown where he grew up. This is one of many things we learned while listening to our favourite Japan buff podcast and wandering around the city parks. Luckily, no feeling of homesickness in sight for us! Instead, some beautiful herons posing for us and trying to teach us the meaning of purity, patience and grace (which is what they symbolise in Japanese culture).

Arriving in our first Japanese city really challenged our rule of not shopping in order to avoid adding extra weight to our bags. We did pretty well for the past 20 days, but in the end, it was at the Nintendo Store at Hakata Station where we both faced our final bosses: the Zelda section for Steve and the Kirby aisles for Jess.

Strolling through shopping malls, though, allowed us to stumble upon some fun surprises. After seeing a swarm of very excited, dressed-up girls waiting for something, we decided to join and see what the fuss was all about. We were treated to an impromptu J-pop concert. Seeing as they were playing for free in a mall, there was some room for improvement in the singing department, but the dance moves were on point! Also, the hype around Gundam is something we still need to understand. Dozens of grown-up people running around model Gundam stores, trying to snatch the newest model and admiring life-size statues. If anyone knows a good way into that universe, let us know!

Apart from shopping, we spent our time as always strolling around and, of course, eating. Fukuoka being the birthplace of Ichiran, we had to make a stop at their flagship store and admire the daily dance show. The dance show was okay (it seems anything with a live event connection makes us a bit hard to please. We wonder why…), but what was more impressive was the number of people that showed up for the show and the crowd management done by the staff to make sure the sidewalks stayed usable during the show. Japanese organisation never seems to disappoint. Neither does the Ichiran ramen!

Our time in Fukuoka also overlapped with the Hojoya Festival, a yearly festival for cherishing all living things that sustain us in our daily lives. What we found was alleys worth of street food, haunted houses and classic fair games connecting the local shrine all the way to the sea. Seemingly almost the only foreigners there, it was a nice glimpse into real local life. Special shoutout to Lisa, a friendly local who we met up with and who was the reason we experienced the festival. Through her eyes, we learned even more things about what it means to live in Fukuoka.

On the last morning of our stay, we armed ourselves with our first bento boxes and made our way to our first JR Limited Express & Shinkansen train connection to bring us to our next destination. With only a three-minute changeover, we thought that they probably should have planned more time for these connections, and so the nerves were kicking in as we pulled into the station. However, Japanese organisation pulled through once again: as the Limited Express was a transfer train to connect to a standalone, somewhat isolated Shinkansen line (they haven’t fully built the rest yet), our train arrived on the platform across from a Shinkansen already waiting for us. A bit unusual, as Shinkansen lines and platforms are usually strictly separated from other trains (the system is fully isolated to avoid delays from other trains etc.), but nothing you would not see in other countries. What really drove it home was that the JR ticketing system booked both seats in both trains such that the changeover was a straight walk across the platform, with the respective cars lining up perfectly. Coincidence? Very unlikely! It’s the Japanese organisational train system at its best. Shame on us for ever doubting them!

Country

Japan

Region

Fukuoka

Date

18 September 2026

Camera

Sony a6700

GPS

33.59412,130.404434