The town of Arita in Saga, Kyushu is famous throughout the world for its pottery. Arita was the first place in Japan where porcelain was produced in the 1600’s and today the town still lives strong on its history and reputation of fine pottery.
Canal City Hakata
Canal City Hakata is a huge shopping, dining and entertainment complex in Fukuoka. With around 250 shops and restaurants, cinema, theater, hotels and a half hourly water and light show, Canal City truly is a city in the city, like they brand it. The enormous shopping mall that is Canal City Hakata was built in …
Suizenji Jojuen Park
Suizenji Jojuen is a beautiful Japanese landscape garden located in Kumamoto, Kyushu. The garden, which is modeled over the 53 post stations of the historic Tokaido road, has a miniature replica of Mount Fuji amongst its attractions.
Tenjin, Fukuoka
Tenjin is the downtown area of Fukuoka. It is well known for good shopping opportunities. With the presence of huge department stores and international fashion shops Tenjin has made Fukuoka the fashion capital of Kyushu. Fukuoka is the 6th largest city in Japan, but at 1.5M inhabitants it’s small enough that it has a single …
Nakasu, Fukuoka
Nakasu is the gritty, after-dark “amusement” district in Fukuoka. This red light district is packed with bars, restaurants and other forms of “entertainment” industry. Let it be said straight away: Nakasu is a gritty area. It does however have a lot of character, tons of good restaurants and some great back alleys. It is also …
Tocho-ji Temple, Fukuoka
Tocho-ji is a Shingon Buddhist temple located in Fukuoka. It is one of the major attractions within the city, and is a definite must-visit when in Fukuoka. In this post I will introduce you to a bit of the history of the place along with a walkthrough of some of the temples main attractions. Kukai, …
Review: The Life Hostel, Fukuoka
This is a hostel recommendation of The Life Hostel in Fukuoka and reflects my personal opinion about the facility. In March 2018 I went on an 8 day trip to Kyushu. I decided to have a base in Fukuoka and make day trips from there. Since I was traveling on a budget I booked a …
The Reclining Buddha at Nanzo-in
By far, the main attraction at Nanzo-in temple is the huge reclining Buddha statue. This is what attracts most people, and admittedly the statue was also what attracted me in the first place, though Nanzo-in has many other things to offer (see my post about Nanzo-in). The huge and impressive statue lays with a nice …
Nanzo-in Temple
Nanzo-in Temple near Fukuoka, Kyushu is best known for it’s gigantic reclining Buddha statue. The statue is said to be the largest bronze statue in the world. The temple itself does however have a very interesting history, which is worth telling. The history of Nanzo-in Temple Nanzo-in has a very interesting and unusual history compared …
Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine
Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine near Fukuoka is a beautiful and very popular Shinto shrine. The shrine, which is dedicated to the scholar and politician Michizane (Tenjin) who lived over a thousand years ago, is very popular amongst students as a place to pray for luck in studies. In this post I talk about my visit to …