Japan, Fukuoka Day 2 : from Kushida Shrine to Nakasu

Banyapon Poolsawas
Jul 27, 2017 · 5 min read

Our plan for day 2 was to go to Kushida Shrine, Yatai Street, Nakasu,the area is also the red light district. I woke up at 10:00AM, my friends wanted to go early there so they would have had time for something else in the city but since I didn’t want to wake up early.

To reach Kushida Shrine from Hakata Station, The journey from Hakata Station to Kushida Shrine is about 15 minutes. The nearest Kushida Shrine is Hakata Machiya Folk Museum, an interesting place. It is just next door to the Kushida Shrine, so you don’t need to go out of the way to get here.

Nakasu — Kushida Shrine — Canal City — Hakata

Kushida shrine is located in the center of city. This very ancient shrine is close to many hotels in Fukuoka. The Hakata Gion Yamakasa and Hakata Okunchi, the famous summer festivals in Hakata are centered on this shrine.

Kushida Shrine
Kushida Shrine

It goes without saying then that this shrine is beloved by the citizens of Fukuoka. Entrance is free and the shrine is open from 4 AM until 10 PM every day.

The Gion Yamakasa Festival features huge floats being raced through the streets.

Kushida Shrine had a 1000-year old gingko tree in the forecourt which rises majestically in front of the main hall.

The 1000-year old gingko tree?
Most activities in Kushida Shrine
Steps of paying respect and making wishes in Kushida Shrine

Steps of paying respect and making wishes in Kushida Shrine, first throw coin in the donate box, take a bow two times, clap you hands two times, bow agian one time and make wishes.

Starswar Big Fan!, Kawabata Shopping Arcade

Next destination was Kawabata Shopping Arcade. Kawabata Shopping Arcade is a nice area to visit to shop as well. It is very easy to reach it from Kushida Shrine, Reisen Park and Canal city, just cross a road then walk through a street. In addition to specialty shops and souvenir stores native to Hakata selling goods such as Hakata ningyo dolls, crafts, kimono suits, religious objects and lanterns, there are also dining establishments where you can get a taste of the local cuisine.

Lunch

Around 4 pm, we walked to the Canal City. It is a big shopping mall in Fukuoka city. It has a unique floor map, bridge connect to Kawabata, consists of 5 buildings which are connected to each other.

Game Arcade in Canal City
Game arcade center in canal city
Yoki Watch at YOrOz, Canal City

The buildings have brand name stores, local and western restaurants, games arcade center and cinema as well. In my opinion it just a mall, nothing special.

Moomin cafe is located on ground floor (B1).

Next destination was Nakasu. It is very easy to reach it from Canal city, just cross a road. We walked pass by to Yatai street and didn’t find anything we want LOL.

Street Foods on Yatai Street

We went to a Lawson near Sumiyoshi street because we have to wake up early for tomorrow, The Eighth International Conference on Swarm Intelligence (ICSI’2017) is waiting for us (not me, HaHa).

So we just walked back to our AirBNB apartment in Sumiyoshi and take a dinner and sleep.

Thank you for reading. Good night!

Banyapon Poolsawas

Written by

Lecturer at College of Creative Design and Entertainment Technoogy, Dhurakij Pundit University

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