Tourism in Fukuoka

– What kind of information tourists look up before their travel

This article is about the things tourists look up before they start their trip. To illustrate a tourist’s behavior I used Fukuoka, Japan, as the destination. Note, that this article focuses on things to do and places to go to. Tips on how to find an accommodation or similar are not displayed in this article. I hope this article helps tourists who are currently researching their own destination, tourists that want to come to Fukuoka as well as companies and organizations, which are involved in tourism, to optimize their displayed information.

Step 1: First impression

The first step is to simply type the name of the place into search engines like google and see what kind of results you get. Look at the first page of pictures as well as the first few headlines; with this you can get a glimpse of its atmosphere. In Fukuoka’s case pictures of
 night views of the Fukuoka Tower are common. The Fukuoka Tower is a landmark and with its mirror facade especially beautiful at night. Misplaced results like those related to the person Fukuoka, who is famous for his natural farming, are also obtained. So, do not trust every piece of information you get.
 Futhermore, this step includes to skim Wikipedia’s article. You will find out that Fukuoka is the largest city on Japans southern main island, Kyushu, and that is has been very important in the past as “the gate to the mainlands“. In this context mainlands describe Korea and China.

Step 2: Eye catching words

After your first impression search the keywords that caught your eye; as an example Shofuku-ji. This buddhistic temple is the oldest Zen temple in Japan. It was founded in 1195 by the priest Eisai with support from the Samurai Lord Minamoto no Yoritomo.
 Or your eyes could have been caught by a food’s name like Tonkotsu (pork bone) Ramen. Fukuoka is famous for a special variety of it called Hakata Ramen. Hakata is a former settlement of fishers and still exists today as a center of Fukuoka.

Of course every person notices different words, but it will very likely be one that is written more than once, easy to remember, but still unique.
 In conclusion one will in this step learn of some attractions and specialities of their travel destination. These should not be missed since they are the most famous attractions, which your people at home may have already heard of.

Step 3: Detailed research

As to ones own preference and destination the keywords during the detailed research are always different. Still, common keywords are local food (e.g. Hakata ramen), shopping (e.g. canal city), museums (e.g. Fukuoka Asian Art Museum), shrines/temples/churches (e.g. Shofuku-ji), castles (e.g. Karatsu) and ruins (e.g. Maizuru castle).

Surrounding towns with an attraction like Dazaifu or Karatsu are normally not looked up on their own. However, they are always welcomed by tourists on tourist attraction lists. Events/festivals and public holidays are also researched by tourists who prepare well. This is either done by collecting all festivals and than selecting the ones held during their travel-time or by typing one’s month of travel together with the keyword. In Fukuoka the Keiroo-no-hi (Respect-to-the- aged day) in September or the sumo national competition in November fall into this category.

This phase is the longest. It begins right after step 2 and basically marks the start of the real planning for the trip. Moreover, it continues at the travel destination, because one will learn through other people or on site advertisement like Yoka Map or posters more about the destination.

Circumstances at destination

In order to bring the right clothes Fukuoka’s weather is researched. This is normally done shortly before or while packing one’s suitcase. For a hot and humid weather like Fukuoka’s obviously clothes different from those worn in Sapporo are needed.
 In order not to attract negative attention Japanese manners are studied. This is mostly done shorty before ones departure to remember as much as possible. Since most tourists look so different from Japanese and because Japanese etiquette is very unique, foreigners still do some ridiculous and unfriendly things. Still, basic manners such as not to give any tip after you ate or to bring your trash back home are normally remembered.

Information on the possibility to pay via credit card or needed safety measures taken against robbers are taken into consideration, too. Luckily Japan does not seem to have a lot of pickpockets, rather Japan has a very low rate of any kind of crime; except bicycle theft that is.

Travel crack

Few tourists want to be very informed and read about Fukuoka’s history a lot beforehand. One more widely known fact they find out is that Fukuoka is a designed city. In 1889 the fisher village

Hakata and the samurai place Fukuoka were merged together. In olden years Hakata was the home of many merchants and workers, whose work was related to China. Furthermore, it was a important port to trade, learn and integrate new cultural components.
 They will further learn about Mongolian invasion in the second half of the 13th century and how they were prevented.

I hope this article helps you at least a bit; be it with some information on Fukuoka, be it as a guide to help you with your own research or to help you as a company to present your information efficiently.
 If you do your research differently or include an other interesting topic in it, let me know in the comments.

By Stella (German middle/long-termed tourist in Fukuoka, born in 1998)