Fukuoka, Japan

For the first morning in several days, we actually had a true, beautiful sunrise! The typhoon on the eastern coast swept all of the ominous clouds & moisture as it moved northeast away from Tokyo. We both packed away our jeans & heavy jackets anticipating some good weather, and the day didn’t disappoint with a high of about 73 – absolutely perfect.

 The sail-in was nice – not a dramatic skyline, but many striking, lush foothills. With a population of about 1.4 million, Fukuoka is situated in the northern extremity of Kyushu, facing the Sea of Suo to the northeast, the Sea of Genkai to the northwest, and the Sea of Ariake to the southwest. The region borders the Korean Peninsula to the continent of China with a strait in between. The entire metroplex has a population close to 2.5 million & as recent as July, Fukuoka is Japan's 6th largest city, having passed the population of Kyoto. It’s known as an ancient & key point of exchange between Japan and the rest of Asia – we found it to be a cradle of culture & commerce...and very nice people.

We docked on schedule at 8am, disembarked, and by 8:30 we were in the port terminal building which also serves as a bus stop and link to downtown. We bought a day-pass for US $10.30 ($5.15 ea.) and headed for JR Hakata City, the nucleus & major train station. Similar to our last port of Kanazawa, the train station also has a shopping complex within. True to their reputation, we experienced more Japanese innovation with escalators activated on demand…meaning they don’t run continuously and burn unnecessary energy…but turn on only when people trip a laser light. I felt a little foolish with this technology. I wanted to go to Starbuck’s on the second floor - I could see it, but couldn’t figure out how to get us up there because the escalator wasn’t moving, and I sure didn’t feel like climbing near vertical steps. It was 9:45, so I told Cheryl it probably didn’t open until 10:00. By now you all know she’s smarter than me, & she didn’t accept my logic. PLUS…the ‘down’ escalator was moving & full of people. Sure enough – she approached the escalator and wallah…on it went!! Duh…

We spent about an hour at JR Hakata City getting our bearings and once we (Cheryl) figured out exactly where we were on the city map and where we wanted to go, we set off. Fukuoka isn’t quite as modern as Kanazawa, but we found it to be equally as clean and the folks just as pleasant & helpful.           

Ranked 12th of the world's most livable cities in 2013, Fukuoka was praised for its green spaces in a metropolitan setting, and we sure weren’t disappointed. We visited Dazaifu Tenman-gu Shrine, where about 6,000 red and white plum trees of 200 varieties and 30,000 irises of 50 different varieties lie. The Tenman-gu enshrines the god of academic achievement, and is visited by many people - but primarily students seeking luck in their entrance examinations. I wonder if this would've helped me?! We hit several very beautiful temples and parks throughout the day, working our way from the downtown area back to the ship. We probably walked 8 – 10 miles, though it felt like 20. The photos below speak for themselves. 

We were back on the Amsterdam by 2:30, grabbed a quick snack, a 30 minute nap, showered, and by 4:15, we were on lower deck #3 to watch & listen to a local ‘drum’ organization perform for the sail-away. These were young adults of about 17 years and very talented – they performed for 30 minutes, the ship blew her horn and off we sailed. After our 5:30 dinner, we attended an 8:15 show in the main theater and saw a juggler with an act known as ‘Tempei’ – he was advertised as a world champion and didn’t disappoint us – a phenomenal talent who received a standing ovation. By then – 9:30 – lights out for me – WAY past my bedtime!

Tomorrow…Nagasaki – I expect this visit to be a very humbling, if not solemn experience.