My first trip out of Tokyo … some 670 miles to the west (for comparison London to Edinburgh is 402 miles). Fukuoka is closer to Seoul than it is to Tokyo! The city, a mere 1.5 million in population, sits on the northern shore of Japan’s Kyushu Island, one of four main islands. However Japan has 6,852 islands in total, of which just over 400 are inhabited.

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I thought I had finished writing about KitKat but I think it will be on ongoing topic; refreshments on the plane were a miniature KitKat & a cup of coffee. The mini KitKats feature airports in Japan used by Sky Airlines.

Food Scene

Fukuoka is famous for the Yatai, food stalls, that line the street next to the river. Fewer than in pre-Covid times but enough to create an atmosphere. When someone mentions street food I automatically think of stalls where you eat as you walk along, but these stalls were like mobile izakayas, casual bars selling drink and food.

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We ate at these stalls for two evenings … a great experience at the first but not so good at the second. Since it’s a bit like tapas (small dishes that we shared) we moved back to our first Yatai and had such a rapturous welcome with free food. Almost like being regulars!

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We didn’t visit this coffee shop … never in the area at the right time …. but the name of this places creases me up. brings out the silly 14 year old.

Easter, of course, is not a celebration in Japan. I was fine about missing out on Easter Eggs (Geoff did give me a few months supply of chocolate on White Day!) but I did miss Hot Cross buns. Then I learned that one of the hotels had some on Good Friday & we managed to buy a couple on Saturday. So breakfast was sat outside next to the river with our slightly stale & untoasted & unbuttered buns. Result!

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A rather less pleasant eating experience was the above. Hot Sand, I think, refers to the fact the sandwich is grilled. It was raining and we didn’t want a full meal so popped into this one table establishment. I ate a ham, cheese & banana toastie whilst Geoff had cheese, mayonnaise & banana number …. bananas were in all sandwiches. I had a pineapple smoothie with vinegar & felt queasy all afternoon!

Fukuoka Castle & Ohori Park

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Random Photos

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