Day 5 - Fukuoka Sakura part 2

When I last left off, we had just finished lunch and were off to our next goal - Fukuoka Castle Ruins park. This took us across the central part of Fukuoka to see more people under cherry blossoms eventually ending with a good dinner at Nagasu yatai.

Fukuoka, like many Japanese cities, is built on rivers that flow to the sea. Lots of life takes place near them, like the yatai district, including being the back alleys. Our route started heading down one of the back alleys that borders the smaller Hakata River. Lots of hidden life is in these alleys – towels drying on racks behind spas, crates of empty beer bottles near the back doors of restaurants, staff bikes parked there. Even young women checking out their selfies in kimonos.

Crossing over the Sakura lined Nakagawa gets us to the Tenjin district which has some interesting street scenes.

...Buildings with large covered atriums for coffee shops...

...to random mirrors embedded in street art available for grooming-on-the-go.

Aching legs lead us to change to a bus for the rest of the routing to the old castle site. Getting off the bus to even more blossoms around the old moat.

Fukuoka Castle, when it was more than ruins, was a major seat for Daimyo loyal to the Tokugawa Shoganate - it was built soon after Tokugawa rule was established. One of the results of the imperial Meiji Restoration, most of the castles in Japan were slated for removal, especially those with strong ties to the overthrown Shogunate [some of the still standing in their original state, like the marvelous Matsumoto Castle, were held by loyalist to the Emperor]. The building has mostly been removed and a new park, complete with playing fields, is in its place. The large foundations and moat are most of what remains.

Luckily for us, it was also the final day of the sites Sakura Matsuri (Festival), which means plenty of cherry blossoms and food. The Sakura part is shown by the number of folks sitting under the trees for Hanami (literally "flower watching"). The Matsuri part consisted mostly of a ton of food and beverage vendors occupying the center of the park feeding the watchers. The food reflects the changes Japan has seen in the past decades - it ranged from traditional Japanese items - Oden, Ramen, Sushi/Onigiri - to recent imports like Tacos (not the octopus, but the tortilla versions) and crepes. Lots of fun on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

Back to the temporary home for some rest before one of us set out to find some Hakata ramen for dinner. This meant heading back to the Nagasu area near the Kawabata Arcade to the site where yatai (street restaurants) set up for the night near the river.

After perusing the available stands, I randomly decided to sit at a stand called Enmonya which, like many of the stalls, is run by a bunch of young guys. You can watch as they prepare your order – I chose Hakata ramen, the local version based on a rich pork broth and a bit of spice, which was my goal. As a kicker, I threw in some gyoza, which also has a local flavor, topped by a bottle of beer. Ahhh.

Sated and ready for rest, time to head home for the night. This mini-shrine was on the way home for those passing to make a quick prayer. Done for the day...

As always, lots more pictures are in the Gallery (same link as previous issue).

[NOTE: Gmail has some issues with the formatting I'm using. As a reminder, the full glory of the post is always available on the website by clicking the link in the title.]