This week I am on a trip for work which is taking me from Fukuoka, in Kyushu at the south of the mainland, right up to Hokkaido, and the top, with stops in Osaka and Tokyo in between.
We arrived in Fukuoka yesterday, just beating the typhoon out of Okinawa, and were lucky enough to get the afternoon free to explore. I've never been to Fukuoka before so I tried to cram in as much as possible. What I wanted to do the most was visit some shrines and temples, because there aren't really any in Okinawa, and they are one of the things I miss the most about mainland Japan.
First stop was Sumiyoshi Jinja (shrine), which was chosen mostly because it was only a short walk from my hotel. Sumiyoshi Jinja is a Shinto Shrine, in the Hakata area of the city. It was really lovely, and even though it was really hot out, as soon as walking into the shrine grounds, everything seemed much cooler than the rest of the city.
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| I love Koi. One day I would love my own koi pond. |
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| This tiny shrine was really cute |
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| This tree had grass growing on it's branches. |
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| I love the scaffolding to keep the branches up! |
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| Love this orange colour! |
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| I got my fortune, and asked some people whether it was good. They said it was ok. Not bad, but not amazing. |
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| Hi from the mainland! |
as you can see I am working backwards through your posts... so my next question is do you think Fukuoka or Osaka would be better with kids?! We love visiting temples, my kids are great eaters, and generally just tag along with adult stuff, as long as I get them some kid type activity thrown in there! If you could only pick one place which would YOU go to?
ReplyDeleteHmmm. I know more about Osaka, and have taken a kid there before, so I would recommend it. The castle is lovely, and a good kid friendly activity. They also have an amazing aquarium (I like it better than Okinawa's). Dotonbori is really visually great for adults and kids alike. You can also find temples there if you wish :)
DeleteI don't know enough about Fukuoka to recommend it over Osaka. I can say though, that the airport in Fukuoka is really close to the action, wheras Osaka is a long train ride from the airport.
Also, in Osaka, try and stay in the Namba, Shinsaibashi Dotonbori area
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ReplyDeleteI went on a fun trip to Fukuoka with some friends and we had such a fun time. It was perfect weather and we got to see a lot! Fun times!
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