Tuesday 24th March
Fukuoka
At some point Ken sent a WhatsApp message to say he has seen a Google Maps image of Nishi Park, full of cherry blossom. So that is our target for this morning. It means, more or less retracing our route to Ohori Park subway station and walking from there.
Japanese city architecture isn't for everyone! It's an odd mixture of high-rise flats, low-rise flats and the occasional house. All electrical connections appear to be overground making everything look pretty untidy. This is in sharp contrast to the lack of litter everywhere and the pride they take in their appearance. I suspect that once inside a flat or house, it would be immaculately clean and tidy - but I doubt we will ever know.
The Japanese cars are another curiosity. A great many are very short and cuboid. Parking spaces look to be at a premium, so having a very short car that one can park in one's porch might be attractive.
The walk to Nishi Park finishes with a gentle climb up a short hill, where the road divides, one section going left and the other right. There are also steps leading straight ahead. We are approached by a Japanese couple who seem to be saying we should go left - so we do. The road goes uphill for a short way, before curving right and going downhill. In the distance is cherry in full bloom, with the requisite people underneath taking photos - all Japanese - they really do appreciate cherry blossom. We stand around taking a few photos when two girls ask if we would like our photo taken, which we happily accept. This happened on quite a few occasions, and it didn't strike me until after we left Japan, that I didn't doubt the honesty of the people offering to take photos. This would be an easy scam to try in London to steal a phone.
We spent some time walking round the park and had a drink out of a vending machine by a small shrine on the top of the hill.
Our next stop was Kawabata Street, a 'famous' arcade some 400 metres long, near the centre of Fukuoka. I'm not particularly impressed, but we do find a shoe shop that sells insoles - something that Jo has been on a mission for. They were relatively cheap and do the job.
In the afternoon we have a 'Taste of Fukuoka Food Tour'. We have been told this is a group tour and we should meet outside the Tourist Office in the station at 15:10. We were there on time, but no one else appeared. Just as we were beginning to have doubts our guide turned up, Norri. A very smart gentleman who was a professional tourist guide. We were his only customers today. One of the problems, I think, of using a guide is that one just follows them around without paying attention to where you are, or how you got there! Our first stop was a fish market that was closing for the day, but Norri had obviously cultivated contacts in the market who were still open and where we could try various bits and bobs (I don't think I can be more specific!) Lots of interesting fish, including pufferfish. These are so deadly you need a special licence to deal with them.
We then caught a bus to the commercial centre of Fukuoka to visit a department store, Iwataya, I think Norri said this was based in Fukuoka and was one of their crown jewels. The food department covered two huge basement floors and would stand comparison with Harrods Food Hall. We must have spent at least an hour browsing all the food on offer, from individually wrapped bananas and oranges to multiple versions of Sake. Norri had a 'budget' that we could spend as we went around. The only problem was that we didn't know what the budget was, and didn't want to end up embarrassing either Norri or us. So we played it save. I bought some delicious sponge cake (eaten the next day) and Jo some dried apricots, together with some dried figs out of her own pocket.
We then went to a 'Standup Sushi Bar' where, under Norri's guidance we were able to select a variety of sushi and learnt one is supposed to dip the fish in soy sauce, not the rice, not that it made much difference in my case as my chopstick control was sadly lacking! I asked Norri, why a 'Stand up Sushi Bar', The answer is high turnover.
The last stop on the Food Tour was described a 'Street Food'. I recall seeing this on a 'James May in Japan' program on Amazon Prime (no longer available I think). They are very small pop-up restaurants seating about 8 to 10 people in little more that a plastic shack. Not an obvious choice for a night out. I think Norri could sense my fear as he suggested something small and not too disgusting. In practice this was some bean curd (or similar) wrapped in bacon. Jo and I had four each. I made my way through three but Jo deserves a medal for Anglo-Japanese relations for getting through all four of hers!
Norri paid the bill and we went our separate ways. Norri was guiding passengers from a cruise ship the next day and so had to return to the station for a train journey further south, It must have been seven o'clock by the time we left him, so he was in for a long day,