Business Hotel Hakata Seagull Fukuoka

My first impression of Fukuoka was neon. Though my body knew it was the middle of the night it was used to, I was able to get yen from an ATM, buy a subway ticket, and get to the 100 year old inn where I had reservations. Enjoyed the hot communal (gender separated) bath, but not as much the ********** and buckwheat pillow.
Fukuoka, Kyushu-Okinawa, Japan travlingal

Here we go again, off to lands unknown (to us, anyway) with our lives stuffed into luggage. The last time we do this will not be too soon! I suppose it's the price of an adventurous lifestyle.

Speaking of which, we are currently in Nogata, Fukuoka which is probably the *least* adventurous town ever. It consists of rice fields and... rice fields. My grandparents live here though, and it's also where we ...

... for museums or exhibition halls in Tokyo the first week I arrived. Didn't find anything! I'm sure I must have just missed them somehow. Then in Osaka I heard about a robot place in Nagoya, but I'd already passed that town by and was nearing the end of my trip, so backtracking didn't fit the circumstances. Somewhat reluctantly, I resigned myself to not getting to see any of the famous Japanese robots... at least not on THIS trip, I consoled myself.

Then I saw it ...

... it's suffered from decline from its glory days as a cruise ship port, and there has been a major investment in public improvements. It probably needs a few factory outlet stores to fill up some of the remaining vacant old buildings. But even as-is, this is a community that deserves a visit!

I did not have time to visit Cha Cha Town, a shopping center in Kokura, another community that's part of Kitakyushu ...

... was really suffering and sniffling away. At one point, we passed rice fields where they were burning the remnants of the last crop, and the smoke was heavy. This poor kid pulled his jacket over his head--I'm not sure whether he was trying to use the jacket as a filter for the smoke, or if he was secretly blowing his nose underneath, but I didn't hear anything. There is a lot in Japan that you aren't supposed to see or hear, and the ...

... to try, but even after eating we knew it was fish but that was as far as it went!! One of the Japanese eating at the stall offered us some of his gyoza (little parcels of chicken) and we enjoyed it so much that we ordered some of our own - we weren't expecting about 10!!! Absolutely stuffed and it ended up being the most expensive meal in Japan, ironic as it was a street stall, but the ...

... but spotlessly clean and with every inclusion you could ask for, including breakfast, all for $82 per night virtually next door to the train station, so we are not complaining. Leaves us enough money to justify the prices we will be paying to stay in the ryokans in the mountains later on in the trip. A short walk to the 7/11 for their suprisingly good sandwiches for dinner, and some instant noodles for the girls, and time to turn in for the night.

... vuelta a Fukuoka con una sonrisa en la cara. Nunca me ha atraído el lejano oriente. No me disgusta, ni mucho menos, es que simplemente no me interesa, y después de haber estado sigo con esa impresión. No creo que vuelva si de simple turismo se trata. Pero desde luego, ya que he tenido que ir, ha merecido la pena. Por suerte, se me ha cancelado el viaje a Boston la semana que viene, pero parece ser que de China en enero no me libro. Seguiré dando noticias. ¡Besos y abrazos!

... At the Busan ferry we were lucky enough to be just in time to catch the jet ferry to Fukuoka. We spent some time getting through customs and then boarded a relatively small ship, two stories housing about eighty passengers or so. At this point I should probably explain what a jet ferry is. A jet ferry doesn't just motor through the water, it hydroplanes on what looks like three fins. It moves very quickly and is a very smooth ride as well. It got us through the Sea of Japan in a ...

... in Indonesia. Last but not least, were five pictures which remain engrained in my memory. The pictures of his ancestral forefathers. Mr. Tanaka himself had been an Economist for Nippon Steel, later dispatched by Nippon Steel to represent the industrial sector in the government apparatus. His father, though, and his grandfathers, and their fathers and grandfathers had all been bankers. In fact, one member of the Tanaka family some 100 ...