Brief life in Fukuoka, and a trip to Dazaifu.

Starting with the prosaic, I found Rainbow Plaza (in the IMS building in Tenjin) to be a useful place for general information and internet access. This was also where I got introduced to the website dpreview.com by a random guy, after I mentioned I wanted to buy a camera.

I loved the fact that catching the train home from Tenjin station meant that I departed from a terminus, with a giant sign board overhead with lines, destinations and times, and trains waiting to depart. The visible possibilities of places to go to, places to explore. Hardly surprising then really, that I had studied Aviation Management (which had a fascinating mix of science, engineering, and business).

During the two weeks I was in Fukuoka the only place I really went to was Dazaifu to go to Dazaifu Tenmangu, a Shinto shrine. I made the trip, well, not too far, five stations from Zasshonokuma station, then transferred lines, and two more stops to Dazaifu station.

From the station, I walked up a narrow cobblestone-like street lined with stalls and passed under several large torii (shrine gates) to get to the shrine. I walked around the grounds for a few hours, and a few things made strong impressions. Behind the main complex I followed a dirt path through the forested mountain, at one point spying an amusement park, from which the sounds of Auld Lang Syne floated on the warm summer air. This was my introduction to the use of Auld Lang Syne as closing time music. From the courtyard area of the main shrine there was a small track. Driven by curiosity, but tempered by wanting to do the right thing, I looked in my little guidebook/dictionary how to say Is it allowed to walk there? in Japanese and repeated it to myself. After politely catching a couples attention with the good old sumimasen I asked them if it is allowed to walk on the small track, only for them to reply in English that they were tourists. I asked a second couple only to get the same answer.

After a short time, but with some memorable, indeed, first impression forming memories, it was time to say goodbye to Fukuoka, and to continue on to my new home of Miyazaki Prefecture and Miyakonojo City.