Fukouka/Hakata

A town with two names and Kyushu island's main metropolis.

Steve came with me to this one. Him and his brother had had some sort of argument in Tokyo and had therefore split up. The night we returned from the island Steve's brother was by chance in the same place at the same hostel. I left them to it and in the end it was decided that Steve should come with me to Fukuoka.

He's been here ever since. Genius.

We didn't have accommodation here, a pattern that would repeat itself for most of the trip, so we tried to find a capsule hotel. These aren't as an outdated symbol of the 'future' as the guidebooks first informed me. In fact they are cheap, comfy and usually have excellent facilities. The pod itself has a TV and is often bigger and more private than anything you can get in a hostel.

We did have one problem however. The problem was that Steve has a fairly prominent Tattoo on his right arm. Tattoo's are a sign of either the Yakuza or just a general symbol of body defilement. Most capsule hotels have a no tattoo policy sand we where refused by two. In the end Steve put on a shirt and had to shower in the local Internet cafe. (Yes you can do this, I will explain the exquisite oddness of a Japanese Internet cafe when I write about staying in one in Kyoto.)

The night was spent exploring the downtown district of the Fukuoka/Hakata conurbation. Japanese night life is very peculiar. There appears to be no real clubs or bars. You have a massive selection of restaurants and cafes and them a great selection of girls bars, however this is it.

It is very difficult to find real vice in Japan.

A Girls Bar is very surreal. You pay around 15-20 to essentially enter a bar staffed by, some would consider, but all are meant to, pretty women. They hawk at you from the street. This is something that we declined here but attempted once, for the novelty, in Kobe sometime later on the trip. I appreciate that this was an expensive novelty but when I explain the day later on in this blog it will all become clear.

Fukuoka is everything that you imagine from Japan. New, modern, neon and bustling with thousands of people. Me and Steve bought some whiskey and walk the town soaking it up. We climbed down onto the banks of the river for a bit and watched the city pulse with people.

Fukuoka is jam packed with loads of little food stalls. They sit on the streets and maybe only accommodate about eight people at one time. We stayed at one and befriended all of the clientele via the liberal use of whiskey. The shop owner gave us Saki in return and a very good time was had by all.

The soup was amazing, as always. It was noodles and veg, a bit of pork and some Japanese spicy stuff that I can never work out.

Anyway this food was good but tomorrow it was Beppu and that would mean Fugu.

Please say you've seen the Simpson's...