Adventures around the world

Tag: exploration

Views of Fukuoka / 福岡の景色

One of the things many locals of Fukuoka like about their city is that it has all of the city conveniences but also, not too far away, it has lots of nature and scenery. I haven’t had an opportunity yet to venture outside of the city properly (something I intend to remedy shortly) but I have found many lovely places while out running.

My favourite so far has to be Heiwaminami Ryokuchi Park (say that 3 times quickly) which is only a few kilometre jog from my apartment. Not only is it 100% trails with wonderful green foliage, but it is super-duper undulating. This means I can get all the hill training I could possibly want, all in one handy-dandy park!

Let’s take a quick photo tour…

Heiwaminami Ryokuchi Park

Photos never do justice to how steep a trail really is. But this was super steep, honest!  That aside, I love how green and verdant everything looks. Cannot get enough of this sort of trail.

Peeking out through the trees

Most of the views are obstructed by all the beautiful green foliage I was just mentioning, but occasionally you can peek out and see the city below.

View from the observation tower

One unique aspect of the park is the tower you can walk up to get 360 degree views of Fukuoka.

Cemeteries get all the best views

Right next to the park is a large cemetery. Japanese culture includes a lot of respect for the dead, so you can just imagine how this is both immaculately maintained and presented.

I’m a sucker for attractive looking clouds…

On the way back from the park now, waiting at an intersection. Not too much exciting happening, but I do like how the building in front is telling me something is “Good” with a solid thumbs up included. Thank you random building, things are indeed “Good”.

Filled with fishies!

What you can’t see very well in this final photo is all the fishies in the canal. The water is very clear, so you can see all the big buggers and little guys all swimming around.

Fukuoka Running / 福岡を走る

I’ve been doing a fair bit of running since I arrived in Fukuoka.  Since the weather has generally been good, it is just too tempting to resist getting out to run without the need for 3 layers, gloves, beanie and a prayer to the god of frostbite.  I haven’t done anything long distance yet, but I’ve given a 5km area south of Hakata station a good go.

Let’s go for a little virtual tour…

The first run is along one of the river/canals of Fukuoka city, specifically the Naka River.  I quite like this one as it has nice paths to run along the river, meaning I don’t have to stop for traffic every 200 meters.

View along the canal path of the Naka River

The path is really nice and smooth (reducing, but not eliminating the chances of me falling on my face) but also inset from the road, meaning it is quiet and feels fairly detached from the city.

Next up are two photos on the same street at the end of the canal path section which are fairly illustrative of the type of off-main-street views:

Side street in South Hakata

So much concrete…

They certainly do like concrete here.  Probably necessary for the whole earthquake thing, so you have to respect the choice of function over form.

The next stop is Sanno park, which is by far my favourite of the smaller parks in the area.  It boasts a 1.2km running track (nice and soft), a few little hills to sprint up and a shrine.  The shrine is especially nice, sitting in the middle of the park, but separated by sitting atop a small hill and surrounded by trees.

Hiyoshi Shrine in Sanno Park

Apart from the shrine, this park is quite different in that it has actual trees and grass.  Most parks are mostly concrete/dirt areas with a small row of trees.

Sanno Park

I’m planning on ranging out more on my runs over the summer and I’ll be reporting back with what I find!

Sakura / 桜

Today was spent exploring Fukuoka City’s various ins and outs.  I am very lucky that I have arrived just as the cherry blossoms have started to bloom, and I was able to see lots of them on my walk around.

Fukuoka Canals and Sakura

Fukuoka Canals and Sakura

Matthew Toy sakura

Oh look, its a selfie!

When I wasn’t watching for the cherry blossoms, I meandered around the city, past most of the large shopping areas, through a few parks and along many streets.  At first glance, Fukuoka is a fairly normal, medium sized city.  However it feels a little different here and I’m not sure I can put my finger on why that is yet. Might take more than a few hours of strolling to get to the heart of this city!

Fukuoka city street

Another street, another cluster of cherry blossoms

One thing I found today that isn’t your everyday occurrence (maybe it is in Fukuoka, that’s yet to be established), is I happened across a festival, or 祭り (matsuri), at one of the parks I visited. It had all the stalls you would expect, fried chicken, fried noddles, candy floss, samurai on horseback… wait, samurai what?

Samurai on Horseback

Just your everyday Samurai on a horse

Japan is always full of surprises 🙂

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