Fukuoka | Matthew Toy

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

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!

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?

Just your everyday Samurai on a horse

Japan is always full of surprises 🙂

準備 (じゅんび) (junbi) – preparation; setup; arrangements; provision; reserve

I’ve got most of the preparations for the trip already done. It is difficult to determine what you might need for 6 months, but I figure that if I get the most important things sorted (flights, school, apartment) then I can blag the rest once I arrive. Japan is a pretty advanced place after all, such that if I need a toothbrush I will likely be able to locate one without incurring undue stress.

One thing I needed to sort out ahead of time, are the gifts I needed to get for various people I’d like to make a good impression with. There is a strong culture of gift-giving in Japan, called お土産 (omiyage), whereby anyone going off for a holiday or trip is generally expected to bring back souvenirs for their close friends, colleagues, family, etc. It is somewhat more culturally embedded in Japan than most other countries, where you might get a present for people, instead you really should get something.

What to get though? I did a bit of digging and it appears to be somewhat of a fine art, choosing something that is both representative of the place you visited, but not too tacky and not too expensive. With this in mind, I scoured Amazon for various British trinkets, before arriving on these delightful set of English teas. It feels like they will tick all the boxes, however I will report back here with the results, positive or otherwise.

English Tea Shop Gift Sets

With these packed, I think I’m all set to go! Now there are just 4 days of work between myself and a Korean Air flight to Fukuoka.

楽しみにしてます！

Adventures around the world

Tag: Fukuoka

Sakura / 桜

Preparations / 準備