Life in Fukuoka "English"

【Places to Get Out and About】

Just when you thought April had only begun, we find ourselves at the end of it and heading into Golden Week! Golden Week, if you are new to Japan, is a group of holidays typically from May 3rd to 5th.

But with this weekend and the next, some people might have a full 9 days off this year. If you are looking for something to do over the next week, let me introduce a few ideas this week, for places to go around Fukuoka.

First, one of the easiest places to go to is Ohori Park, right in the city. Get a picnic basket ready or even pick up something from the delicious shops around like Taco Mia, Mister Donuts, the Garden Cafe in the Park or La Brioche bakery and spend a day walking around, enjoying the Japanese garden or taking the rowboats and swanboats out for spin on the pond.

If you want to get a bit further out of town, you could do a little wisteria hunting. There are beautiful flowers at Buzoji Temple out towards Chikushino city and the amazing display at Kawachi Flower Park and Kisshoji temple in Kitakyushu. If you want to avoid the crowds, I recommend hiking. In Sawara-ku, there's a great waterfall called Karanno no taki and a path that goes up the mountain behind it. It's a decent hike and a great chance for some forest bathing. Those are just some of my suggestions, but there's still plenty more to do in Fukuoka.

One of those big things to do is Hakata Dontaku Minato Matsuri, one of those must see events in Fukuoka over the Golden Week holiday.

What is this Dontaku event, you say? Well, it's a festival put on by the citizens of Fukuoka and attracts not only the citizens of the city, but tourists from around Japan and abroad. 2 million people come to the festival every year. This year's festival is the 62nd and will be held over two days on May 3 and 4. The Dontaku -tai, a group of mainly local citizens, will parade through the streets and give stage performances, wearing gorgeous costumes and "Shamoji” a kind of rice paddle but for performance here.
The "Hana Jidosha," large brightly lit cars decorated with characters and other decorations, are also a specialty of the festival. As the festival comes to a close, you'll find the whole town in a festive mood with audience members jumping in to join the dancing and clapping the shamoji.

It's a fun event, I've been quite a few times and it's impressive to see all the different dance shows and costumes. It's really a city party and you're bound to make new friends as you get out and enjoy the atmosphere, not to mention, have a chance to soak up some real life Hakata culture!