Arrival into Fukuoka – Canal City

I made it to Hakata Station (which is the largest station that serves Fukuoka city) around 7pm after my epic day trip to Takachiho Gorge. While I knew Fukuoka was one of the largest cities in Japan, I struggled with things to do there in my research that interested me so it turned into a quick one night stay. But it was super fun and offered these variety of activities that were easy to string together!

From Hakata, I hopped on the subway using my Suica card just one stop away to reach Kushida Shrine Station, which was across the street from Canal City. Normally known as a large shopping mall, that was not my reason to visit. But instead, the fountains in the middle of Canal City mall put on frequent shows in the evening that are pretty impressive! Luckily when I walked up (with my suitcase still rolling behind me) a show was in progress and I caught 3 or 4 songs of music and dancing fountains. The theme tonight was Disney, so everyone was singing along and having a great time. I would have waited for the next show, but since it was already late in the day I wanted to see more of Fukuoka and quickly moved on.

Yatai – Food Stalls Along the River!

My next stop is what I was most excited for – arguably the most famous thing in Fukuoka are the food stalls (or yatai) that open up along the river in Fukuoaka every night! They are directly to the West of the Canal City mall, just a short walk over a bridge and through Seiryu Park (where I even saw a few cherry blossoms). It’s impossible to miss the bright lights of the food stalls, smoke in the air, and crowds of people waiting to try the delicious cuisine. The official name on Google Maps is called Nakasu Yatai Yokocho.

I walked down the alley of food stalls to look for one that not only had a shorter line (some were like 30+ deep!) but would fancy my cuisine. Luckily, right in the middle I found a stall with a blue awning that had a fairly short line of about 10 people and the menu showed simple favorites like yakitori, ramen, and grilled beef. Most of these stalls only seat about 10-20 people in a circle around the cooking area…they were basically portable bars. But the staff do a great job quickly filling seats as people leave and I was seated in about 15 minutes. They even made room for my luggage!

I ordered 2 of my favorites, chicken yakitori and grilled beef tongue. I also had a lemon drop which was delicious, and helped me get in the “party atmosphere” that these stalls have. The chicken yakitori came first and was perfectly cooked and delicious. Next followed the beef tongue, which was pretty good but I’ve had better in Japan. However, I quickly came to regret my decision on what I ordered – while I was eating I started talking to the 3 Japanese guys next to me via Google Translate. They were from Osaka, and said they took the train all the way to Fukuoaka just to eat the ramen at this food stall! And it was a Tuesday night! They told me it was the best ramen in all of Japan. Osaka is such a giant, foodie city so it must be pretty good if they come all the way here for a bowl of ramen. I was way too full to order another dish, but 100% will return to this stall to try the ramen next time I’m in Japan.

The Millennials Hostel in Nakasu

After dinner it was already 10pm and I was quite exhausted after my long day of travel, so I walked a few blocks to my accommodations for the night. I have heard of the Millennials Hostel before when looking for places in Tokyo, and they looked like a super cool, modern, and private hostel option – but the prices in Tokyo were always insane! Every time I have been they were going for over $200 a night in Tokyo. Well in Fukuoka that was not the case! I was able to book The Millennials Hostel here for only $33 a night, perfect for a solo budget traveler. This location is in the Nakasu district of Fukuoka, which is known for nightlife. While I was too tired for parting further, it was fun to walk down the main street and take in all of the neon and buzz the atmosphere this area offered, even on a weekday. Even better, the corner the hostel is on is the entrance to a metro station, leaving transportation the next day even easier.

The Millennials was located inside another building called The Lively, which I still don’t know what that is even this day. But regardless, check-in was located just inside the door and I was handed the key to my room. Well, except I didn’t have a room, but it would let me in everywhere I needed to go! From what I could tell this hostel was only on one floor, separated by gender. The building was quite large, and there were various different zones labeled by letter, such as A, B, C, etc. and everyone was assigned a bed number. I made my way to my zone and bed and lifted the curtain to reveal my bed and amenities. While the bed is basically your entire room, there was a little space to stand in front of it and change and store your bag under the bed. So compared to other hostels, this saves a bit of time and effort. The bed was super comfortable, with an upright relaxing position and of course a fully lie flat position. You could turn off the light, as well as control air flow or not. With the screen fully pulled down it was pretty private and I didn’t hear much noise!

There was one large restroom in the middle of all the zones, which had multiple toilet stalls, shower stalls, and sinks. They were extremely clean, spacious, and luxurious. I actually love these shower stalls and high quality products they provide and would have no hesitation staying here again. Definitely one of the nicest hostels on the planet and it’s no big deal to change in the large shower rooms or your bed. Steal for $33 in Japan!

Departing Fukuoka (Hakata) on the Hello Kitty Shinkansen

The final benefit to staying the night in Fukuoka is that Hakata Station is the home of the Hello Kitty Shinkansen! This special pink and decked out bullet train makes one run per day (with some off days) from Hakata Station to Shin-Osaka Station and back. And luckily for me, I was heading to Hiroshima along the route and the train leaves Hakata in the morning. It was a bit early, with a departure around 7am, but I needed to get going anyways. The scheduled days and time table for the Hello Kitty Shinkansen can be found on the official website:

https://www.jr-hellokittyshinkansen.jp/en/

The Hello Kitty Shinkansen runs on a normal Kodama bullet train service, meaning its included with the JR Rail Pass. I made a seat reservation in car 3 for the ride from Hakata to Hiroshima, but it turns out the special themed seats are in unreserved car 2, so I got there early and queued up for car #2 on the station platform. It also turns out this wasn’t needed, as this Wednesday morning there was almost nobody on the train. I think there was maybe like 6 of us on the entire car!

Car #2 also had a fun photo spot in the back of the car before moving into car #1, which was the Hello Kitty shop. It was empty when we boarded, but once we got moving the staff quickly stocked the store and opened up with some cute Hello Kitty merchandise if that fits your fancy. Regardless it was a good photo op and fun train to ride among all of the “normal” bullet trains. I had my breakfast from Hakata Station and settled in for a comfortable 90 minute ride to Hiroshima.

Next time you are in Japan and planning a visit between Osaka, Hiroshima, or Fukuoka, you can schedule your day around riding the Hello Kitty Shinkansen! Has anyone else tried it? Let me know!