Another early morning start, with a train from Beppu to Fukuoka, a 2hr 15min journey from one coast line to the other.

As ever we were at the station in plenty of time and successfully picked up the 8.19am ‘sonic’ train. We ended up chatting to a local mum and daughter who were heading in the same direction and they kindly took one final picture in Beppu for prosperity.

Our journey was pretty uneventful, but thankfully we waved goodbye to the wet of Beppu and said hello to the warm sunshine of Fukuoka.

We are staying in central Fukuoka at the Lamp Lights Book Hotel in Tenjin, the main shopping district.

Tenjin is the main shopping district and home to an array of cool stores and restaurants.

We went straight out for a wander through the vibrant streets passing large department stores, boutiques (I’ve counted three Paul Smith stores already) and ended up at the Apple Store as Michelle’s existing phone has reached the end of its ‘life’.

We spent the next few hours wandering from Tenjin to Canal City Hakata, a unique shopping complex with a canal river running through it.

Andy was in search of some Japanese denim jeans which are recognised as being some of the best in the world due to the quality of the denim they use.

The city has a welcoming edgy feel to it and we very quickly felt at home searching out the back streets and coming across a couple of shrines and temples in amongst the urban sprawl.

We walked past Sumiyoshi jinja and Amatsu jinja, both Shinto shrines, the latter relatively modest and located within a roundabout of roads whilst the other was somewhat large and had echoes of Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine that we saw back in Kyoto.

The day however was centred around our retail endeavours, with Michelle now in possession of a new iPhone 16 and a trendy case. Due to current exchange rates, with the Japanese yen being relatively weak, plus electricals being generally cheaper we ended up saving a few hundred pounds against what we’d end up paying back in the UK. Andy got in on the act, with the purchase of some Japanese rare denim jeans. So that’s two happy customers!

This evening we went out to discover what was on our doorstep and came across a cool tap room selling a range of beers from Japan and further afield along with some great Mexican tapas. An interesting combination and not perhaps what we intended but boy was it good.

After a pleasant meal and drinks we went for a stroll in the late evening and came across some interesting ‘amusement arcades’ that appear to be aimed at adults who like to gamble and appear to be fans of anime, manga, video games, and idol culture. It’s an unusual set up and one that we don’t fully understand.

Tomorrow we are back to our tourist duties and will be visiting Ohori Park, the Fukuoka Castle ruins and Momochi Seaside Park before dropping into to see some more shrines in and around the Hakata Riverain district. We also plan to indulge ourselves with some local dishes including Yakitori, tempura and Hakata Ramen.