Fukuoka Highlights

 The rain from Nagasaki had disappeared by the time we reached Fukuoka, but Larry's cold kept him on the ship. I went on the tour myself and experienced not only a couple of temples, but an hour's shopping time, before heading up the Fukuoka Tower. Had I remembered about the shopping I would have brought my sketchbook along to pass the time; as it turned out, our tour escort was the art teacher, Dori.

Our first stop on the tour was the Tocho-ji Temple, which dates back to the 9th Century. Japan's largest wooden seated Buddha is here, which we were able to see although photos were not allowed. It was quite impressive, although much smaller than some of the Buddha statues we had already seen, such as the one at Todai-ji in Nara.

One of the experiences a visitor can have here is walking through the 'corridor of darkness' under the statue. It is meant to represent the blindness of human ignorance and earthly suffering and is literally pitch black. One needs to feel one's way along the corridor and find a metal ring that symbolizes the key to enlightenment. 

Although most of the group went in, I opted to get a goshuin, or stamp, for my temple stamp book - goshuincho - instead. I had bought a stamp book, which is calligraphy paper in an accordion fold bound with a decorative cover, in Tokyo, and had been collecting stamps along the way as I could. A priest or staff member stamps the temple or shrine's specific goshuin in the book and adds the name of the temple and the date in Kanji script, all for a donation of between 300 and 500 Yen. I have set my book up so I can put a simple sketch of the temple/shrine on the left hand page with the stamp on the right. I'll add a post later of my stamp book.

Part of the temple main building entrance

The Rokkako-du, a hexagonal shaped
building that houses sutras and sculptures. It 
is only opened on the 28th of each month. We
missed that by two days.

This temple has a beautiful 5 storey pagoda
as well. Goo subject for a sketch!

Our next stop was at the Kushida Shrine, a Shinto sanctuary. This was a very large complex and quite interesting. It was also fairly busy as it was now Golden Week, a spring holiday for the Japanese people.

One of the important features of the shrine is that it plays a central role in a local annual festival, the Hakata Gion Yamakasa, which is said to be over 750 years old. It takes place in the first half of July, and includes the 'Kakiyama', or large floats that are carried or dragged around the streets by teams in 'float races'. A Kakiyama is displayed on the shrine grounds for the year following the festival.

Every Shinto shrine also has a divine tree called a Shinboku. This is usually a fairly old tree and is designated with a straw rope around the trunk. It is considered sacred as the dwelling place of the spirits or gods known as 'kami'. The shinboku are believed to be places where the boundary between the human and spirit worlds is thin, so they are good places for healing and rejuvenation. This tree is a 1,000 year old gingko tree.

The gate to the shrine is quite elaborate and includes a carving of the signs of the Chinese Zodiac in the ceiling as you pass inside.

The main shrine building.

This is one of the cranes in a fountain that
gives you a long life if you drink from it.

Many larger shrines also have a series of torii gates like these. Every shrine, no matter where it is, has one gate to signify the transition from the mundane to sacred space. There are a few shrines in Japan, particularly one in Kyoto, known for the tunnel of gates numbering in the thousands. We saw one series like this at Nezu Shrine in Tokyo where the azalea festival was taking place. These gates are usually donated by businesses for luck, so it is more a photo op than sacred rite to walk through them.

After we finished our tour of the shrine we had some free time to go wander the grounds or go into the Nakasuwabata shopping arcade conveniently located almost next door. Souvenirs, craft stores, and small restaurants abound in the arcade, but we're not shoppers and I couldn't think of anything to look for.  I did take a stroll to see what was there, but nothing caught my eye.

It was too bad that restaurants weren't opening early enough for anyone to stop for a bowl of ramen for lunch. I think many wanted to, but we would only have had a half an hour once the places opened and that's not enough time to do the ramen full justice.

After this interlude we climbed back into the bus and headed for the Fukuoka Tower, an observation deck 758 feet high right at the beach. It looks like an office building, but in fact there's nothing there except the elevator, the metal structure and a mirror glass exterior.

Looking up the inside of the structure

The tower has 360° views and very interesting 45° corners for viewing. It is actually a radio broadcast tower that is lit up with LEDs every night and sometimes even during the day. The tower is in the Guinness Book of World Records, a distinction it received as of January 22, 2026, for the 'Most number of days a radio tower with an observation deck has been lit up with pixel animation illuminations'. Unfortunately we left Fukuoka at 7:00, just around dusk, and weren't able to see the light show. But the daytime views were quite spectacular, even if a bit hazy.

After this visit, we headed back to the ship for the afternoon to relax a bit before the next day's stop at Sakaiminato. Hard to believe, but this would be a maiden stop for the 31-year old Crystal Symphony!