A day in Fukuoka...

Today I went to Fukuoka for a wander and to see if I could hunt down some Christmas presents for folks back home. I have to think of these things now, with the postage and pitiful amount of time I seem to have free nowadays, plus, I haven't explored Fukuoka enough for my liking yet. I don't know my way around well enough yet, so thanks to the little maps at the back of "Fukuoka Now" magazine, I didn't fare too badly. I got off the subway at Nakatsu Kawabata and walked through (what I thought) was going to be a really busy shopping arcade in Nakatsu.

However, it was a long, stony cracked floored arcade with a load of traditional shops and a few nice cafe's in, but it was EMPTY! On a Saturday afternoon, which I thought was crazy. I later spoke to my partner teacher who told me that it's because Tenjin, (trendy, massive shopping complex central...) has managed to syphon off all the interest in the older arcades.

I saw a lot of really provoking things today, most of them were unphotographable (is that a word?) as they went by with the blink of an eye-as all the best experiences probably are. A little girl about three years old was walking through the grey, dingy arcade with her parents. She was dressed in full kimono and obi and was holding a little Japanese flag. All of the shopkeepers came from inside and were waving at her and grinning like proud grandparents. Her kimono was yellow, patterend with gold and pink and was a far cry from the grey, stained concrete. I think she may have been dressed like this because the Japanese celebrate girls aged 3, 5 and 7 this year I think.

Then, walking from Nakatsu to Tenjin, I saw a BIG bunch of suited and booted men in their Fifties at least, being shown into a karaoke booth with big grins on their faces, all giggling like schoolgirls. I checked my watch and it was only Four in the afternoon.

I didn't know where I was, so I just followed the line of the street and ended up in a shopping complex called "Tenjin Mina" and found a brilliant guitar shop and a second hand retro shop (the first I've seen in Japan). It was original vintage stuff too, as the clothes were in really great taste, those dresses you see back home, all flimsy nylon, fluffy mohair jumpers with sequins and flowers, not to mention an amazing tie rack. It also had that second hand shop smell of dust and old leather. Mmmmm.

I also found shop which sells all kinds of parephenalia of Japanese celebs (mainly ageing men in suits) which was full of Japanese schoolgirls. They had keyrings of Smap, boyband stickers, walls of postcards of celebrities in different poses, all kinds of things which you would never see back home, because of the lack of a market, probably. Can you imagine a full wall of Ant and Dec postcards, each one in a different outfit and pose? Maybe it's because Japanese schoolgirls love to collect things, and the whole "KAWAIII!" business.

My new (2,ooo Yen Aeon supermarket) boots were starting to irritate me, so I walked to the riverside and went to Canal City. It was starting to get dark, so the food stalls were just coming out to play. That walk was a highlight of the day-I walked past people sitting slurping noodles under paper lanterns, friends raising drinks together, people giggling and picking at fresh food all around them, oysters bubbling away on embers and men arranging fish in their little cooking areas. Watching good friends relaxed, deep in converstaion in a great atmosphere can make you feel incredibly lonely here, sometimes.

Canal City was still busy, though it was getting on for around half seven, and the Christmas lights were amazing. I love the design of Canal City, it's so fluid (like a lot of Japanese architecture) and always looks great with the seasonal features. Summer looked brilliant with it's blue columns of light scattered around the pools, and they've really got the Chrismassy feeling pinned with the plastic dangling snowflakes, orchestras and christmas trees set up around the corridors.

Putting a lid on the day, I walked back to Hakata station, nabbed a cheeky set of gyoza and a can of chu-hi for the shinkansen, and in twenty minutes I was back in Kokura again. It was an interesting day, and I have to make a point of spending a lot more time in Fukuoka before I leave Japan.

Two weeks time, BASEBALL!!! Woohoo!!!