Fukuoka

Located on the northern shore of Kyushu, Fukuoka is Japan's eighth-largest city and the bustling economic and administrative capital of its region. Its unique urban fabric results from the 1889 merger of the merchant port of Hakata, a historical gateway for continental trade and culture, and the former castle town of Fukuoka. The city maintains this dual identity, with the Hakata district known for its vigorous commerce and distinctive dialect, and the Tenjin area serving as a modern shopping and business hub.
Beyond the metropolis, Fukuoka Prefecture holds significant historical and spiritual sites. Approximately sixteen kilometres southeast of the city centre lies Dazaifu, the ancient administrative capital of Kyushu for over five centuries. The Tenmangu Shrine, established there in AD 919, is one of the most important Shinto shrines in Japan, dedicated to the scholar and politician Sugawara no Michizane and visited by countless students seeking academic blessing.
In the neighbouring town of Sasaguri, the Nanzoin Temple forms the heart of a extensive pilgrimage route featuring eighty-eight replicas of Shikoku's famous temples. The temple is renowned for housing what is claimed to be the world's largest bronze reclining Buddha statue, measuring forty-one metres in length and weighing approximately three hundred tonnes. This monumental figure, representing the Buddha at the moment of entering Nirvana, draws visitors not merely for its scale but for its role within a meticulously constructed landscape of Buddhist practice and meditation.
How to get to Fukuoka
Fukuoka has an international airport and a train station with high speed trains to Osaka and Tokyo.
Accommodation
Fukuoka has many hotels, bookable via international hotel booking portals.