Hakata City Walk

Tuesday, April 8, 2025

Ken found a website (in English!) that has a series of self-guided walks you can do in Fukuoka. https://www.fukuoka-now.com/en/walkable-city-fukuoka/  We decided to do the walk in the area around the station because that area has a lot of the major tourist sites.

There is a lot of public art in Fukuoka. My understanding is that there was a big exposition here in 1989 (Asian-Pacific Expo Fukuoka ‘89), and that’s when and why a lot of the public art went in. The Expo commemorated the centennial of the founding of Fukuoka City in 1889 by means of a merger of Hakata and Fukuoka.

While we looked over the tour itinerary, we sat on a bench outside the station near a wonderful sculpture by Henry Moore called “Draped Reclining Mother and Baby.” 

We were sitting behind the statue. It was very funny to watch individual reactions to it. The mother’s head had a bun or something in the back which stuck out, and this made it look like the head of some animal from the back. If you were coming out of the station, you would immediately see the front of the statue and understand it. If you were coming to the station, you would see the back and might not be able to figure it out. I thought the buttocks were pretty obvious, but so many people didn’t realize they were seeing the back of the statue. They took photos of and posed in photos of the backside, and never even saw the front. In most cases they didn’t seem to realize that it was the back of a nude human.

I also found a geocache near the station. To be more specific, it involved this statue, “Hakata Doll.” A Hakata doll is a traditional Japanese doll made of unglazed clay.

We walked to our next stop on the walking course, aadmiring the flower boxes that lined the road.

When we arrived at Rakusuien Garden, it looked closed. Googled it and found out it is closed on Tuesdays. But the wall that kept us out was a work of art! This style of wall is called Hakata-bei.

Onward, to Chikuzen Province Ichinomiya Sumiyoshi Shrine. This was the first Sumiyoshi Shrine in Japan and it is one of the “Three Great Sumiyoshi Shrines.” It is designated as a national “Important Cultural Property.” The shrine was probably founded before 806 CE. It was destroyed in the 16th century and was restored in 1623.

The deities enshrined at Sumiyoshi are the god of purification of body and soul, the god of safety in seafaring, and the god of sumo wrestling. I still don’t know exactly what this means.

There was no English signage, so we were unsure what we were seeing most of the time. We have learned a few things about shrines in general, however.

• The striking vermillion color used to paint most of the structures is believed to ward off evil spirits. 
• Foxes are seen serving as guardians at many shrines. 
• Torii gates symbolize the transition from the ordinary world to sacred space.

A pair of stone foxes guards the path through these torii gates

This tiny cave was especially puzzling to us

As we walked to Canal City we quickly re-entered the everyday world of traffic and commerce.

Canal City is a shopping and entertainment complex with a striking design.  After some ice cream we walked out to the “canal” and realized that a fountain show was about to begin.

We were very impressed by the imaginative fountain display, which lasted about 5 minutes. Here is a 21-second video:

There was more to the walking course, but we felt like going back to the hotel and relaxing in our luxurious suite. We went to the Executive Lounge for happy hour. I noticed that they used slices of trees to create a display for the small buffet service.

I love this look. I think I am going to try to make some of these “tree trunk trivets” when we get home.

Today’s fabric is “Fox in the Forest” by sissi-kaiserlos for Spoonflower.