Fukuoka Trip: Day 3 - Dream Bridge & Fukuoka City

... On my last day with Masa, we still had plenty left to see and do in our remaining time. We would be completing the third leg of a triangle we made driving from Fukuoka -> Nagasaki -> Kumaoto -> Fukuoka. In the morning it was raining heavily and we had planned to visit the nearby "Dream" suspension bridge which is mainly an attraction for tourists since it is only crossable by foot. With the bad weather we thought about skipping it, but in the end we decided to give it a try, and I'm glad we did.

By the time we arrived, the clouds were separating and we were lucky enough to get a glimpse of the sun. Walking across the bridge provided a spectacular view of the landscape around us. Getting to to other side and back was time consuming though, there was only enough room for a single file line going both ways. Another notable feature was that the bridge kept swaying in the wind and shaking as people would walk on it. It didn't feel very sturdy but that definitely added to the excitement.

Shortly after that, we finished our road trip and arrived back in Fukuoka.

Seaside Fukuoka

Masa gave me a quick glimpse of his apartment and we were then off to the Yahoo Dome which lies right on the water. The Dome is where Fukuoka's professional baseball team plays - the Softbank Hawks - and adjacent to it lies a mall complex. We went into one of the big arcades/entertainment centers to hit at the batting cages, but we ended up playing the big UFO catcher games instead. Masa had become a semi-professional (according to him) in getting the prizes and he gave me some pointers to get better at it. By the time we had finished playing, we had won a big pack of Kit Kats, Grape Taffy, and Chocolates.

Yahoo Dome

Mall exterior

Finally, we drove to downtown Fukuoka which had some major Japanese department stores and also luxurious foreign brands. Masa explained to me that Fukuoka is an oddity in Japan because it is one of only a few cities that has a population which spends more money than it earns - which has put some financial strain on the area in recent times. From what I could tell, Fukuoka looked like a smaller scaled Tokyo, with interesting architecture and well developed public transportation.

Masa in downtown Fukuoka

Near the main intersection of downtown Fukuoka also lies a subway station which is bordered by a huge underground mall. We did some window shopping for a bit and Masa ended my tour at the Bank of Japan office he is working at.

underground mall

Bank of Japan Fukuoka Office

Before flying out, Masa and I grabbed dinner at the airport - where I got some green tea flavored noodles (tasty!). We talked a little about our future plans and said a final goodbye before I jumped on the plane back to Tokyo.

Thanks for all those great memories Masa!