No Call Number: Fukuoka

As seeing Japan has been a dream of ours for awhile, we decided to take my long weekend to see the piece of Japan that is closest to us. Early this morning, we hopped a hydrofoil from Busan to Fukuoka. This ferry, called the Beetle, is a funny looking thing that sits above water on two fins and goes really fast. The trip took us two hours. I must say, approaching the islands by sea was a spectacular way to see the country for the first time.

Upon landing, we were immediately confronted with one of Japan's bigger frustrations (for foreigners, at least). Most Japanese ATMS will not take foreign cards. This is an issue in Korea as well, but we can at least count on train and subway stations to have foreign card ATMS. This is not the case in Japan. On the advice of a friendly tourist information counter attendant, we hiked a good half mile to the 7-11, suitcases in tow. There we found an ATM's that would accept our cards.

That blip aside, we made it to our hotel, where they told us we couldn't check in until 2. We stored the bags and set out for Canal City, a very sophisticated looking mall. There is a canal running through the center. I have never been a huge fan of malls, but in Korea I've found they're one of the best places to eat. The same seems to be true in Japan. We found a sushi restaurant with a conveyer belt. Here's how it works: various dishes with two or three pieces of sushi pass by on a conveyer belt. Each price has a different color plate. You select your sushi plates, eat them, and stack them on the counter. When you are ready to leave, the attendants count your plates and give you your bill. The restaurant also included little green tea fountains at each seat, which was icing on the (sushi filled) cake.

After checking into our room, we wandered about a bit. We ran across a Shinto shrine, which is similar to a Korean buddhist temple in structure and layout, but very different. Japanese temples lack the elaborate paintings of Korean ones, but they have these beautiful gate structures. There also appears to be far more writing on Japanese temples—Korean temples have mainly pictures. There was a vending machine where (I think) you could purchase certain prayers.

Fukuoka is a ramen city, apparently, and we saw several outdoor ramen shops lining the canals. Almost all of them had big red lanterns outside, and they set up at dusk. We went looking for Ippudo, a much lauded ramen shop. We actually wandered into the wrong restaurant, but the host pointed us the way to the correct one. Japanese people, like Koreans, are very considerate. At Ippudo, there were only three items on the menu, but the ramen I had was soulful. I have heard that real ramen is a treat, and I have been waiting to try it. Korean ra-myun, as far as I've seen, is very similar to the kind that comes out of a bag. This is not so in Fukuoka. The broth itself has so many flavors I can only imagine what it is made of.

There are a few things we noticed about Japan off the bat More people in Japan speak English. There are a lot of bikers in Daegu, but there are scads in Fukuoka (Bobby pointed out that unlike Daegu, Fukuoka is flat). Japanese restaurants are “your plate, my plate” kinds of places, unlike Japanese restaurants in Daegu. I have so fallen into the habit of sharing food that I still pick off of Bobby's plate, which I'm not sure he likes. Japan is expensive, more so with the weak dollar. Japanese tea is out of this world. Japanese people are not as pushy as Koreans can be, and you don't have cars driving on the sidewalks or people fighting to be the first in the door like you do in Korea. There are no public displays of drunkenness. Nonetheless, I was a little miffed when an American we met at the sushi restaurant said that Japanese people are considerate, unlike Koreans (he has not been to Korea). I remember all the Koreans who have gone out of their way to help us when we look confused. The two cultures are different, but both are considerate. Japanese people will stand back at a crowded doorway, but no one has stopped to help me while I am staring at a map, a menu, or a pile of coins in my hand.

The recycling here is confusing enough to require a class. There are different trash cans for bottles, plastic, paper, and “combustibles”, though no food waste. I had to turn on my LAN port to get internet (to be precise, I had to call the front desk and tell them my internet isn't working and have them show me how to turn on my LAN port). The toilets here all have heated seats and several buttons, though it's difficult to find the flusher.

There are less neon lights than in Korea, but there is more art to them. In Korea, there are several signs made up of lighted letters. In Fukuoka, there are elaborate LED displays with pictures.

Tomorrow, Hiroshima. (Editor's note: I left the last line on the post for novelty's sake).