Fukuoka Prefecture Specialties, Souvenirs, Shrines, Temples, and Travel | 47 Prefecture Guide

Fukuoka is the major city closest to the Asian continent Everything that came from the continent passed through here. Its industries and faith traditions can both be explained by that location.

Specialties

Karashi mentaiko is, is Korean Peninsula mentaiko remade to suit Japanese tastes. It was born in postwar Hakata.

Tonkotsu ramen emerged around the same time. A considerable number of this prefecture’s specialties began at postwar food stalls. The word “tradition” does not always mean a thousand years. What gathers people, competes, and survives can also become a local specialty.

Amaou strawberries, Yame tea (among Japan’s top producers of gyokuro), and Hakata jidori chicken.

Souvenirs

Keiran somen, Hiyoko, and Umegae mochi. And Hakata dolls.

Umegae mochi is a rice cake grilled along the approach to Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine. It is associated with the legend of an old woman who offered rice cakes to Sugawara no Michizane. It is an example of worship and souvenirs being directly connected.

Shrines and Temples

Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine (Dazaifu City) is a shrine built over the grave of Sugawara no Michizane in total.

Michizane was demoted from Kyoto to this area and died two years later. After that, disasters continued in Kyoto, and the worship of Tenjin began with efforts to pacify Michizane’s spirit. He came to be worshipped as the god of learning because Michizane was a scholar. A faith that began in fear became, over a thousand years, a shrine for students taking entrance exams. Along with Kitano and Hofu, it is counted among Japan’s three great Tenjin shrines.

Munakata Taisha Shrine (Munakata City) was registered as a World Cultural Heritage site in 2017. On Okinoshima, the entire island is considered a sacred body, and public landing is not permitted. More than 80,000 votive offerings have been found on the island, many of them National Treasures. Its role as a place to pray for safe voyages to the continent remains in physical form.

Hojoya at Hakozaki Shrine (Fukuoka City) and the great shimenawa rope at Miyajidake Shrine.

Sightseeing

Hakata’s food stalls and Nakasu-Kawabata, Mojiko Retro, Kawachi Wisteria Garden, Former Head Office of the Imperial Steel Works, Yawata (a component part of the World Heritage Site “Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution”).

Hakata Gion Yamakasa (UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage) is held in July. There are two types: decorative yamakasa floats around 10 meters tall, and kaki-yamakasa floats that are carried and run through the streets.

Traditional Crafts

There are 7 nationally designated items. Kurume kasuri, Hakata-ori textile, Agano ware, Koishiwara ware, Yame Fukushima Buddhist altars, Yame lanterns, and Hakata dolls.

Hakata-ori textiles are said to be based on techniques brought back by a Hakata merchant who studied them in Song China in the 13th century. It uses many warp threads to weave firm obi sashes. The geography of being close to the continent became, quite directly, the origin of the craft. Kurume kasuri is one of Japan’s three great kasuri textiles.

For details, see [VILLAGE Report vol.2] Weaving Techniques That Crossed the Sea

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References: Fukuoka Prefecture, Fukuoka City, Dazaifu City, Munakata City, Kurume City, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Association for the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries — Value Village Editorial Team