Day 44: 14 May 2009

LOCATION: FUKUOKA
MOOD: ON TOP OF THE WORLD
LISTENING TO: T.I. FEAT RIHANNA – LIVE YOUR LIFE

CITY BOY:

Putting the previous day's disappointment behind me I packed my bags and hopped on the train to Fukuoka, the hub of the southernmost of Japan's four islands, Kyushu. Fukuoka (also known as Hakata) is also the largest city west of Osaka, and it was nice to be back in a proper big city after going through a series of medium-sized ones. When consulting various travel guides and friends about planning my itinerary for this trip I had been advised to only stop briefly in Fukuoka; I was told that there were more important sights to see and that there was nothing particularly special there. That may be true, but my one day in Fukuoka left me craving more.

This refinery marks the point where you cross into Kyushu. I was a little concerned that my taking photos of strategic interests like this would attract unwanted attention from the security cameras on the train, but it was a chance I was willing to take.

First impressions of Kyushu. I could get used to life down south.

My hostel was a pretty run down backpacker place several blocks away from the station and it made for quite a contrast with the joint I had stayed at in Hiroshima. However what it lacked in facilites it made up in collegiality; the establishment was mostly staffed by live-in travellers who worked in exchange for board. I struck up a conversation with one of the cleaners who turned out to be an Aussie pearl diver from Cairns who had come to Japan on a working holiday visa to help with his girlfriend's father's fertiliser business. A bit of a change of pace, but he seemed to be getting along just fine.

The view from the entrance of Fukuoka central station (which is coincidentally called 'Hakata Station', as a nod to the city's dual identity).

I can't lie - I'm a city boy at heart.

After I dumped my stuff at the hostel I set out for the downtown district, Tenjin. I had the option of taking a train or a bus, and the girl at the reception advised me to take a bus so I could see the scenery along the way. That sounded like a fair enough argument but I soon realised that the downside of taking a bus is that unless you're familiar with your destination it's possible to get lost quite easily. I ended up wasting around an hour walking around looking for the main downtown district but I really wasn't that fussed. It was even sort of nice to be able to get a feel for the city and take a little time to meander. Perhaps the visit to the A-Bomb museum had given me a new sense of patience and perspective.

I think I crossed this bridge a couple of times while I was trying to get my bearings. Could've had a worse view, I suppose.

Eventually I did find my way to my destination and spent some time looking around. Being the downtown shopping district of such a large city Tenjin was bound to be impressive, and it didn't disappoint. The main street is lined with massive department stores, restaurants, cafes and bistros. If you get tired of checking out the flashy merchandise you can give your eyes a bit of a break by seeing those same items worn by the beautiful women that roam the city. There really did seem to be a disproportionate number of good looking women in Fukuoka, and not just in the shopping district; even riding the subway you're able to catch sight of scores of pretty young things. In Japanese they actually have a word for this phenomenon: Hakata-bijin (Hakata Beauty).

Downtown Tenjin, where it costs a fortune to buy but it's free to look.

HANGING GARDENS:

It was fairly late in the afternoon by this point so I didn't bother going to check out the more touristy sights like Fukuoka castle because I wouldn't make it in time. Besides, I had seen plenty of historical sights already. Seeing as I was already in Tenjin I decided to check out the ACROS Step Garden. The ACROS building is an trendy upscale establishment that houses a number of upmarket boutiques as well as concert halls and high class restaurants. On the outside of the building however is the self-explanatory Step Garden, a staircase lined with gardens that leads to a rooftop observatory. I'm not sure if the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were its inspiration, but that's what sprung to mind as I climbed to the summit. The observatory itself was closed but I got high up enough to get some really nice shots of the city.

The ACROS building in all its pyramidal glory.

The view from a couple of storeys up. The gardens overlook Fukuoka central park, which was more of a small clearing ringed with trees than a park.

The climb isn't actually that arduous. It helps that the steps aren't at all steep.

It's like a greenhouse, except without the house. And with views.

The view from the peak. You would think I would get tired of these panoramic aerial shots, but I never do.

Of course when chasing shots such as the one above you should never lose sight of the fundamental truth that the higher you climb, the further you have to climb back down.

STRAIGHT OUT THE PARK:

All that walking had me pretty worn out so I decided to head back to the hostel for a breather. After a snack and some surfing the web I was confronted with the question of what to do with the night. My initial plan had been to go and check out the futuristic shopping and entertainment complex called Canal City, but the Wikitravel guide strongly recommended that I check out a baseball game while I was in town. I recalled reading a similar piece of advice about Hiroshima, and I decided that I wouldn't let this opportunity go wanting.

It was strange going to a ball game and not having any drunk white guys yelling 'GO (insert team)! WOOOOOO!!!'.

The journey to the ballpark was quite a long one given that I had a fair walk from the hostel to the subway station, a lengthy train trip and another walk from the subway to the stadium. The train trip wasn't so bad thanks to the aforementioned eye candy, and the walk to the stadium wasn't too bad either. The stadium, the Fukuoka Yahoo! Dome, is in what appeared to be a pretty big entertainment district. In addition to the stadium there were large shopping malls and arcades, and the bay area was within walking distance. I didn't make it in time for the start of the match but I was still able to get a ticket and I got seated around the third innings.

The old couple with their backs turned to the camera were scalping tickets. It's nice to know that some sporting experiences are universal.

The atmosphere was truly something that had to be experienced to be believed. Fukuoka Dome is a cavernous structure with a seating capacity of around 36,000 and acoustic properties that lend themselves to lively matches. At first I didn't even realise that the match had started; I'm not sure what ball games are like in the States, but here it seemed like the entire crowd was moving around in the stands as the game continued, almost in the background.

Anybody who says that Japanese people don't know how to have fun clearly haven't been to a ball game in Japan.

It was a little hard to keep track of the game, but it didn't seem like anybody was there for that anyway.

The first thing you notice when you enter are the cheer squads. Back home at football matches you have the cheersquads seated at opposite ends of the ground behind the opposing sets of goals, and although they're loud it's mostly just unorganised energy flowing in a certain direction. In Japan the cheer squads have entire sections of bleachers to themselves and bring an astounding amount of coordination to their enthusiasm. There is, as they say, a method to the madness. The squads bring in entire ensembles to play the various theme songs of their team, and it seems that everyone knows what part they're playing. It really is a spectacle to behold to see an entire legion of fans chanting in unison to a marching band that has swapped traditional percussion for taiko drums. There's none of the tinny 'da-da-da-da' loudspeaker music that they play at American ballgames.

In addition to this there is a veritable army of kids selling pretty much everything you need for a good time at the game; beer, food, ice cream, clapsticks, team uniforms. The spectators themselves are getting up and moving around, chatting with each other, laughing, eating and, at points, barely paying attention to the game.

They were selling these balloons prior to half time, and I was wondering whether they were for waving or clapping. As it turns out, at the end of the half time show everybody lets their balloon go and they all fly up into the air at the same time. Very cool.

It helped that the game itself was a cracker. The home team, the Softbank Fukuoka Hawks, were playing the Lotte Chiba Marines. Each team has a major corporate sponsor that actually takes precedence over the city that hosts the team; in this case, the hometeam was actually known officially as the Softbank Hawks. I didn't know anything about Japanese baseball going into the match so I didn't know who was the underdog, but by the bottom of the ninth inning the visitors were up 4 runs to 2. This had been the score for the past couple of innings so I was considering leaving to beat the crowds, but just as I was contemplating this the home team hit a home run with a runner on first base, tying the game at 4 all. It was thus an easy to decision to stick around.

As it turned out, I didn't have to stick around for long – the very next ball was another home run, sealing the game. The crowd went nuts.

One thing that a photo can never capture is the roar of the crowd. It was DEAFENING.

This was a remarkable come from behind win and I felt extremely lucky to witness it; of all the games I could have gone to, I was glad I went to one where the crowd was so lively and the match such a classic. Admittedly I got a little caught up in the euphoria and ended up forking out for a Softbank Hawks cap (which I proudly wore on the subway home), but I figured that I was only going to be young once.

All in all it was a pretty good night.

Good weather, beautiful women and a thriving sports culture. How can any guy not enjoy himself here?