Taking off

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We hit the streets of Fukuoka early, around 8 a.m., and headed toward Hakata Station. Though the sidewalks here are huge, they also serve as bike lanes, and dodging bicyclists wasn't as easy as it may seem.

Fukuoka may not as bustling as Tokyo or as culturally significant as Kyoto. But this city — the capital of Fukuoka Prefecture and the sixth largest in Japan — has its own kind of charm.

First off, it’s walkable. Meaning, from our hotel in Gion, we can literally walk anywhere — to the shops in Hakata Station to the 767-foot Fukuoka Tower. And along the way, there are shrines and restaurants and huge parks. (Fukuoka was ranked No. 12 most livable cities by the London-based magazine Monocle because of its many green spaces in an urban setting.)

So on our first full day in Fukuoka, we donned walking shoes and hit the streets, deciding to just wander around and see what we’d find.

With a map, of course.

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