Fukuoka and Dazaifu Tenmangū

Today we took the Shinkanzen from Hiroshima to Fukuoka, travelling 285 kms in under 70 minutes with 2 stops in the middle. These trains are extremely accurate. They arrive 2 minutes before the scheduled time of departure and depart on the second. The train crossed from Honshu to Kyushu in a tunnel.

Fukuoka is our last stop on this trip. But before wrapping up we have a lot to do here. So we left our luggage in the hotel and immediately headed out to see the Shinto shrine Dazaifu Tenmangū. The grounds of the shrine cover a big area, includes plum forests, ponds, a museum, and very impressive bridges.

An angry unicorn:

An overfed bird(?) that ate too much udon:

Hilltop shrine:

The bridge:

Some koi ponds. This bird on the other hand was fed only on raw fish. It's all about lifestyle:

And this is how to monetize on all this:

Students and pupils in Japan all wear school uniform. Each school has its own uniform. However additional patches, accessories or decoration on bags are not prohibited. Sometimes this is the only way for the students to express indivuduality, some kind if personality in this herd-behavior, uniformed country:

In the evening we were just meandering around the area of the hotel. Fukuoka looks like a fun city. We'll see more tomorrow.