Fukuoka

Sunny, friendly Fukuoka is Kyūshū’s largest city and Japan’s eighth-largest population centre. It’s made up of two former towns: the castle town of Fukuoka on the west bank of the Naka-gawa and the merchant town of Hakata on the east bank. Although the two towns merged in 1889 as Fukuoka, the name Hakata is still widely in use (for instance, it’s Fukuoka Airport but Hakata Station) and a cultural touchpoint.