Top choice in Fukuoka
The 3m-tall sculpture of a cat in a diving suit standing guard outside is your first clue that this place is not like the others. Spanking-new, 164-bed, nine-storey WeBase pays tribute to Hakata's shipping history with clever nautical motifs throughout, and it calls the minimalist private rooms 'cabins'. The up-to-date bunk beds have built-in reading lamps and electrical outlets.
No meals are served, but the top-floor lounge has a kitchen, in addition to an extensive library and rooftop access.
8.92 MILES
Among the countless visitors to the grand, sprawling Tenman-gū – shrine and burial place of poet-scholar Tenman Tenjin – are students making offerings and…
9.22 MILES
Built into the tranquil eastern hills of Dazaifu and reached through more escalators than can be found at the average airport, this striking structure …
26.67 MILES
Nicknamed Maizuru-jō (Dancing Crane Castle), this elegantly proportioned white castle (built 1608, rebuilt 1966 and refurbished 2017) is picturesquely…
0.24 MILES
Spread over three machiya (traditional Japanese townhouses), this folk museum re-creates a Hakata nagare (neighbourhood unit) from the late Meiji era…
0.12 MILES
On the upper floors of the Hakata Riverain mall, this large museum houses the world-renowned Asia Gallery, and additional galleries for special…
27.38 MILES
Karatsu-yaki is defined by the work of 14 generations of the Nakazato family. Walk through the shop, which feels like a museum unto itself, and cross the…
26.98 MILES
This fabulously restored late–Meiji period villa of a local trader is built in a mix of Japanese and Western styles, with lantern-filled gardens, a…
29.86 MILES
This colourful morning market for squid, fish and produce animates the quaint, dwindling fishing port of Yobuko (呼子) each day, drawing visitors from all…
0.12 MILES
On the upper floors of the Hakata Riverain mall, this large museum houses the world-renowned Asia Gallery, and additional galleries for special…
2. Hakata Traditional Craft & Design Museum
0.18 MILES
This compact museum displays stellar examples of local crafts, Hakata-ori textiles, Hakata ningyō (Hakata dolls), papier-mâché Daruma and lion figures,…
0.23 MILES
The intimate Kushida-jinja, municipal Shintō shrine of Hakata, traces its history to AD 757 and sponsors the Hakata Gion Yamakasa Matsuri, in which…
4. Hakata Machiya Furusato-kan
0.24 MILES
Spread over three machiya (traditional Japanese townhouses), this folk museum re-creates a Hakata nagare (neighbourhood unit) from the late Meiji era…
5. Hakata Local History Museum
0.26 MILES
On the grounds of the Kushida-jinja shrine, this old-school museum has many displays about the Hakata Gion Yamakasa Matsuri, as well as swords, ancient…
0.34 MILES
Tōchō-ji houses the Fukuoka Daibutsu, Japan's largest seated wooden Buddha (10.8m high, 30 tonnes, completed in 1992) and some impressively carved Kannon …
0.35 MILES
Built in 1910, this historic French Renaissance–style building, a nationally registered important cultural property, can be found just across the river…
0.38 MILES
Shōfuku-ji is considered the oldest Zen temple in Japan, founded in 1195 by Eisai, who introduced Zen and tea to Japan; the nation's first tea plants are…