52 Fujis #24 - Fujisaki

Nothing about Fukuoka is initially at any rate, engaging. There’s a big festival on soon and the snippets we see of the preparations for it are interesting, but I’m not expecting great things from Fujisaki, a little subway station about ten minutes up the line from our hotel.

The station itself is located at the bottom of the Sawara ward civic center (sic), a nice grey building that could have come straight out of Milton Keynes. Inspiration is lacking. I spot a bridge in the distance, and head for it, hoping it will offer an expansive view over some dazzling vista. Or at least, show me something more interesting to head for. It has some nice reflections from the apartment buildings on either side, and that’s about it.

We’re hungry, so we head off in search of a ramen shop as it has already been decided that that’s what a (slightly) sick Mrs.Boyle wants for lunch. The first place we see is deemed too manky; we continue along a busy shopping street behind two women in kimonos shuffling along on their geta beneath classy umbrellas. They stop at a shop where they’re greeted with great enthusiasm by two other women in kimonos. It’s a kimono shop, thus neatly explaining all my questions without too much effort. The next ramen shop we come to is a ma and pa run joint that appears to operate from a converted living room. There are schoolboys at one table, a young business man at another and the counter sees a guy in a polo shirt sitting next to a truck driver. The guy in the polo shirt finishes his ramen and orders some more to take away. This place must be good. Turns out that it is, and the staff actually sound grateful when they thank people for their custom. It’s also cheap.

After lunch we circle around and head back to the station, passing nothing of note except a view of Fukuoka Tower in the distance, a sight that makes me wonder why on earth everyone is so into building towers in Japan. A lot of places seem to have to have a tall building whose primary function is to afford a panoramic view,　the other floors in the building just there for ballast. To cap off this marvellous farce, these buildings are, more often than not, utterly incongruous in their surroundings; they end up being merely a weird tribute to the modern world’s bizarre obsessions.

And a great example of my tax yen at work.

(This Fuji was visited on the 8th of July 2007)

Fujis remaining : 28
More pics at Flickr: Fujisakigumae.

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Monday, August 13th, 2007 52 Fujis, Japan Trackback URL for this entry