Making Each Day Count

2025 is almost over, but we would not let the year pass by without a trip to Japan. This year we visited Fukuoka, and we were lucky to still catch the tail end of autumn. The splash of autumn colors was still visible around the city. Coming from a tropical country, autumn is my favorite season to travel, as I can never tire of seeing the yellow, red and orange leaves. We arrived late afternoon at the Fukuoka Airport, took the train into the city, and checked in at Fukuoka Toei Hotel for the night.

The sun was just about to set so we quickly dropped off our bags and headed out. We took the Nanakuma Line from Watanabe-Dori Station and hopped off at Kushida Shrine Station. A short walk brought us to the Hakata River, where the famous Fukuoka food stalls, called yatai, were beginning to open. Customers started going to the stalls as the city slowly switched to its evening scene.

Dinner was at Eel Eight which I was keen to check out based on the raves I read about it. There was a queue, but it moved quickly. Soon D and I were seated beside the kitchen where we watched the chef at work. D ordered the unagi and beef combo, while I went for the lighter unagi set. We liked how the food was presented, and the staff kindly explained how to enjoy the dish properly. We poured the dashi stock over the rice, unagi, and toppings to deepen the flavors. No trip to Japan feels complete without unagi, and this one delivered in every sense.

After dinner, we continued walking alongside the river and eventually reached Canal City Mall, just in time to enjoy its night fountain show. Water, light, and music danced together in the open-air complex and we were simply mesmerized.

From there, we wandered on and chanced upon a Christmas night market with lots of Santas. This is the first Christmas night market that I’ve been in, and I imagine it will be more beautiful when it starts to snow.

Fukuoka was quieter than what you’d find in other tourist-heavy cities like Tokyo or Osaka, but that calm gave this city its own kind of magic. Somewhere between the reflection of the river, the smell of warm food surrounding the yatai stalls, we realized how easily Fukuoka made us feel at home.