Fascists

With all the traveling around the last couple of days I hadn't seen much of Fukuoka itself. And because i already visited the biggest attractions I thought it would be nice to just stroll around the shopping area in Tenjin and do some people watching. A small detour on the way brought me to Fukuoka tower, a 110 meter high structure that serves as a lookout and controlling point for the harbour but is also a free lookout point over the city. The entrance was free so there was no harm in paying a visit. The view is actually pretty nice since you can see the city and the waterside at the same time. There was not much else to do and so i got back down to ground level and continue my walk to and through the Tenjin area. Underway i saw heaps of tourist being lead to tax-free shopping centers where they could buy rice-cookers, amongst other things.
Somebody had told me about a great second hand shop called "Book Off" that not only sells second hand books but, depending on the shop, almost anything that can be sold. I was looking for an extra pair of shorts and figured this would be a nice place to get one for cheap. It took some time to find the shop as it was located on the top floors of a department store. But once found it was easy to find my way through the heaps of stuff on sale there. Clothing is neatly sorted and very reasonably priced. I found myself a nice pair of shorts for only 800 yen and browsed through the shop before continuing my walk through Tenji. It had gotten past noon so i set myself down in a Starubu to escape the blistering heat and update my blog while enjoying a Macha Latte. I try to get no more than three days behind in my blogging and this session brought me back on schedule again. As i was walking around i suddenly heard a lot of loud screams behind me and as i looked behind me saw a protestmarch going on. The protesters were waving Japanese imperial flags and in front there was a car with loudspeakers on it that were screaming in Japanese. There were roughly 30 protesters protected by a couple of hundred policemen. It turned out to be a fascist demonstration of people who, for some reason, had something against Korea. No not North but South Korea. Around the protestmarch and the wall of policemen were also a hundred anti-fascists having a counter protest. I was intrigued and decided to follow it and see what would happen. Eventually the protesters ended up on a square in the middle of Tenji. They tried to get their hateful message across but the gathered anti-fascists tried to make sure they couldn't. :-) It was a loud mishmash of screaming megaphones. After some small skirmishes the police ended the demonstration. I went back on my way and after walking a couple of rounds i ended up back at the same square where a communist rally was now going on. The crowd was a mixture of older and younger people although the latter seemed more involved with their phones than in the rally. I got me a couple of Highball drinks and just watched and enjoyed the spectacle before heading back to the hostel for my daily afternoon shower. :-P
I met Andresh from Hungary in the common room and since we both hadn't eaten yet, we went out to find one of the recommended ramen-ya that serves the famous Hakata ramen. A short walk brought us to the shop but unfortunately it was closed for the day. Luckily there are plenty of other ramens shops so we quickly found another one. And it was pretty good. I just love the pork belly they add in their ramen here. It's utterly mouthwatering. After getting back to the hostel i set off one more time to try out the Yatai. Yatai are foodstalls you can find out in the streets of Fukuoka. They serve simple but good meals and i had to try it for myself. But as i got there my good mood was quickly spoiled. I wasn't that hungry so i just wanted to order some yakitori. The first Yatai i was sent away from because i had to order ramen first. The second one did not hear my simple question and just kept repeating "waiting line, waiting line" and the last one just sent me away before he offered the two free seats at his stall to a couple walking three meters behind me. There were more Yatais to try but my good mood was totally gone and i decided to head back to the hostel and get some snacks and drinks before going to bed.もっと詳しく