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Dazaifu and Yanagawa – Fukuoka Day Trip

Fukuoka Day Trip

Dazaifu and Yanagawa are popular destinations for a day trip from Fukuoka. They’re both picturesque places that offer a perfect contrast to the city and lots of opportunities to take beautiful photos of the more traditional side of Japan, just a short train ride away.

Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine Grounds

Dazaifu

The main attraction in Dazaifu is Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine. It’s a shrine complex with really beautiful gardens (including an iconic Japanese arched bridge), statues and grounds to explore. When I was researching things to do in Fukuoka, it seemed like almost everyone goes to Dazaifu!

Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine

Temporary Shrine Hall

Currently the main hall of Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine’s being renovated. During the renovations, there’s a temporary hall that looks really modern, with a floating garden on the roof. It’ll be there until 2027, when the work will be completed in time for Dazaifu’s main festival. Don’t be put off from visiting during the renovation work – I think the temporary hall’s beautiful in its own way. It looks really modern, and I love the natural addition of the roof garden. The rest of the grounds and gardens are unaffected, and you can still see the beautiful gate in the photo above.

Dazaifu Temporary Hall

Shopping Street

The road leading to the shrine from the station is an old Japanese street with shops selling snacks and souvenirs, including the umegai mochi I tried in the video. Umegai mochi are dough-like rice cakes filled with sweet red bean paste – they’re cooked fresh at several shops on this street. I love how different areas in Japan have local specialities – it really adds to the local character when there’s something special you can’t get anywhere else, and it’s something I’ve seen time and time again on my travels in Japan.

Dazaifu Shopping Street

Another common feature at tourist attractions is a souvenir stamp or stamp rally. Again, with the idea of being unique to one location, it’s a specially designed rubber stamp to commemorate your visit, a bit like checking in. It makes a lovely souvenir to collect them in a book – here’s my video about how to find them!

See what it’s like in my Video

Here’s my most recent video, featuring the shrine with the current temporary hall with the roof garden, and Kyushu National Museum:

This is an older video, showing the regular shrine hall and Tenkai Inari Shrine:

Plum Blossoms

Like other shrines with “tenjin” or “tenmangu” in the name, Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine’s known for plum blossoms, and they’re a symbol of the area. There are thousands of plum trees on the grounds, which bloom before the cherry blossoms, in February.

Plum Blossoms

Tenkai Inari Shrine

For me the highlight of Dazaifu is the inari shrine behind the main shrine. It’s hidden away in the woods – you have to climb some stairs to get to it, so it feels more like an adventure. You’re rewarded with an atmospheric shrine at the top, which is a lot less crowded than the main complex.

Inari shrine, Dazaifu
There’s a much quieter, more atmospheric inari shrine behind the main Dazaifu Tenmagu Shrine

Inari shrines are characterised by the red gates and fox statues – I love the imagery, which has been an inspiration for my designs.

Fox Ema Boards at Dazaifu Inari Shrine
Fox-themed ema boards for writing your wishes

Kyushu National Museum

If you like Japanese history, you’ll love Kyushu National Museum. It’s very close to the main temple in Dazaifu, in a stunning glass building. There are collections of swords, scrolls and artefacts from Japan and around Asia, as well as a 10m tall festival float that used to be carried around Fukuoka in a race around the streets.

Kyushu National Museum
Fukuoka Festival Float

More Things to do in Dazaifu

There’s lots more to do in Dazaifu beyond the shrines. You can spend a whole a day there, or a half day, before heading to Yanagawa in the afternoon. There’s more to see:

  • More shrines and temple to explore – Including a moss garden at Komyozenji Temple.
  • Dazaifu Amusement Park – The theme park we spotted from the top of the hill.
  • Seasonal festivals – Special events celebrating special times of year.

Yanagawa

Yanagawa is so picturesque! It’s known as the Venice of Japan, because you can take a punting trip on the waterways that used to be the castle moat. The boat trip’s about an hour long. It’s extremely relaxing, and you can take photos of beautiful canals lined with greenery and flowers. You’ll also see lots of old Japanese houses (and people’s back gardens!).

There’s a shop on the way, where you can grab an ice cream or kakigori as you float by. You can also rent traditional conical hats to keep the sun off!

The boat trip’s one way, so you can either take the bus back or walk. It’s flat and an easy 30-40 minute walk, giving you the chance to see the waterways from another angle. Stroll along quiet streets where people live and go about their daily lives is interesting in itself, giving another perspective on what life’s like in a town in Japan.

Yanagawa - Venice of Japan
For me this was the most beautiful part of the boat trip – just look at those reflections in the water!
Yanagawa, Japan
So many picturesque views

The local specialty in Yanagawa is steamed eel. It’s served in a box on a bed of rice – they don’t have a vegetarian option so I didn’t try it, but there are eel restaurants at the end of the boat trip, and you can get a ticket than includes a meal as well.

How to Get There

From Fukuoka to Dazaifu: Take the Nishitetsu line from the Nishitetsu station in Tenjin (Nishitetsu is the name of a train company – their station’s separate to Tenjin Station on the Fukuoka subway – follow the signs and you’ll find it). First go to Futsukaichi Station (15-25 mins from Tenjin), then it’s just a short ride to Dazaifu on the Dazaifu Line. As you can see in the video there’s clear signage in english showing you where to go. It’s a popular tourist attraction so they make it easy to find!

From Dazaifu to Yanagawa: Take the Tabito, a specially decorated train (with a souvenir stamp inside!) from Dazaifu to Yanawa.

From Yanagawa to Fukuoka: Take the Nishitetsu line back to Tenjin (about 50 minutes).

You can also travel easily (using the ticket below) from Yufuin, which is a popular hot springs resort town near Beppu, where we did the Beppu hells tour.

Dazaifu and Yanagawa Sightseeing Ticket

The ticket we used was the Dazaifu and Yanagawa Sightseeing Ticket from Nishitetsu railways. It included the train from Fukuoka to Dazaifu, the train to Yanagawa and the return journey, as well as the boat trip in Yanagawa. It costs 3.340 yen for adults (1,680 yen for children), which is less than the trains and boat ride would have been separately (the Nishitetsu lines aren’t covered by the JR Pass).

There are other ticket packages too, which include hot springs in Yanagawa, green tea and a rice cake, the Kyushu National Museum and various other attractions.

You can buy them from the ticket counter at Nishitetsu Tenjin Station (shown in the video). Follow signs to the platforms and it’s there, opposite the ticket gates, with an orange sign. There was an english speaker at the counter, and it was easy to buy the tickets.

More Things to Do in Kyushu and Fukuoka

Take a look at my videos for ideas for things to do in Kyushu and Fukuoka. There’s also my Japlanning series, with tips for planning your trip to Japan.

  • Beppu Hells – Tour of seven amazing natural hot springs that are around 100°C!
  • Fukuoka Castle Ruins and Ohori Park – Relaxing parks in Fukuoka – both free to visit.
  • Fukuoka Tower – Views of the city and ocean.
  • Momochi Seaside Park – Fukuoka’s by the sea, so you can enjoy time at the beach.
  • Kagoshima – Visit an active volcano at the southern end of Kyushu, easily accessible by shinkansen as a day trip from Fukuoka.
  • Nagasaki – An interesting city with lots to do, including one of Japan’s top night views – stay overnight or day trip on the shinkansen.
  • Night ferry – Easy way to get to Kyushu to/from Kobe or Osaka, to Kitakyushu (which is just 15 minutes from Fukuoka by bullet train). The ferry’s cheaper than a hotel plus shinkansen, and saves travelling time by sailing overnight.
  • Unzen Hells – Off-the-beaten track day trip from Kumamoto, with otherworldly natural steam vents and onsen on a volcano.
  • Shimabara – Pretty town with a castle and koi carp in the streets (day trip from Kumamoto – possible to visit together with the Unzen Hells).
Fukuoka Bay
View of the bay from Fukuoka Tower

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