Night Stroll in Nakasu, Fukuoka's Red Light District (Kyushu, Japan)

Naka River from Fukuhaku Deai Bridge

Someone wrote about Nakasu as "the underbelly of the dregs of Japanese society" where yakuza and the local mafia rule alongside street walkers and geishas. It is this picture that fueled my imagination. I've been to Quartier Pigalle of Paris, Reeperbahn of Hamburg, Soho of London, Kabukicho of Tokyo, Nagarekawa of Hiroshima, Tobita Shinchi of Osaka, and Centro Novo and Republica Square of Sao Paulo. I've always been fascinated with the psychology behind the kitch and sleeze of a big city as much as I am with places of worship. Having that in mind, I wanted to see it. I was a bit wary and debated if I should take my camera with me. 

I took the subway to Tenjin eventually strolling along Naka River. The neon lights on the Naka River are famous. They get visited by over 60,000 visitors a day. It has the busiest street in Kyushu. But the crowd that night wasn't big. It doesn't compare to the manual traffic of, say Shibuya or Dotonbori. It provided a leisurely stroll for me. 

Kuroda Nagamasa (Wikimedia)

Nakasu is actually an island flanked by the sandbanks of Hakata River and Naka River, thus its name, "Nakasu" which literally means "the island in the middle". 

In 1600, Kuroda Nagamasa, a daimyo of Fukuoka, created Nakasu. There was once a huge department store and rows of cinemas lining its streets. But the entertainment epicenter of Fukuoka has since moved to Tenjin and Daimyo districts in Chuo-ku. Nakasu is the country's 3rd biggest red light district after the ones in Tokyo and Osaka.

Nakasu's streets were full of brightly lit restaurants and bars beside each other. I saw what looked like a tombstone that read "Tenjin Central Park" which was just a row of potted flowers on a bridge to the other side of the river. The yatai (food cards) seemed few. Officially, there are about 150 of them left since the government's crack down on new mobile food stalls.

Nakasu, Fukuoka's red-light district, was an easy walk. It has about 3,500 restaurants, shops, go-go bars, pubs and beer gardens. And there's the sex trade that mostly caters to locals. Many of these sex-oriented establishments refuse entry of foreigners. 

Some areas were intimidating so I tried to keep a low profile, walking faster, and kept my camera away. But this was unlike Tokyo's Kabukicho where touts and pimps would follow me around, peddling their trade. Nakasu was a lot more chill.

Clearly, Nakasu wasn't a place you could take your children to. You need to be vigilant. Mostly, it felt safe. But the face of risk never looked scary. 

Naka River

A trio of geishas as the symbol of Nakasu

The scope of Tenjin Central Park is this row of flowers on the foot bridge crossing to the other side of the Naka River.

The bright lights of the Naka River is host to 60,000 daily tourists... supposedly.

Back to the Tenjin area where the subway entrance is close by.

Fukushima District's Machiya Houses in Yame City (Fukuoka Prefecture, Kyushu)

Some of the most beautiful of Japanese countryside I have seen are in the remote corners of Yame City in Kyushu. That's a fact that doesn't need sugarcoating. Thus when I read about Fukushima District's row of "Machiya" (traditional town houses), I knew that's where I wanted to go first. Take me there!

White Clay Walls

There are about 130 documented buildings of varying designs from the Meiji, Taisho and Showa era; houses of merchants and craftsmen. The walls were made of white clay to protect the houses from fire. 

But they have ceased to be residential houses. Very few were turned into cafes. Most have been turned into shops selling tea, paper lanterns, miso shops, altar stores, family confectioneries, seed suppliers, fish paste shops and family grocers. Without a doubt, these made the area vibrant, and the central point of Yame. On paper, the whole she-bang sounded exciting.

In 1587, Fukushima Castle was built here. A town eventually grew and flourished around the castle. But in 1620, about 33 years after the castle was put up, Kurome Domain took control of the area and the castle had to be demolished. I think there was a law that prohibited having more than one castle in a locality. Nowadays, the houses were turned into stores and workshops for handicraft and other products, 

Hakata to Chikugo City

This is where I came to visit. From Fukuoka, I took a JR train from Hakata Station to Hainuzuka Station. The JR staff had to consult a thick book of JR schedules since they weren't very familiar with Yame's train schedule. Running southeast, my train took 40 minutes to get to Hainuzuka, which is located in the small city called Chikugo. I had to be vigilant and attentive because every stop wasn't announced. Even the LED prompter on my train was written in Japanese characters. I didn't want to miss my train stop.

Station Stops

My train had a terminal stop at Omuta, departing the platform at 8:40 AM. From Hakata, it had stops at the following: Akeshita, Sasabaru, Minami-Fukuoka, Onojo, Futsukaichi, Haruda, Kiyama, Tosu, Kurume, Araki, and then Hainuzuka for my stop, arriving at 9:20 AM.

Hainuzuka Station had few commuters. The station was opened in 1891 and is now 127 years old. Knowing that impressed me. If you don't have a car with you, the Horkawa Bus Stop is just 50 meters from the station. The bus can take you all the way to Yame and Kurogi.

Upon reaching Fukushima, it was drizzling. I wasn't sure if cars were allowed to park by the road side. I stepped outside feeling the electricity of excitement run down my spine. Stood on the road where the Machiya house are. And sighed.

The restoration, unfortunately, didn't look impressive. This was how it may have looked back in the days, but there was nothing to crow about. The place looked rundown. Maybe I was in the wrong section of Fukushima? Most shops were closed, unless it is tradition to shut their doors and have tourists knock on them. I didn't think so.

"This is it?" I thought.

Photo of Fukushima District from a museum I visited.

Machiyas had fire-proof white clay walls. Miniatures of Fukushima.

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