Kyushu Run Sheet

1Land FD236

Fukuoka Airport

Kuko line runs airport → Hakata → Gion with no transfer

You and Janelle. Your parents, Lily and Dan have been here since the 8th.

2Drop bags

Nishitetsu Hotel Croom Hakata Gion

Straight to your parents' room · no lockers needed

They checked in on the 8th, so the bags go upstairs and you start the day empty-handed.

3Breakfast

The Full Full Hakata

A small Hakata bakery known for its mentaiko baguette, spicy cod roe baked into bread.

5 min walk · opens 10:00 · closed Tuesdays

The mentaiko baguette draws a line. If you want something earlier, Bread Espresso & Hakata opens at 08:00, 12–15 minutes away.

4Temple walk

Kushida Shrine → Tochoji → Shofukuji

Kushida has guarded the city since 757 and stores the giant Yamakasa festival floats. Tochoji holds Japan's largest seated wooden Buddha. Shofukuji was the first Zen temple built in Japan, founded by the monk who introduced tea to the country.

All walkable from the hotel · no subway · ¥100 for the Tochoji Great Buddha

The best parent-paced block of the whole trip. Ninety minutes to two hours without hurrying.

5Lunch, just the four of you

麺や 石井 Menya ISHII

A small udon counter near Hakata Station with a real local following, and a queue to match.

Hakata Ekimae 3-9-5 · 5 min from Hakata Station Exit 1 · about 14 counter seats

This works because it is only four of you at this point. Lily and Dan join later, at the Tenjin shopping, and six would have meant splitting the counter into two waves. Expect 15 to 60 minutes of queue at peak; they sell a paid fast-pass at the door. Arrive either side of the noon rush if you can. Ramen Kanetora at Hakata Deitos is the fallback and takes card, which is rare for ramen.

6Shopping

Tenjin, then Daimyo

Tenjin is the department-store core. Daimyo is the low-rise grid behind it, full of vintage shops and independent labels.

Two stops Gion → Tenjin · Solaria 10:00–20:30

Solaria and the department stores anchor Tenjin. Daimyo, five to ten minutes further west, is the boutique and vintage layer. Tenjin Chikagai underground if it rains.

7Coffee

Scapes

A café and bar that doubles as a bonsai and flower shop, open late.

5–8 min walk, near Kushida Shrine · open to 24:00 on weekdays

Your standout coffee pick and the closest of all 13 pins to the hotel. A bonsai and flower café-bar, not another bakery.

8Dinner

むさし坐 銀メダル Musashiza Gin Medal

A grill restaurant built around an open irori hearth in the middle of the room, where the yakitori and genshi-yaki are cooked in front of you. Calm rather than rowdy, which suits the table.

Watanabedori 5-5-15 · Tenjin-Minami station, 3 min · about ¥8,000 each

Booked for six. This is Tenjin-minami, not Nakasu, which is why the bars below moved.

9ADrinks, the quiet option

Notime Mixology Bar

A mixology bar with counter and sofa seating and a quiet, adult room, five minutes from where dinner ends.

Watanabedori 5-13-21, 2F · 4–5 min walk · 14:00–01:00 · 20 seats

The pick for your parents: seated, not standing, and comfortably bigger than your group. Book by phone or Instagram. Closures are irregular, so check before you walk over. Washudokoro Shuhou, three minutes away with a 2,000-bottle sake cellar, is the backup, but it books online only so lock it in beforehand if you want it.

9BOr something more casual

LIBROM Craft Sake Brewery

A working sake brewery with a bar and an open terrace attached, pouring its own experimental brews alongside the usual. Loose and unfussy rather than a hushed cocktail counter.

Takasago 1-21-27 · 5–8 min walk · 15:00–23:00, last orders 22:30 · closed Mondays · 17 seats

The most relaxed of the three and the one your parents can settle into without it feeling formal. It shuts at 23:00, so start here and move on if the night keeps going. Book by phone on 092-753-9298 or by Instagram.

9COr an izakaya proper

博多炉端 つまむ。春吉店 Hakata Robata Tsumamu, Haruyoshi

Robatayaki, where things are grilled over charcoal in front of you and passed across the counter. A place to drink and pick at food rather than sit down to a meal.

2 min walk from Tenjin-Minami station · about ¥5,000 each

Closest of the three to dinner, and the most obviously Japanese night out. You will already have eaten, so treat it as drinks with a few skewers. Washudokoro Shuhou on Watanabedori is the other option, three minutes away with a 2,000-bottle sake cellar, but it takes online bookings only.

10If you are still going

Sound Bar Sapphire

A late bar with counter and sofa seating that runs until five in the morning.

Haruyoshi 3-21-28, 3F · 4 min from Notime · 21:00–05:00 · 16 seats

The only nearby option with clean late hours. Six is easy here. Your parents will have gone back by now.