Japan and Korea--so small but so big

July 24, 2009 4:33 PM

Japan & South Korea Filter: Please help me find things to do in Fukuoka, Japan and suggest places to go as I travel back through South Korea's Busan, Daegu, and finally Gyeongju.

I am leaving today for Busan (South Korea), and then will be taking a boat across to Fukuoka of which I will spend three days exploring. After I will return back to Busan and work my way back near Seoul by train and other modes of transportation. I have about seven days total. On my way back I'd like to go to Daegu, Gyeonju, Ulsan, and other places.

I would really like to see as much as I can and do as much as possible during my rampage into Japan and across Korea. What should I see? What should I do? I will be traveling with one fun guy. We are adventurous and want diversity. We wanted to check out places along the train line, but are willing to go a bit of a ways from it. We've been waiting a long time to delve deeper into South Korea

posted by Knigel to travel & transportation (8 comments total)

Wow... I'm jealous of your upcoming trip. I was in South Korea for about two weeks a few years ago and really enjoyed the experience.

While in Pusan/Busan, I would strongly recommend that you spend a substantial amount of time in the market. The outdoor market is huge and amazing--truly one of the most impressive things that I've ever seen. You'll find merchants with everything from inlaid boxes, to fresh (?) kimchi, to merchants who will cut a specific size roll of masking tape from a huge roll! It's really not an experience to be missed. More information is at http://www.lifeinkorea.com/Travel2/22 .

On the way to Seoul, you might want to take a day trip to Mount Muju (http://www.skieguide.com/muju.php). Even though you'll be there in the summer, they have fantastic shopping and physical activities--such as a water slide using snow sleds on an astroturf-covered ski slope. And, the chair lifts into the mountains are not to be missed.

I can't help with Japan, but I do wish you a great trip. Explore, take chances, and have a great time! (And, if you get the chance, try any/all of the soups. A traditional "Korean-Style" meal (where you take your shoes off, sit on the floor around a huge table, and sample a variety of finger foods using leaves as utensils, is truly not to be missed.)
posted by richardhay at 5:27 PM on July 24

Well, I think Seoul's Noryangjin fish market is more impressive than Tokyo's similarly-sized - just because the range of seafood available is larger and fresher, especially shellfish, and quite a bit less expensive. buy a fish and some abalone and have it raw in one of the restaurants there ... Seoul's various night markets are fun in good weather, as is the outdoor fish market along the docks in Pusan.

I ate very, very well and cheaply in Seoul.
posted by luriete at 6:20 PM on July 24

I was in Fukuoka in 2005 and loved it, but unfortunately I can't really tell you the names of all the fun places we went, but if you like baseball at all, you should go to a SoftBank Hawks game and sit in the outfield. That was the most fun I've ever had at a baseball game. They have cheerleaders and chanting and all that good stuff.

There's also a town a short train ride away where they have canals and you can ride a gondola around. The train ride itself was interesting, but I can't remember or find the name of that town.
posted by Stylus Happenstance at 7:32 PM on July 24

Fukuoka is good if you like shopping. Otherwise it's not really particularly touristy. It's a nice place and all, but . . . more of a place to live than to visit.

If you want to see a neat-looking shrine, there's Dazaifu temple, which you get to by taking the Nishitetsu train to Dazaifu station.

Nagasaki's only a two-hour train ride away, and then you can go see things like Glover Garden, Dejima, and the atomic bomb memorials. It should be around 5000 yen round trip from Hakata station taking the fast train. With three days in Kyushu, I think this is worth it. I spent a couple months in the city and really loved it.

Actually, there's a 3-day all-the-JR-Kyushu-you-can-manage pass for 13000 yen, and a north-Kyushu-only pass for 7000 yen (if you're coming on a tourist visa, of course). I think the north Kyushu pass may be worth your while. Kumamoto has a nice castle area but can get pretty damn hot this time of year. There's also the Yoshinogari park if you're interested in pre-historic Japanese inhabitants, at about halfway in between Nagasaki and Fukuoka (at the Yoshinogari Historical Park train stop, amazingly enough).
posted by that girl at 7:40 PM on July 24

I did a much shorter version of a similar trip a couple years ago. The ferry is a wild ride (you cannot remove your seat belts)

The fish market in Pusan is quite an experience. Go into the big building and explore and enjoy a big fish meal.

In Gyeongju it was really cheap to rent a bicycle and explore all the mounds and temples and stuff. I think the special food was some kind of porridge. Very interesting.

In Fukuoka, do not miss Hakata-style ramen. There are outdoor mobile ramen shops called yatai which you will see all over the place in the evenings.

Oh, and it's really hot here in Japan right now, and I imagine in Korea, too. So stand by to wipe your brow often.
posted by greasepig at 7:59 PM on July 24

I'm going to give you two options for Fukuoka: the risky one, and the safe one.

I lived in Fukuoka prefecture for a month in 2005 and I would call it Japan's fly-over country. All the amenities of Japan are there, but none of the excitement. If you wander around the area you will find depressing renditions of American shopping malls and fast food joints. Kumamoto is just another damn castle, you know what Japanese castles look like and there's nothing special about this one. Don't bother. When I went there all the other people in the building were also foreigners.

So, here's the risky option: get yourself somehow to the Aso caldera and drive around the edge. What you'll find there is the most spectacular view in Kyuushuu. Honest to God, the memory of that view will last a lifetime. The area around Aso is real old-fashioned Japan. You can eat in a country restaurant, stay in a ryokan, and drink water straight from a spring. This is risky because you're leaving tomorrow. It's easy to buy a package trip to this area a month ahead of time, but I'm not sure if you can do it tomorrow.

And here's the safe option: three day trips to interesting places. The first day I would recommend Nagasaki, which has many lovely old Christian churches and Japanese buildings as well as an atomic bomb memorial (the memorials at Hiroshima and Nagasaki are among the most emotionally gripping tourist sites in the world). For the second day you can go to Yanagawa, an ancient city with a famous canal system and lots of cottage industries that cater to Japanese tourists. For some reason foreigners don't seem to go to this place a lot, but it beats the castle. For the third day (and this is really campy but I loved it when I stumbled on it last fall) go to Mojikou Retro. It's at the end of the JR Fukuoka line. It's an incredibly cheesy tourist trap, but you can easily spend 3-6 hours there, and the fried curry is delicious.
posted by shii at 8:10 PM on July 24

Yanagawa! That's the place.
posted by Stylus Happenstance at 8:19 PM on July 24

I think shii is a bit uncharitable towards Fukuoka; having been there myself, I found it to be a great way to experience Japan without the hugeness of Tokyo or the Kansai area. If you're spending three days there, that's plenty of time to take a few day trips to nearby sights. I second the recommendations of Dazaifu, Yanagawa, and Mojikou Retro. The yatai (food stands) set up around the Tenjin and Nakasu in the evenings are also highly recommended for their atmosphere -- be sure to try Hakata-style ramen and a glass of imo shochu (think Japanese-style vodka).

Oh, if you want a unique ramen experience, try Ichiran. They have locations all over Fukuoka (and the rest of the country); the branches in Canal City or Sun Plaza (right across from Hakata Station) are the most convenient.

Be sure to browse through the Fukuoka article on Wikitravel before you depart. The Northern Kyushu Rail Pass for 7000 yen is a great deal, but be sure to purchase it before leaving Korea! You cannot purchase it once you enter Japan. (It's also invalid on any of the non-JR train lines, including the Nishitetsu lines or the Fukuoka city subway.)
posted by armage at 8:54 PM on July 24