Kasuga Park

When people talk about Fukuoka, they usually mean Fukuoka City. But there is also Fukuoka Prefecture, which encompasses many other cities like Kasuga, Onojo, and so on—Kokura and Kurume are actually part of Fukuoka Prefecture as well.

Kasuga Park is a park located in Kasuga City. Right now, I live near the intersection of Fukuoka City, Onojo, and Kasuga City. It’s a bit further away from downtown, which means relatively fewer tourists. Although getting to Hakata takes a bit of effort (it’s only one stop on the JR Rapid line, but about a 10-minute bike ride to the station), I really love the atmosphere and the just-right level of comfort here—not too remote, yet not too noisy.

I thought I’d take some photos of the scenery at Kasuga Park, but perhaps my photography skills aren’t quite there yet because I couldn’t really find good subjects to shoot. Looking through them, my favorite turned out to be this upward shot of the sky.

I used to think good food could only be found in downtown Fukuoka—places like Tenjin, Hakata, or Nishijin. The food there is indeed delicious, but it’s really expensive.

Recently, I’ve realized that venturing a little further out from time to time can lead to pleasant surprises. Uphill just outside Kasuga Park, there are a few restaurants, and every place I’ve tried so far has been fantastic.

ザ スヌープ 春日店(THE SNOOUP)

What they are most famous for is their organic tomato soup and chicken. The soup broth is the very soul of the restaurant—absolutely amazing! On top of that, the prices are quite reasonable.

そば処 武蔵 春日本店

Located right across from THE SNOOUP, this place specializes in soba noodle dishes. As I’ve mentioned before, when Japanese people eat soba, it’s largely about savoring the aroma and flavor of the buckwheat itself. That’s why after finishing the noodles, they mix sobayu (soba cooking water) into the remaining dipping broth to drink. Both the hot soba and zaru soba (chilled soba) here come highly recommended, though personally, I feel zaru soba brings out the true essence of the noodles best.

If you order zaru soba, they serve it with freshly grated wasabi. Dipping the soba noodles into the soy-based sauce with the wasabi is ridiculously good—you get to enjoy the fragrance of the buckwheat alongside the sharp kick of the wasabi. They also have a set meal with soba and katsudon (pork cutlet rice bowl), which is a great value. I also highly recommend the oden here; it’s simmered to perfection and packed with flavor.