Between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries, Fukuoka’s Hakata Ward was home to Japan’s largest trade port. Today, many vestiges of this glorious past can be seen in the Hakata Old Town district, where historical sites, traditional crafts, and specialty cuisine come together in a rich tableau. Here are just a few sights and spots where you can experience regional culture firsthand.

Kushida Shrine is a fixture of the local community and the center of the Hakata Gion Yamakasa festival celebrated every July. You can find one of the festival’s decorated floats, known as kazari yamakasa, on display at the shrine year round. Kushida Shrine dates from 757 and enshrines the deities Amaterasu, Susanoo, and Ohatanushi. Interesting features of the shrine and its grounds include a board indicating the year’s auspicious direction based on the Chinese zodiac, a sacred well decorated with cranes, and a beautiful gingko tree rumored to be more than a thousand years old.

A short walk from Kushida Shrine is Jotenji Temple, founded in 1242 by the Zen Buddhist monk Shoichi Kokumei. This temple has a tranquil garden that visitors can enjoy, and also houses monuments that pay tribute to the local textile known as Hakata-ori and Hakata’s role in importing and popularizing foods such as udon, soba, yokan, and manju in Japan.

The Hakata Sennen no Mon, which sits at the entrance to the old town, is a modern addition.
However, the gate was made from the wood of a thousand-year-old camphor tree, and its literal name “Gate of a Thousand Years” is both homage to Hakata’s colorful history and a prayer for continued prosperity in the millennium to come.

The array of hands-on cultural experiences in Hakata Old Town affirms its status as a center of traditional crafts. Across from Kushida Shrine, Hakata Machiya Folk Museum introduces local lifestyles from the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries. Visitors can also try their hand at painting Hakata dolls, charms, and spinning tops, making wooden boxes, or even weaving Hakata-ori with the help of an expert artisan.

Since its establishment in 1895, the Kadota Chochin Lantern Shop has created beautiful paper lanterns that are an indispensable part of local festivals like Hakata Gion Yamakawa. The shop holds lantern-painting experiences in which visitors can decorate their own lanterns.

For some sartorial fun, travelers can admire the textiles and trinkets at wa lavie & le lien or rent a kimono to feel the sensation of Japanese fabric on their own skin. The more spiritually inclined can visit Myorakuji Temple for a session of zazen Buddhist meditation instructed and led by the head monk.

There’s plenty of food to tide you over in Hakata Old Town when you get peckish. The colorful steamed cake known as uiro is a Hakata specialty, invented by a Chinese official who resettled at Myorakuji Temple in the fourteenth century. Although popular around the country, a locally branded version called Hakata Uiro is now available at select shops, the result of a collaboration between an expert of French cuisine, a tea leaf shop owner, and Myorakuji Temple.

Gobo, or burdock root, features heavily at the restaurant called Zoni no Sekitei. Customers can order gobo dishes including udon noodles, tempura, chicken with rice, and hot pot. Gobo tea and fried gobo snacks are also available. If you have a sweet tooth, don’t miss the boutique Chocolate Shop and their signature cake Hakata no Ishidatami, which presents layers of decadent chocolate sponge cake and mousse topped with fresh cream and covered in chocolate powder.

To satisfy other cravings, Ishikura Sake Brewery offers a taste of local history using rice grown in the region to brew craft sake in small batches. The brewery has a gift shop and a restaurant (large groups only; advanced booking required) on-site, and its picturesque facility is a popular rental space for weddings and local events.

There’s no shortage of stylish accommodations for those who want to stay overnight in Hakata Old Town. Hotel Torifito Hakata Gion is a concept hotel that borrows visual motifs from Hakata Gion Yamakasa so that guests can enjoy the festive atmosphere, regardless of the season. If you manage to snag a room during the celebrations in July, you’ll have a direct view of the colorful floats from rooms on the east side of the hotel.

For travelers interested in social opportunities, WeBase Hakata not only provides a convenient launchpad for exploring the neighborhood, but also organizes its own packages of cultural experiences. These tours are a great way to connect with other guests and members of the community.

The Blossom Hakata Premier, on the other hand, has public baths that hotel guests can enjoy, a welcome respite after a day on your feet. With elegant meals that offer Western and Japanese cuisine made from locally sourced Kyushu ingredients, you can enjoy another side of Hakata while relaxing at this hotel.