Fukuoka is a real city
Japan has many imposter cities. These are cities that are called cities despite their distinct lack of city-like amenities and features, such as shops and people. Hitoyoshi city near me is a faux city. It does not have a cinema or large shopping area, the only social outlet for the young people that it doesn’t even have are the crumbling bowling arcade from the pre-mesozoic era, the 2 Karaoke centers and the 10 square feet of concrete in front of any conbini.
Fukuoka on the other hand is a genuine city. It has shopping centers. Cinemas. Restuarants. A subway system. Marble. Glass. Pollution. People beeping horns in anger, not gratitude. I am home!
But nay. For all the thrills and excitement that these things bring, I can’t help think that somehow, all Japanese cities look frighteningly similar in a way. There is something about the drabness, the lack of tall skyscrapers, the random un-navigable nature of building placement that makes these cities all seem rather samey.
In Fukuoka, we walked around Tenjin (the main shopping area) for a few hours. There are 3 large department stores in this area that all seemed to sell exactly the same type of items, that being 6 floors of womens clothes, separated out into colour, occasion and age-group, and then a single floor of mens clothes at the top, where you will find that space dedicated to items that are ties is proportionately higher to that of the space dedicated to items that are not ties. Beyond the department stores lies a network of backstreets, home to more youth-orientated shops, and a whole gaggle of different café’s, restaurants and bars. And so, onto Costco.
Costco is an American bulk-buy supermarket and has branches scattered in major cities across Japan. It is a magical Aladdins cave of foreign food, the difference being you can pay for stuff and take it away and not have to worry about it turning into a tiger’s head and swallowing you into the earth forever. Since my buying habits have still not evolved into that of an adults, my Costco bounty consisted of:
A box of 24 packets of MICROWAVE popcorn A 6lb bag (sack?) of Pretzels. It was the only size. A crate of 24 bottles of Grolsch. A box of 48 Fruit Roll-ups. A soccer ball. A bottle of Baileys. A brick of Mozzarella cheese. A large bag of Tortilla chips. A huge bottle of Salsa. A box of 24 tubes of Mentos. 6 cans of chunky soup. 2 large packs of quaker cereal. 2 books in English detailing the evolution of comic book characters - Batman and the JLA.
I’m working my way through the pretzels, whilst reasoning that if I eat enough candy at the same time, it should balance out the effects of too much salt.
