Get your fill of that resort feeling along the excellent seashore
Itoshima City is about 40 minutes west of downtown Fukuoka City by car. Driving by rental car is handy, but you can also rent out electric bicycles at the Itoshima City Tourism Association in front of JR Chikuzen-Maebara Station. Itoshima Peninsula is surrounded by the Genkai Sea and Hakata Bay, and with features like Mt. Kaya, which has been affectionately called Itoshima’s Fuji, it is an area that is rich in nature and has beautiful oceans nearby. The outer part of the Genkai Sea is very clear, and every summer, 13 places are open for swimming. Along the 33.3km Shima Sunset Road by the Genkai Sea which has been selected as one of Japan’s Top 100 Sunsets, there are many cafés with a view of the beautiful ocean.
Plenty of highlights with historic heritage sites, natural scenery and workshop tours
In recent years, the area has become popular with young people, and even within the city, there are cafés and restaurants which have been refurbished from old warehouses and residences, general stores, and many pottery workshops. There are also plenty of natural sightseeing spots such as the scenic Shiraito Falls and Sakurai Futamigaura with a torii gate floating in the ocean and the Meoto-iwa rock formation. As well, you can visit temples and shrines such as the 1300-year-old Raizan Sennyo-ji Daihiouin which is famous for its fall colors, have a tour of the Ichirin-no-Mori Tonkotsu Ramen Factory which belongs to the famed Fukuoka ramen shop Ichirin, visit Japan’s one-and-only Japanese sake brewery Shiraito Shuzo which has been in existence since 1855 and which makes use of the old method of haneki-shibori (the tour of the brewery is only possible from mid-February to mid-April), and attend a salt-making workshop which shows how salt is made from the waters of the Genkai Sea. You can get plenty of enjoyment in even a day of touring, so these are notable tourist spots where you can head over to at the same time while visiting Fukuoka City.