Fukuoka Visa Run (Part 1)

I visited Fukuoka, Japan from Saturday March 22 - Tuesday 25, 2008 in order to get an E-2 work visa for my English teaching job with Hyunjae Academy. These are my photos and memories from that trip.

I am a new member of an internet community of people who offer couch/floor space to other members of the community while they are travelling. The service is aptly named "Couch Surfing" I used this service to locate a Dutch woman named Mies Heerma who had lived in Japan for 9 years and was a very experienced couch surfer.

When you land at Fukuoka Int. Airport, you must take a short, free shuttle bus to the domestic terminal where you can get on the subway. From there it is a short 10 minute subway ride to the center of the city at Tenjin Station.

Mies met me at the station and took me for a bite to eat and some drinks over a very nice conversation.

The next day, Mies took me to a shrine located about 5 walking minutes from her apartment. You can see a modern building above the trees in the background. Mies said this is a new building that she thinks spoils the view of the shrine. I agree.


We approached the building, but did not go inside because there was some kind of ceremony happening. Instead, we paid 50 cents each to buy a fortune, written in English too, and tied it to the wooden rack.


There are two of these creatures in front of the entrance to the temple. One on each side of the gate pictured below.


I saw this kind of gate in a few places in Fukuoka. I think they were all in front of some kind of shrine or temple.



I spent all day at a tattoo shop on Sunday. The shop is named Art Magic Tattoo Studio. It is located 2 minutes down the street from the Apple Computer Store.

I knew there were some tattoo shops in Fukuoka from an internet search I did. I didn't know where they were or how to find them. I found this shop by accident. I was merely walking toward downtown on a road that goes from Mies' apartment. I didn't waste a second and walked right in.

It was a really cool experience overall despite the fact that the two guys working there new only a few words of English and myself not knowing any Japanese.

I had been thinking about getting this tattoo since my last tattoo of a dragon on my left shin in April of 2005. For this tattoo I knew I wanted a tribal flower design, but was unsure of where I would put it.

I entered the shop at about 1pm. I flipped through a big book about flowers the artist had in the shop. I found a few pictures of lilies and decided that was the kind of flower I wanted. It took me about 45 minutes to decide on what kind of style (tribal) and what thing (lilies) I would get. The artist asked me to come back at 2:30pm so he could create the design. So I walked to the nearby McDonald's and got some lunch.

I went back at 2:30pm and had to wait a little longer for the artist to finish. By that time his partner or boss arrived and was offering advice throughout the process. The artist showed me the design of the big flower on my chest and I liked it. I asked him to enlarge the image a little and he did that for me. Then he began to prepare to put the big flower on my chest. He told me the two small flowers would be designed after the first has been put on my chest.

I got on the work bench at 3:30pm. The artist did not finish until 10:30pm. He took two short 10-15 minute breaks (to rest) and one 45 minute break (to draw the small flowers). That's about 6 hours of tattooing! The chest hurt the most because of the softer skin.

I'm really happy with the end result. Several things made this a good experience. I've had 3 years to think about this tattoo so I knew what I wanted to do, I found an artist who displayed the highest professionalism, and I got an original design of which I was consulted about by the artist. These kinds of interactions between the artist and myself make up the core of what I believe makes the tattooing industry loved by so many people.


There were signs in Japanese, English, and Korean. I assume that English speaking people and Koreans make up the bulk of visitors to Fukuoka.


After my tattoo I went for a beer and some food. These are the pizza salads I ordered. They cost $5.50 each. They were delicious, but very small.

Food and everything in general was very expensive. It cost $5.50 just to get into a taxi. I took a taxi home on my last night. It was maybe 3 miles. I paid over $16. Ouch!


I bumped into a girl I knew from teaching in Daechi. We met by accident in Daechi at a Starbucks. I hadn't seen her in a few months. She finished her last contract and went back home. I finished my contract and traveled.

Anyways, we were both applying for our new visa at the same time. So we decided to go to the Fukuoka Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. That was a cool surprise. Small world, huh?