Fukuoka 1st kanji: "fuku"=
2nd kanji: "
ooka"=
say: Foo-koo-oh-kah
To be honest, I don't know much about the island of Kyushu (Japan's southern-most of the four large islands).  Fukuoka is Kyushu's biggest city, and it's where my college friend, Aiko, was born.  We met at Western, in an English Education class, and since graduating she has gotten married and moved back to Fukuoka.

I wanted to visit her last summer, but Fukuoka is a LONG way from Hikone.  However, it's an even LONGER way from Numazu!  But when Jeremy mentioned wanting to see Hiroshima, I thought it would be a great opportunity to see Aiko again!  So luckily we were able to work out a day to spend together!
Jeremy and I at the beach, near Fukuoka Tower.
So, like I said before, I don't know much of anything about Kyushu, much less Fukuoka... so Jeremy and I were a little lost on stuff we wanted to see!  But my trusty guidebook gave us a few ideas.  It's a shame we only had about 6 hours to spare in Fukuoka, it was a really gorgeous city!

After leaving Hiroshima that morning, we met up with Aiko at the station and then she and her husband, Takashi, drove us to a ramen shop where we got to try "Kyushu Ramen".  Apparently the Kyushu-style ramen is well-known in Japan, but Aiko says not many people like it, because the flavor is very strong.  Jeremy and I are both fans, though!  We really liked it.  I should try to find the recipe somewhere... Aiko was really surprised we liked it so much!  She kept asking, 'You really like it..?  I can't believe they like it!'
So here we are, outside of the train station, right before Jeremy and I hopped back on the bullet train to go up to Kyoto.  Sorry it isn't such good quality... it was dark, and night photos are tricky.  And we were in a bit of a hurry anyway, since we arrived at the station a little later than we were hoping to. (:  But it all worked out swell.  (Oh yeah, and we had a few moments of panic where I thought I lost my wallet!)

Thanks to the random lady-on-the-street whom we bugged to take this shot.  It is a little blurry, but it's kind of got a neat effect!
So after our tasty ramen lunch, Aiko and Takashi took us to see Fukuoka Tower.  It was really shiny, glassy and pretty! (:  See? --> We also saw the beach (see photo at the top!), since the Tower is right there, next to the shore.  After that, they took us downtown and we got to see the station where Aiko works.  She's a radio DJ!  She says that her station is one of the most popular in Fukuoka, too.  She has the morning slot, also.. 4-7am, I think.  That's the hottest time for American DJs, so I'd assume the same for Japan. (:

So, I've noticed another interesting quirk the Japanese seem to share (besides the "Peace Sign Virus").  Touristy photos.  Quite often Jeremy and I would see parents arranging their kids in front of a shrine torii or a temple gate to get the "See? We were there!" shot.  Japanese youth pose (Peace sign included, of course) as buddies snap their picture (usually with cell phone cameras) in front of signs, landmarks, etc.
Aiko and Takashi  are no exception.... So, here we have
Fukuoka Tower. --->>
And also,
US and Fukuoka Tower
Canal City--no fish-eye effect!  That's what the buildings are like!
(thanks Takashi!)
After the Tower and Aiko's work, we checked out Canal City, a kind of artsy, outdoor mall.  It was really colorful and FULL of stores.  We searched for some of Fukuoka's baseball team's stuff, for a friend of Jeremy's, but had no luck.  We settled for ice cream instead.  Yum.
Kyoto
Hiroshima