At night in Tenjin (city center), you can find yatai, small mobile streetfood shops set up on the curb. There’s only a few of them. Very pleasant eating experience, but pretty cramped. That’s part of the charm.

The district of Hakata (near Tenjin) used to be its own town, with its own dialect (Hakata-ben). If you can pick up a few words of it, you can propel your conversations with locals further. There’s a small red district in Hakata, I find it rather beautiful at night.

We used to work part time at a bar called International Bar. It had many clients more adventurous than most, coming in for the prospect of speaking english with the staff or with other clients. It can be a good place to meet new people -japanese or otherwise- if you’re ever in that kind of mood.

We stayed in Minami-ku, and the area directly south-west of our place (around Ijiri station and south along the river Nakagawa) was very cool to wander around in. Nothing exceptional, just a big, organic neighbourhood with small alleys and shops, as you get in many cities.

We had a good time walking around Nokonoshima as well.

I wish I could give you more pointers, but it has been over a decade… have fun !