Enjoy dining on famous local specialties at Uomachi Gintengai, the first shopping arcade in Japan! This 400 meter long shopping street is a favorite among the locals, and features yaki-udon restaurants and bakeries that attract long lines of customers every day. The street is home to Tsujiri Teahouse, a famous long-running teahouse that is known for its popular matcha green tea desserts. Customers can order matcha soft serve, matcha chiffon cake, and other items to go.

Sunnyside Mall Kokura is a large shopping mall located in front of the south entrance of JR Shimosone Station. The mall hosts over 100 stores, including a Matsumoto Kiyoshi drugstore and a Daiso 100-yen shop. The 3rd floor features an indoor amusement park, where visitors can play for 15 minutes for only 100 yen, making Sunnyside Mall Kokura a perfect place to take the kids while you do some shopping!

Riverwalk Kitakyushu is a commercial facility that features a unique exterior design. The rooftop garden on the 5th floor offers great views of the majestic Kokura Castle up-close. Satoyama Shokai KOKURA, which just opened in June 2017, is a great place to pick up some souvenirs. The store offers a selection of local processed foods and seasonings from Fukuoka, as well as ingredients and tableware from all over Kyushu.

Uomachi Hikari Terrace opened in July 2017 in Uomachi Gintengai and serves as the “food center” of Kitakyushu. The building features a stylish exterior design, and is home to nine restaurants, including an Irish pub and a skewers restaurant. The rooftop terrace offers guests a place to an enjoy romantic barbecue while gazing at the sunset or the stars in the night sky.

Kamon Wharf is a shopping mall that neighbors Karato Market. 19 restaurants in the facility serve meals made using fresh seafood from the market. The wooden deck offers spectacular views of boats passing through the Kanmon Strait as well as the city of Moji on the opposite shore. Visitors can purchase process foods made from Fugu, a local specialty, and local sake brands. Be sure to stop by.

National Route 10, which connects Kitakyushu to Oita Prefecture, is also known by its nickname of “karaage road”. The section of the road between Kanda and Koge is flanked by numerous famous karaage stores. Karaage Hollywood has 15 locations throughout Japan, and has its main store in Koge. The Karaage Hollywood main store offers a unique menu created in collaboration with the city of Koge.

Experts in forest medicine have demonstrated that Mt. Kubote, home to several training paths, is a forest therapy base that imparts a relaxing effect. Enjoy walking through the mountains and taking deep breaths of the fresh air. The base of the mountain is home to the Ishizumi Tanada terraced rice fields, a famous sight in the Kubote area.

This classroom invites visitors to learn about the joys of soba milling in a relaxing environment. Visitors can eat soba that they have milled themselves. The park also features a pottery classroom, where visitors can try using pottery wheels and painting pottery. Visitors are recommended to make reservations by telephone in advance.

Hiraodai contains the Senbutsu Limestone Cave, which has been designated as a natural monument, the Mejiro Limestone Cave, which contains the largest monolith in Japan at 20 meters, and the Ojika Limestone Cave, which is also known as the “dinosaur trap”. Several sections of these three caves can be explored while wearing normal everyday clothes. The air temperature inside the cave is 16 ˚C all year round, and the water temperature is 14 ˚C. Experience breathtaking beauty created by the forces of nature.