HOW MANY ISLANDS ARE THERE IN JAPAN ? And what are they called?
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Okay la, I also don't know hahahaha. But a quick Wikipedia tells me : The archipelago consists of 6,852 islands (here defined as land more than 100 m in circumference), of which 430 are inhabited.
But what I do know is....
There are 4 main islands in Japan
1) Hokkaido
2) Honshu
3) Kyushu
4) Shikoku
Around the same time last year Nicholas and myself travelled most of Honshu so this time we thought, WHY NOT try another main island?
Nicholas has always been telling me about how he went mad eating seafood in Fukuoka and how he really wants to visit Kyushu again and also at the time we booked there were business class seats available to Fukuoka and none to Tokyo so yeah......
KYUSHU IT IS !
45 mins away from Fukuoka is one of the most famous market in Japan. It is well known for its energetic spirit and pufferfish. Over the last few years Nick has been reminiscing the good days where he would just stuff his face in sushi from this market at a very reasonable price.
There's not much information on how to get from Fukuoka to Karato market, so I'm going to share how we managed to reach in 45 mins.
1) Take a shinkansen from hakata station to kokura station ( Kokura is the next stop ) - 17mins
There's also a shinkansen stop called shimonoseki ( DO NOT GET ONTO THAT ONE, because it's not the most convenient and fastest way to get to the market )
2) Then from kokura station take the normal train to mojiko station (Mojiko is the 3rd stop) - around 15 mins
3) From Mojiko station, walk towards the ferry terminal. Below is the timing for the ferry, you're very welcome.
You have to take a ferry because Karato market is actually in shimonoseki, which is actually in Honshu island.
Ferry takes only 5 mins.
4) Buy your tickets for the ferry ( Shimonoseki bound)
This is not the ferry.
This is not the ferry
This is the ferry, haha
Onboard!
Featuring Kanmon bridge, the only bridge that separate Honshu island and Kyushu island.
Almost at Karato! You can see how Nick is too distracted by the market building to focus on the camera
How many fugus ( pufferfish) do you see :p
DO YOU KNOW? There are many different species of puffer fish? And all of them grow to different length?!
I definitely didn't know that until I saw this poster! Or rather, perhaps I just never thought about it hmmm...
But you know, just thinking about it retrospectively, I guess it makes sense, I mean even for people, there are different ethnicities and we are all of different sizes right?
Yeah some shop drying puffer fish tails. I wonder what for? I wonder if they put it in sake like what what I had at restaurant Izuju (click to read) in Kyoto.
HERE WE ARE !
Karato Market!
And the Sushi spam commences. I hope you have eaten prior to reading this post!
Or what am I kidding, the pictures below will definitely be hunger inducing if you're a seafood lover like myself even if you've eaten your meals !
Decided to start buying after our walk across all the different shops; did you see how cheap all the items were? 200yen?!?!?!?! whut?!?!?!
BTW, the fish sushi that come in a pair just above my ikura sushi, it's called the nodoguro ( black throat sea perch) that is the BEST white fish in my opinion. I have loved it ever since the Japanese father I've never had - Chef Shozo Ikeda ( owner of Himeji Izakaya and Genki Sushi) in Adelaide fed that to me. A piece of nodoguro sushi - ONLY 500YEN. WHAT?!?!
We had all the above 3 pictures, including a puffer fish miso soup and a plate of puffer fish sashimi. I mean, yeah, I know that if puffer fish is prepared wrongly is neurotoxic. I am very scared to die, I kid you not haha. But if you're in a market that is known for the preparation and production of puffer fish, surely this is the safest place haha
And I also chose to buy from the shop which has previously served Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Because surely PM Abe wouldn't eat from a dodgy shop hahahah
Look, there's a picture of him framed up and displayed in the shop
We bought the 1500yen WILD puffer fish.
In the 99.9% chance that thus market has piqued your interest, below is their opening dates for year 2019. Squares coloured in black are their rest days.
You're welcome! I would hate for you to turn up to a market only to find it closed.
I know, because I've experienced that heartbreak - read Yaganibashi market click just a few days ago
So I immensely enjoyed my Karato Market experience. But I wouldn't say I 100% enjoyed it even though I had SUCH a good breakfast at a really cheap price! I think we paid slightly more than 5000yen for both of us for this quality and amount of food. But what really made me super upset the whole time I was walking the market - you ask Nick, everytime I saw a stall ( which is almost every stall) selling Whale meat, I'll tell him " Wow, this makes me really upset" What makes me more upset is that they are selling whale meat for 200yen!? And what makes me the most upset is PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY BUYING WHALE because I keep seeing the stall workers replenishing.
I am AGAINST whaling and this is probably the only thing about Japan that really disgusts me.
The irony: this statue says " our gratitude to whales" . It is constructed in front of a building just opposite the market.
seriously, wtf?
Karato Market 唐戸市場
5-50 唐戸町 Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture 750-0005, Japan
Open everyday except closed days on calendar ( above pic) 5am -3pm
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