{"id":72084,"date":"2012-01-17T08:15:30","date_gmt":"2012-01-17T08:15:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fukuoka-now.com?post_type=areaguide&p=9088"},"modified":"2016-04-01T00:53:08","modified_gmt":"2016-03-31T15:53:08","slug":"imaizumi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/imaizumi\/","title":{"rendered":"Imaizumi"},"content":{"rendered":"

It goes without saying that you can pick up a wide variety of designer goods in Tenjin, Kyushu\u2019s leading shopping district. However, if you\u2019re after something a little more unique, try taking a short stroll south to the Imaizumi area.\u00a0In the past, the area was known as a residential district, but in the latter half of the 1990s, numerous small, chic boutiques began sprouting up, attracting young shoppers.<\/p>\n

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That trend has continued and, today, Imaizumi boasts an impressive array of independent clothing stores. If you\u2019re looking for fashionable items exclusive to Imaizumi, try DICE & DICE, naif and CURVE, which have long been a popular place for fashion-conscious locals to pick up distinctive threads and accessories. For a break, pull up a seat at Cafe de H\u2019s outdoor patio and take a peak inside the adjoining gallery.<\/p>\n

Feel like a new haircut to complete your new look? Head on over to the REVOLUCIA hair salon, which is open 24 hours a day and located next to Imaizumi Park. The award-winning Toki Rikyu complex is home to a number of stores, including a made-to-order furniture store and a gourmet steak house. With magnolias and sal trees growing in the grounds, the complex is a green oasis in the heart of the city.<\/p>\n

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Shounin-bashi-dori (Priest Bridge Road) is the street that separates Imaizumi and Kego. Its name comes from the Edo Period, when a feudal lord is said to have built a bridge in order to play go with a priest on the other side. Even now, the Choenji and Koshoji temples can be seen alongside the clothes stores, izakaya and yakiniku restaurants – as can the long-standing and much-loved tempura restaurant Sakau, which hasn\u2019t changed much since it was established in 1930.<\/p>\n

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It is this mix of the old and the new, the Japanese and the Western, that is perhaps Imaizumi\u2019s greatest charm. With bars, nightclubs, recording studios, public baths, temples, graveyards and state-of-the-art love hotels all sharing the same space, a stroll through its streets is sure to lead to an interesting discovery.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>The Party<\/strong>
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\nA stylish restaurant, bar and club, spread across two floors. In good weather, their rooftop patio offers nice views and fresh air.
\nTel: 092-714-7140<\/p>\n

Dice & Dice
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\nOne of Fukuoka\u2019s most established boutiques sells specially-ordered brand goods and other exclusive items. They also hold in-store events.
\nTel: 092-722-4877<\/p>\n

Sonomitsu<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\nThis shoe shop sells a wide range of shoes, sandals and boots hand-made by a shoemaker in Tokyo.
\nTel: 092-716-5685<\/p>\n

Vinyl Cafe<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\nA dining caf\u00e9 with a great and varied selection of vinyl LPs and CDs spun by the in-house DJ.
\nTel: 092-716-2777<\/p>\n

Honshoyu<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\nThis sento (public bath house) has been around for 50 years. They have scented baths that change monthly, with iris in May, followed by rose in June.
\nTel: 092-741-0709<\/p>\n

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\nMORE IMAIZUMI!<\/strong><\/p>\n

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CURVE<\/strong>
\nWide range of fashion items for both sexes.
\nTel: 092-732-7439
\nnaif
\nImported items for men mainly.
\nTel: 092-732-7439
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\nGouache<\/strong>
\nWide varieties of items from clothes to daily goods.
\nTel: 092-791-7555<\/p>\n

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\nRESTAURANTS<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Cafe de H<\/strong>
\nCafe with outdoor terrace and an adjacent art gallery.
\nTel: 092-732-3167<\/p>\n

Hakata Robata Fishman
\nFresh fish dishes served in a stylish, yet not overdone, izakaya setting.
\nTel: 092-7171-3571<\/p>\n

Tempura Sakau<\/strong>
\nServing delicious and affordable tempura since 1930. The retro interior takes you back to a previous era .
\nTel: 092-751-2207<\/p>\n

Tenjin Wappa Teishokudo<\/strong>
\nReasonably priced set meals (teishoku) and rice bowls (donburi).
\nTel: 092-771-8822<\/p>\n

Nile Imaizumi<\/strong>
\nA shop accredited with revolutionizing curry rice meals back in 1961.
\nTel: 092-285-6231<\/p>\n

Taigen Imaizumi<\/strong>
\nA yakiniku restaurants serving only selected Kagoshima Kuroge Japanese Beef (wagyu).
\nTel: 092-738-6529<\/p>\n

Ishokusakaba Dainoji<\/strong>
\nVarious izakaya dishes in addition to charcoal-grilled seafoods.
\nTel: 092-716-3088<\/p>\n

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\nOTHERS<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Revolucia Imaizumi<\/strong>
\nA 24-hour hair salon. Coupons are available online.
\nTel: 092-762-1133
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\nToki Rikyu<\/strong>
\nThis low-rise small group of shops won a Good Design Award.<\/p>\n

Tsutaya Tenjin<\/strong>
\nBooks, magazines, and rental DVD store along with a Starbucks inside.
\nTel: 092-738-7200<\/p>\n

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Fukuoka is famous for the street stalls, known as yatai, that line its streets at night. In Imaizumi, we spotted a \u201chotel\u201d for these yatai. The ground floor parking lot of the building behind Dice & Dice is home during the day to seven compactly folded yatai, presumably some of the same ones that are often seen at night around Tenjin or on Watanebe-dori. It\u2019s almost as if they\u2019re resting before their nightly excursions. In Fukuoka, there are workers called hakobi-ya (carriers), whose sole responsibility is to transport yatai. No doubt those seven yatai are also waiting for a hakobi-ya to take them out for a night on the town.<\/p>\n

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\nIMAIZUMI MAP<\/strong>
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