Japan trip 2024 day 15: Kasuga and last night in Fukuoka

Goodbye Kumamoto. 1 day was not enough.
 

Back at Hakata station. Put my bag down in hotel.

Tried to use my suica to get on the Nanakuma line and confirmed my suica is dead. I had been using my JR pass and card stopped working in or before Nagasaki but did not occur to me that card could die. Was it the heat or just that the card was super old?

Station guy said I have to talk to JR in Tokyo since it is a Suica. At one point I had about 15000 yen on my card and before it died, it had about 4600 yen on it. I think the maximum you can put on a suica is 15000 yen. I am glad it did not die when I had 5 digits on it. I was using my suica a lot because a lot more places accept payment by IC card.

Now I have a Sugoca. When I got back to Tokyo I was told my card was dead and there is no way to get my money back. Noooo. Could have had a very, very nice dinner with that money.

Anyway, my next stop was Kasuga station. I did not go to Kasuga just because it is the name of the Ryu ga Gotoku main character, my main destination was the Surugaya in Kasuga which google tells me is a 40 minute walk.

Is this photocalysts air purifier panel thing real?

I don't think I have been to a Hotto Motto since my first trip.

The main thing in Kasuga is a jietai/SDF base right behind this building.

I was getting hungry and I spot a KFC. Do I want to waste one meal on KFC in Japan?

I soldiered on, went past a Pizza Hut and half an hour later arrived at Surugaya which is right next to a bookstore.

Unfortunately they did not have Breath of Fire 2 GBA which is the last must buy game on my list.

First time I have seen Panzer Dragoon 1&2 collection.

As well as Willy Wombat on Saturn.

GBAs are not cheap.

Didn't buy anything expensive. Drag on Dragoon 3 is supposed to be janky but its a Yoko Taro game.

Very nice house on way back.

Caved in and got a tsukimi burger at KFC. Not bad but McDonald's was better.

Taking train back to Hakata station.

Cheerleading competition at Hakata station.

This is an earthquake simulator. People are lining up to sit down and hold on for dear life.

Looks like Japan has got their fair share of vaccine deniers but at least they are peaceful.

Went to Junkudo.

Looks like they have a new print of Sanctuary, one of my favourite mangas ever and they have this guy's face to promote it saying that he recommends it.

Bought a kanji book for JLPT N1. I already have mock exam book for N1 and the day before this year's registration opened I tried the mock exam and the vocabulary part made me sweat. I watch the news, movies and play games and vocabulary should not make me sweat. Made me realise the jump from N2 to N1 is larger than N3 to N2. If I want to pass N1, I have to actually study for it and not just learn from gaming/jdorama/karaoke. I don't think I can find the time though. 

Went back to hotel for a rest and Yoshitaka Yuriko was promoting Hikaru Kimi E on tv. The fans were really into it and the program was saying how popular it had become taiga dorama based on Genji Monogatari had become. 

I was killing time waiting for the Nakasu branch of Issou to open since it only opens at night. Now to find out whether the original Issou is not as good or I have been eating too much Hakata ramen. A queue had already formed right before opening.

Getting hungry.

I can confirm that Issou Nakasu is awesome. Soo good! Might give the original shop another go one day but glad I have not eaten too much Hakata ramen.

So many years I still have not eaten at a yatai. 

Canal City.

Ichibankuji and still no Berserk. What is going on?

Hi, I recognise this dude! RIP Tsugawa Masahiko who I will always remember as the boss from Salaryman Kintaro. This was a program about Asadoras and he was playing the dad in Miotsukushi who disowns his daughter because she wanted to get married to someone he did not approve of.