You could explore the backstreets of Tenjin, where the city’s up-and-coming otaku (super-fan) culture is most colorful. Flip through manga at Animate Fukuoka, shop for merch at the Pokémon Center, or scope out the cosplay scene at Gee! Store - your kids might not have experienced a Japanese sub-culture like this before! At Canal City Hakata entertainment complex, you could join other families rushing between shops, arcades, cinemas, and restaurants to make a beeline for Ichiran Ramen – the perfect place to slurp up a bowl of impossibly tasty noodles. Or if the outdoors is more your scene, head further afield to Uminonakamichi Seaside Park for a quick cycle, a bento picnic in the flower fields, and a trip to the amusement park.

In central Fukuoka, you could discover the Japanese craze of themed cafes, and have a pastel pink frappuccino at Hakata Station’s Hello Kitty Cafe, then take a 10-minute walk to Canal City Hakata for some souvenir shopping and ramen slurping. Swivel your heads between LED screens, comic book stores and quirky cosplay cafes in neighboring Tenjin, and let your kids loose in the Ōhori Park playground, or rent a boat for a paddle on the pond. Be blown away by the Fukuoka City Science Museum, or take the subway west to coastal Nishijin – and the tallest seaside tower in Japan. And when the kids start getting hangry? Fukuoka’s countless konbini (convenience stores) are nothing like what you’re used to back home.