Hi from Kyushu!
We’ve been travelling around Kyushu for the past few weeks here on SIPS. Kyushu is Japan’s south westernmost main island. It is scattered with volcanic landscapes, with Mount Aso right in the middle and there are relaxing hot springs throughout for you to explore. The food is extraordinary, and every city, every town, has a different specialty. There is also some very good chocolate…
A few local phrases
Konnichiwa - hello
Arigato gozaimasu - Thank you very much
Ichiban chichi hot chokoreto wa doko desu ka? - Where is the nearest hot chocolate?
bari yoga - very good
Start in Fukuoka
Start your trip in vibrant Fukuoka. I fell in love with this city soon after we arrived. It is the kind of city I’d love to live in. It has a great atmosphere, is easy to get around on foot, busy but not too busy, and, again, has great food (and chocolate!).
You can easily rent a car in Fukuoka, and it is very easy to drive around the region. We drove Fukuoka → Kumamoto → Kagoshima → Yamakawa → Mount Aso → Beppu → Kitakyushu → Fukuoka over two weeks.
Build in time to stop at all the regional rest stops. Along the highways, you’ll find rest stops featuring a wide range of local specialties, either to eat fresh or take with you. These were often some of the highlights of our trip!
Try and plan your trip when a festival is on. We were lucky enough to be there for both the 200-year-old Kokura Gion Festival in Kitakyushu and the Hakata Gion Yamakasa Festival in Fukuoka. The latter is a more than 700-year-old festival where thousands of men of all ages push huge, incredibly heavy floats through the city streets. They practice in the days leading up to the festival and then, on the big day, race through the streets to see which team can get their float from A to B in the least amount of time. It is an incredible spectacle to experience.
Kyushu is all about relaxing! There are the volcanic black sands of Ibusuki Onsen near Kagoshima, where you can be essentially buried in sand for a short time to relax, soothe your skin and enjoy the experience (I can confirm it is much more relaxing than it sounds). Then there are the onsens of Beppu, or the very highly recommended Kurokawa Onsen town.
And then there was the chocolate!
Haru Chocolate in Nakatsu City
They serve a cacao curry made with rice, chicken spice curry finished with a chocolate sauce. Need a say more. Oh, but I will. They also have the most beautiful looking (and we soon found out tasting) desserts and drinks. We ordered pretty much all of them. The café, nestled on a quiet street corner with little else happening around it, it really feels like a breath of fresh air. They source beans from around the world, and often pair them with local seasonal products, for example the regions various momonoka strawberries. They turn their different bars into hot chocolates, all beautiful. Well worth the detour.
Xxocoa in Fukuoka
Only a handful of people can enter Xxocoa at a time, but this secret little room offers a stunning and highly interactive series of chocolate desserts, all prepared right in front of you. Tempered chocolate spheres are carefully layered, often using chopsticks, with mango, passionfruit, vanilla ice cream and a dozen other ingredients. The hot chocolate was simply advertised as “fair trade organic”, but the matcha tea had an impressive pedigree, and the staff had far more stories to tell about it. Even if you have to wait to get in, the neighbourhood is well worth exploring.
Cacaoken outside Fukuoka
The Nakano family, Toshimi and Fumiko, along with their daughter Yukari (who I’ll get to next), have been deeply involved in all aspects of chocolate for many years. Not only do they create fantastic chocolates, bean to bar, but they also work directly with farms through the Cocoa Research Institute. Their shop is packed with locals, tourists, and an incredible range of products, including their very popular ice cream cake and chocolate dipping sauces!
Cacaogoto outside Fukuoka
Another reason to visit Cacaoken is to visit Cacaogoto. Previously part of Cacaoken, Yukari went on to start her own chocolate company, exploring beans from around the world and turning them into beautiful drinking chocolates. She prepares them as part of a ritual that closely resembles a traditional Japanese tea ceremony. This is accompanied by a range of traditional sweets, also created using different parts of the cacao pod. A beautiful experience and highly recommended!
For more blog posts from Kyushu, including Green Bean to Bar in Fukuoka, Manu Coffee in Fukuoka, and Yukon Cafe in Kurokawa visit the Japan page over at Ultimate Hot Chocolate here.
Kyushu Specialties to Pair your Chocolate With….
Sweet potato shochu, a Japanese distilled spirit
Karachi mentaiko, a spicy marinated cod roe
Kagoshima black vinegar
Ureshino green tea
Hakata Amaou strawberries
Anyone been to Kyushu and have any favourite chocolate shops?
Happy travels!
Giselle
Chief Chocolate Sipper