Fukuoka Tower

Rising 234 metres above the city of Fukuoka, the Fukuoka Tower cuts an imposing figure in the cityscape. It boasts the greatest height of any seaside tower in Japan and offers a spectacular view of the city below.

It’s designed to withstand magnitude seven earthquakes and wind speeds of up to 65 miles per second. But this isn’t the tower’s only physics-defying feat. Fukuoka Tower features a triangular cross-section that is covered with 8000 half-mirrors, earning it the nickname “The Mirror Sail”.

The tower offers visitors a choice of three observation decks: there is a café and lounge at 120 metres, one at 116 metres, and the highest at 123 metres above ground. There is also a Lover’s Sanctuary that couples can visit to hang a heart-shaped key on the fence, à la ze bridges of Paris.

Lock-in your love by hanging a padlock on the rails overlooking the city.

In the nighttime, visitors can enjoy what is arguably the best view of the city, with innumerable fluorescent lights lining the streets illuminating the traditional yatai and spilling into the dark water. The tower is also lit up at night itself, changing colours throughout the year; patterned with sakura during spring and bearing the image of a full moon during the cool autumn evenings.

In the summer, visitors can also venture to the nearby Momochi Seaside Park, where they can get their beach on and enjoy the beautiful scenery that the Hakata Bay has to offer. You can also opt to take a 20-minute ferry to Uminonakamichi Seaside Park, where seasonal flowers and aquatic shows await.