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At the end of November 2017, I spent a couple of days and nights at the house of Emiko-san and her husband.
It wasn’t the first time I did home-staying, so I was pretty sure the experience would be great. Especially judging from the first contacts we had which were pretty nice. Booking and all the considerations beforehand were taken care off in a pretty smooth way and communication was great.
As always when I travel, things run pretty badly. I don’t know. Maybe it’s Karma or so, but on both the travel to and the travel away from Emiko’s house some small catastrophes happened, delaying my schedule and making it necessary for me to leave earlier.
But in both ways Emiko was quick to adapt to the situation and support me, picking me up in Fukuoka and getting me back to the train station in Dazaifu when I had to leave. More on that later on.
Emiko’s place is located in a suburban area, packed with small houses and – from my understanding – a typical element of a typical Japanese midsized town. Though there are a lot of people around, you barely hear any noise.
The house is surprisingly big and all the rooms are tidy and well-maintained. The room I slept in was “small” for most Europeans, BUT had enough space for me and my luggage. Though I am a pretty big person and normally need a lot of space, I felt quite cozy there and never had any problem.
Sometimes there are ravens partying at night in front of the window, but those moments are rare (not to say “raaaaw”).
Emiko and her husband are both joyous people and always interested in talking and hearing stories. It’s just the right balance between the urge to stay informed about what the guests want to do and how they can assist and the feeling when it’s enough and the guests want to relax. I felt really comfortable around them.
Especially as Emiko is a great cook and presents a lot of different, quite delicious meals of local cuisine, different Japanese styles and a lot of entertaining Japanese TV shows you can talk about while eating.
I think we laughed quite a lot and it improved my knowledge of Japanese again.
Emiko also does a lot of activities, but nevertheless takes her time to do something with her guests, at least when they are willing to do something.
I for example was able to accompany her to the big Buddha statue of Nanzo-in, a temple complex in Sasaguri, where we spent a nice and interesting day exploring the area, enjoying the unique nature and the gigantic statue that depicts the dying Buddha at the edge of death.
On another day, we visited Fukuoka where during that time some kind of light festival was taking place in the ruins of Fukuoka castle. A really magic and inspiring evening, that still lingers in my head.
When Emiko doesn’t have got time to accompany one or you just want to do things on your own, she still is able to provide you with some helpful insights into the surrounding area, like the different places of Fukuoka, Dazaifu and other areas of Kyūshū (like, for example Kagoshima and Sakurajima).
As mentioned before, Emiko’s house is located in a suburban environment, so it is not “all too” close to the next station, which is Nishitetsu Gojo station. It’s a 10-15 minutes walk from Emiko’s house.
From there on you can take the local train to Dazaifu station (Terminus) or to Nishitetsu Futsukaichi, where you have to transfer to another Nishitetsu line towards Fukuoka Tenjin OR walk another 6-7 minutes to JR Futsukaichi station, from where you can take the train towards Fukuoka Hakata station. If you want to be transported right into the heart of Fukuoka, then Tenjin station might be your call. If you want to catch the next Shinkansen, then Hakata station is the place you want to choose. Of course you can go to Fukuoka and then change between both stations, but it’s a 30 minute walk from one station to the other (and I never used the bus, so I can’t give you an advice on that).
But to be honest: there are a lot of places in Dazaifu to explore, a museum and a really big temple, so I think that – even if you just spend a few days at Emiko’s house – it will be totally worth it!
A perfect place if you want to explore the main hubs of Southern Japan.

The week I was able to spend with Emiko-san was more than I could dream of. It was absolutely amazing. Emiko-san is a very helpful and friendly person and it was very fun to talk with her about our countries, food or something else. Since she does not work anymore, she can guide you to places you want to go. In my case, she took me to a very beautiful shrine close to a coast and a beach far away from her house by car. It was a great experience.
Also, she is a very good cook. I was in love with the good food.
The room I was able to use was clean and had enough storage for all my personal belongings.
If you want to go to Fukuoka, you should definitely stay with Emiko-san. She has a lot of experience with foreign countries since she travelled quite often and speaks English very well, what makes it easy to stay with her.
Thank you very much, Emiko-san! I would love to meet you again when I am back in Japan.