Eight hours in a city as lively as Fukuoka doesn’t seem like much, but with a local insider (and the caffeine buzz from your extra-smooth flannel drip coffee), you’ll pack in more than you ever thought possible. From cheering on the float-races at the annual Yamakasa Festival – and praying for eternal youth at the Kushida Shrine well – to marveling at stately Tōchō-ji and its great Buddha statue, see the temples and shrines that put the city on the map. Maybe you’ll take the railway less traveled 30 minutes out to the sleepy seaside of Itoshima, or explore the city’s up-and-coming otaku scene in the backstreets of Tenjin. And when hunger strikes? You’re just a vending machine ticket away from a bowl of Fukuoka’s famous tonkotsu ramen.

In the vibrant central hub of Fukuoka, you could follow your host through fast-paced downtown districts – from the territory of raucous salarymen, Tenjin to the hipster coffee shops of ultra-cool Daimyo – or push through throngs in Kyushu’s largest underground mall. You might enjoy some of your host’s favorite pastimes, like a lazy stroll from the museum to the castle ruins in Ōhori Park, or take a subway west into Nishijin’s tightly-packed traditional shopping street (which happens to be just down the street from Japan’s tallest seaside tower – Fukuoka Tower). Of course, no experience would be complete without crossing Naka River onto Nakasu Island, where a snaking row of yatai street food stalls magically materialize as the sun sets.