The Least Useful Guide to Fukuoka

Fukuoka City runs three subway lines. The newest line was opened four years ago while I was away. This 12-kilometre route is regarded as one of Fukuoka’s financial burdens, which cost ¥281billion (around US$3billion as of 2009/10/08) to complete, with yearly deficit of around ¥6 billion (in 2007). It is estimated that until 2069(!!), the business won’t get out of the red.

Wandering around the streets, I came across a station of this line. I decided to take a short trip to the next station, the city centre, to see how red it was.

While waiting for the coming train, I saw many “user-friendly” devices, such as;
A see-through lift,

Automatic doors on the edge of platform to keep yourself from falling off, or stop you from jumping in fromt of a train.
And electric lamps telling you which carriage is less harshly air-conditioned.

Then, the train came.

Spotlessly clean, and very stylishly designed (in other words, looks showy).

When the train arrived at the city centre, I came to this site.

Did you think that Fukuoka people have become extinct from an epidemic disease or something? No, it’s just a people-free underground station in the city centre in a Saturday afternoon. OK, now I realise this route is very much in the red.

My short trip was a quite extraordinary experience. I felt as if I’d been in Dubai or Shanghai, or somewhere very wealthy, not in a heavily indebted city with ¥2.6 trillion municipal debt, ¥1.9 million per a resident. Hey Mr. Terminator, you are not alone!