Kushida Shrine

櫛田神社

Hakata's guardian shrine, with a giant festival float on show

Hours

Grounds 4am–10pm; shrine office (charms, goshuin) 9am–5pm

Tickets

Free; Hakata History Museum ¥300 for adults

Address

1-41 Kamikawabata-machi, Hakata Ward, at the south end of the Kawabata arcade

Said to date from 757, this is Hakata's guardian shrine and the starting point of the Hakata Gion Yamakasa festival every July. Step inside and a decorated festival float several storeys high towers over you, crammed with carved warriors and castles, and it steals the show from the shrine itself. An old ginkgo tree and a huge laughing Otafuku mask you walk through are the other photo stops. It sits at the end of the Kawabata arcade, five minutes from Canal City, so you'll drift into it while wandering Hakata. It opens early and stays open late, so timing is never a problem.