Hakata Local Quiz Practice: Questions and Explanations
40QEasyIntermediateAdvanced
Review questions from the real quiz with answers, explanations and sources. Think it through first, then reveal the correct answer.
This is a selection from the question pool — the real quiz also draws questions you won’t find here.
EasyTier 1 — 10 questions
Start with ten questions that are Hakata's calling card: the home of tonkotsu ramen, the festival that races through town each July, a gold seal unearthed on Shikanoshima. These are names every visitor half-knows, asked with one extra step of precision. Hakata dialect and Dontaku make appearances too. Answer all ten and you could guide a first-time visitor yourself. Open each answer for the explanation and its sources.
Q1. Known as a specialty of Fukuoka and Hakata, what is the food made by curing Alaska pollock roe in chili pepper?
Kazunoko (herring roe)
Karashi mentaiko (spicy cod roe)
Ikura (salmon roe)
Tobiko (flying-fish roe)
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Correct answerKarashi mentaiko (spicy cod roe)
Karashi mentaiko is Alaska pollock roe cured in a chili-laced marinade. Rooted in Korean food culture, it was refashioned in postwar Hakata to suit Japanese tastes and became a local specialty — now a fixture on rice bowls and in souvenir shops alike.
Q2. Known as a hallmark of summer in Hakata, which spirited festival features 'kakiyama' floats racing through the city?
Hakata Gion Yamakasa
Hakata Dontaku
Hojoya
Hakata Okunchi
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Correct answerHakata Gion Yamakasa
Hakata Gion Yamakasa offers decorated floats to Hakata's guardian sanctuary, as a hallmark of Hakata's summer. A nationally designated Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property, it was inscribed by UNESCO in 2016 among Japan's float festivals. One origin story traces it to a Kamakura-era prayer against plague.
Q3. In Fukuoka City, what are the mobile food stalls that line the streets at night called?
Asaichi (morning market)
Yatai (food stall)
Yomise (night stall)
Demise (festival booth)
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Correct answerYatai (food stall)
Fukuoka is Japan's yatai capital, said to hold roughly forty percent of the country's street stalls. At dusk they assemble along Nakasu, Tenjin and Nagahama, serving ramen, oden and yakitori shoulder-to-shoulder. A pioneering 2013 city ordinance protects the stalls as civic assets.
Q4. Nakasu, famous as Kyushu's largest entertainment district, sits on a sandbar between multiple rivers. Which of the following rivers borders Nakasu?
Hakata River
Onga River
Chikugo River
Matsuura River
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Correct answerHakata River
Nakasu is an entertainment quarter packed onto a sandbar about one kilometer long between rivers, one of which is the Hakata River — often called western Japan's largest. Its name simply means 'sandbar,' and its position between the merchant and castle towns fueled its prosperity.
Q5. In Fukuoka City, which tower boasts the greatest height among Japan's seaside towers?
Fukuoka Tower
Tokyo Tower
Tsutenkaku
Sapporo TV Tower
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Correct answerFukuoka Tower
Fukuoka Tower is Japan's highest seaside tower. Built for the 1989 Asia-Pacific Exposition 'Yokatopia,' the triangular shaft is sheathed in some 8,000 half-mirrors, and its observation deck sweeps across Hakata Bay and the city below.
Q6. Said to have been unearthed within Fukuoka City, which National Treasure is inscribed with 'King of Na of Wa under the Han Dynasty'?
Dogu (clay figurine)
Dotaku (bronze bell)
Gold seal (kin-in)
Haniwa (clay figure)
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Correct answerGold seal (kin-in)
The gold seal inscribed 'King of Na of Wa of Han,' a National Treasure, is said to have been unearthed within Fukuoka City in the Edo period. It is widely held to be the seal the Han emperor Guangwu granted in AD 57. Barely 2.3 cm on a side, it attests to ancient Hakata's continental ties.
Q7. In Fukuoka City's dialect, 'Hakata-ben,' which is a typical sentence-ending expression used to indicate a reason?
~dabe
~jan
~ken
~yanen
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Correct answer~ken
In Hakata dialect, '-ken' marks a reason, equivalent to 'because': 'suito-ken' means 'because I love you.' Along with intensifiers like 'bari' (very), it threads through everyday speech, and its soft cadence is emblematic of the dialect's friendly ring.
Q8. Shofukuji is said to be the first Zen temple in Japan.
True
False
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Correct answerTrue
Shofukuji was founded in 1195 by Eisai on his return from Song China and is held to be Japan's first full-fledged Zen temple. Its gate bears a plaque naming it the country's first Zen sanctuary, and the grounds are a national historic site — continental culture landed in Hakata first.
Q9. The name 'Hakata Dontaku' is said to derive from the Dutch word 'zondag,' meaning a day off.
True
False
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Correct answerTrue
'Dontaku' is said to derive from zondag, the Dutch word for a day off. The festival traces back to Hakata Matsubayashi, a New Year celebration reputedly begun in 1179, and took its present name in the Meiji era. Held during the Golden Week holidays, it draws some of the year's biggest crowds.
Q10. To prepare for the Mongol invasions in the Kamakura period, stone walls were built along Hakata Bay.
True
False
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Correct answerTrue
After the Mongol invasions (Genko) began, stone ramparts were raised along some 20 kilometers of Hakata Bay to guard against another attack. In the 1281 invasion they helped deny the Mongol forces a landing. Remains survive at Ikinomatsubara and elsewhere as a national historic site.
From here, fifteen questions even locals hesitate over: the lord who founded the Fukuoka domain, how many wards make up the city, how to read its trickiest place names. Festivals, temples, udon and mackerel — a full lap of daily life in Hakata. Where history appears, the prompts carry dates as handholds. When in doubt, remember the twin towns: merchant Hakata and castle-town Fukuoka, facing each other across the river.
Q11. During Hakata Gion Yamakasa, which summer vegetable are those involved in the festival said to avoid eating?
Cucumber
Eggplant
Tomato
Okra
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Correct answerCucumber
During Hakata Gion Yamakasa, participants traditionally avoid eating cucumber, said to be because its cut cross-section resembles the gion crest (mokko) of Kushida Shrine, the festival's home shrine.
Q12. Into how many wards is Fukuoka City divided in total?
5 wards
7 wards
6 wards
8 wards
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Correct answer7 wards
Fukuoka City became a government-designated city in 1972 with five wards, and after a later reorganization in 1982 it grew to seven. The name 'Hakata Ward' still echoes the old Meiji-era dispute over what to call the city — 'Fukuoka' or 'Hakata.'
Q13. Located in Higashi Ward, Fukuoka City, which shrine displays a tower-gate plaque reading 'submission of enemy nations' and is known for prayers for victory?
Hakozaki-gu
Kushida Shrine
Sumiyoshi Shrine
Munakata Taisha
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Correct answerHakozaki-gu
The plaque over Hakozakigu's tower gate reading 'submission of enemy nations' reproduces calligraphy attributed to Emperor Kameyama at the time of the Mongol invasions. A god of victory, the shrine hosts the local teams' prayers for success.
Q14. What is the common name of the seated wooden Buddha statue enshrined at Tochoji temple in Hakata Ward, Fukuoka City?
Great Buddha of Nara
Fukuoka Daibutsu
Great Buddha of Kamakura
Ushiku Daibutsu
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Correct answerFukuoka Daibutsu
Tochoji is said to have been founded in 806 by Kukai on his return from Tang China — reputedly the oldest temple he established in Japan. Its principal image, the Fukuoka Daibutsu, is a massive seated wooden Buddha, and with the vermilion five-story pagoda it anchors old Hakata.
Q15. Among Hakata's traditional crafts, which doll is made of bisque-fired clay that is then painted?
Hakata ningyo (Hakata dolls)
Kokeshi
Akabeko
Daruma
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Correct answerHakata ningyo (Hakata dolls)
Hakata dolls are unglazed clay figures painted in delicate colors. Tradition credits their origin to a tilemaker's gift during the building of Fukuoka Castle around 1600. Shown at the 1900 Paris Exposition, they won admirers abroad, and in 1976 they were designated a national traditional craft.
Q16. Floating in Hakata Bay and known for rapeseed and cosmos fields popular on social media, which island belongs to Nishi Ward, Fukuoka City?
Shodoshima
Enoshima
Nokonoshima
Itsukushima
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Correct answerNokonoshima
Nokonoshima floats in Hakata Bay, about 12 kilometers around, and belongs to Fukuoka's Nishi Ward. The ferry from Meinohama takes roughly ten minutes, putting island nature on the city's doorstep. The rapeseed and cosmos fields at the park on its northern end have become a popular photo spot on social media.
Q17. What is the name of Nishitetsu's main terminal, located in Tenjin?
Nishitetsu Hakata Station
Nishitetsu Shinjuku Station
Nishitetsu Nagoya Station
Nishitetsu Fukuoka (Tenjin) Station
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Correct answerNishitetsu Fukuoka (Tenjin) Station
Nishitetsu Fukuoka (Tenjin) Station heads the Tenjin-Omuta Line, a stub-end terminal built straight into Tenjin's shopping complexes. The busiest station on the Nishitetsu network, it dispatches limited expresses toward Omuta and quietly underwrites Tenjin's standing as the shopping quarter.
Q18. Among Hakata's noodle dishes, which local specialty is defined by its soft noodles and a standard topping of gobo-ten (burdock tempura)?
Sanuki udon
Inaniwa udon
Hakata udon
Ise udon
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Correct answerHakata udon
Hakata udon favors soft, tender noodles in a clear broth often drawn from flying fish, with burdock tempura as the classic topping. The noodles were reputedly pre-boiled so busy merchants could eat without waiting — that softness is a memory of the merchant town.
Q19. Held in autumn at Hakozaki-gu, which festival is one of the three great festivals of Hakata?
Tori-no-Ichi
Ebisu Festival
Hojoya
Fireworks Festival
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Correct answerHojoya
Hojoya is a rite of cherishing all life and abstaining from killing, held at Hakozakigu every September 12–18. One of Kyushu's great autumn fairs, its approach fills with around five hundred stalls, famous for new-crop ginger and the glass toy called 'chanpon.'
Q20. At which venue in Fukuoka City is the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament held every year?
Fukuoka Kokusai Center
Ryogoku Kokugikan
Edion Arena Osaka
Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium
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Correct answerFukuoka Kokusai Center
The Kyushu Basho, the final grand sumo tournament of the year, gained official status in 1957 and has been held at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center near Hakata Port since 1981. Wrestlers strolling the streets in early winter have become one of Hakata's seasonal sights.
Q21. Famous almost like a tongue twister, which Hakata-ben phrase asks 'Are you saving (this seat/spot)? = Have you reserved it?'
Oru ken
Tottotto?
Iku bai
Suitou
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Correct answerTottotto?
'Tottotto?' asks 'is this seat taken?' In Hakata dialect the continuative '-toru' (to be doing) meets the question particle '-to?', producing that bouncing string of t-sounds. Its sheer musicality has made it the phrase people nationwide reach for when imitating Hakata speech.
Q22. How is the place name '姪浜' in Nishi Ward, Fukuoka City, read?
Meinohama
Meihama
Himehama
Mehama
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Correct answerMeinohama
Meinohama — an unexpected reading — sits in Nishi Ward at the western end of the subway's Kuko Line. It prospered as a post town on the Karatsu Road and as a fishing quarter, and the old highway keeps traces of that past; ferries leave its pier for the bay's islands.
Q23. Which nationwide ramen chain, founded in Fukuoka, is known for its one-person 'flavor concentration counter' booths that are often featured in the media and on social media?
Ippudo
Ichiran
ShinShin
Hakata Daruma
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Correct answerIchiran
Ichiran is a Fukuoka-born tonkotsu ramen chain known for its 'flavor concentration counter,' individual booths that let diners focus on their bowl without distraction. Opened in 1993, the Nanokawa store was its first, and partition walls were introduced at the fifth store, in Hakata. Now with locations overseas, its distinctive seating is often called the 'original physical distancing' and remains a recurring topic in the media and on social media.
Q24. Which is closest to the population of Fukuoka City?
About 500,000
About 1 million
About 1.6 million
About 3 million
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Correct answerAbout 1.6 million
Fukuoka's population stands at about 1.6 million, fifth largest among Japan's municipalities. It has kept growing steadily since gaining designated-city status in 1972, and as Kyushu's largest city it keeps drawing companies and students — a big city still gaining people, rare in Japan.
Q25. Among Hakata's mackerel dishes, which local specialty dresses fresh mackerel in a sesame sauce?
Mackerel simmered in miso
Shime-saba (vinegared mackerel)
Gomasaba (sesame mackerel)
Mackerel sushi
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Correct answerGomasaba (sesame mackerel)
Gomasaba dresses slices of fresh raw mackerel in soy sauce and ground sesame — a Hakata classic born of the rich fishing grounds of the Genkai Sea, where mackerel arrives fresh enough to eat raw. An izakaya staple, it is also splendid over rice with hot tea poured on.
The final fifteen stand between you and any claim to Hakata expertise: what the climax of Yamakasa is called, the man who rooted mentaiko in postwar Hakata, the hometown of the very name 'Fukuoka.' Footnote knowledge, spanning eight centuries from Hideyoshi's town planning to postwar food culture. Multiple-select and ordering questions are mixed in, so scattered facts must line up along a timeline. Clear this, and the top titles are in sight.
Q26. At the climax of the Hakata Gion Yamakasa, which event takes place in the early morning of July 15?
Oiyama
Nagare-gaki
O-shioi-tori
Shudan Yamamise
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Correct answerOiyama
Oiyama is Yamakasa's climax. At 4:59 a.m. on July 15, a great drum sends the first float charging into Kushida Shrine; after the singing of 'Iwai Medeta' it bursts out into the streets. Each team runs a course of roughly five kilometers in around half an hour, against the clock.
Q27. What is the name of the urban land readjustment that Toyotomi Hideyoshi is said to have carried out to revive Hakata?
Taiko Machiwari
Jori system
Rakuichi Rakuza
Kenchi (land survey)
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Correct answerTaiko Machiwari
War had reduced Hakata to ashes. Around 1587, fresh from pacifying Kyushu, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had the ruined town rebuilt on a grid — the replanning known as the Taiko machiwari. The old quarter's street pattern is said to preserve its bones to this day.
Q28. Said to be the birthplace of udon, soba, manju, and the Yamakasa, which Zen temple is in Hakata?
Tochoji
Jotenji
Shofukuji
Sofukuji
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Correct answerJotenji
Jotenji was founded in 1242 with Enni (Shoichi Kokushi), back from Song China, as its first abbot. A stone in its grounds proclaims it the birthplace of udon and soba, thanks to the milling techniques Enni brought home; one theory even traces Yamakasa to his plague-dispelling prayers.
Q29. Said to have commercialized and sold mentaiko in postwar Hakata, who was the founder of 'Fukuya'?
Idemitsu Sazo
Nakauchi Isao
Matsunaga Yasuzaemon
Kawahara Toshio
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Correct answerKawahara Toshio
Kawahara Toshio, founder of Fukuya, was born in Busan. After the war he opened a shop in Hakata's Nakasu market and in 1949 put the first karashi mentaiko on sale. He never patented the process and taught rivals the method, letting mentaiko grow into a specialty of all Hakata.
Q30. On the Fukuoka City Subway, which line passes through Tenjin-Minami, Yakuin, and Hakata and is newer than the Kuko (Airport) Line?
Kuko (Airport) Line
Hakozaki Line
Nanakuma Line
Kaizuka Line
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Correct answerNanakuma Line
The Nanakuma Line, opened in 2005, is Fukuoka's third subway line and runs compact linear-motor trains. Starting between Hashimoto and Tenjin-Minami, it was extended to Hakata Station in 2023, tying the southwestern residential districts directly to the heart of the city.
Q31. In Higashi Ward, Fukuoka City, what is the long, narrow sandbar (peninsula) that separates the Genkai Sea from Hakata Bay?
Yumigahama
Amanohashidate
Uminonakamichi
Miho no Matsubara
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Correct answerUminonakamichi
Uminonakamichi is a sandbar some eight kilometers long dividing the Genkai Sea from Hakata Bay, with Shikanoshima at its tip — a 'land-tied island' joined to the mainland by this very spit. The bar carries the national Uminonakamichi Seaside Park, where the city goes to play.
Q32. How is the place name '香椎' in Higashi Ward, Fukuoka City, read?
Kozui
Kaju
Kashii
Kasui
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Correct answerKashii
Kashii, in Higashi Ward, takes its name from Kashiigu, the shrine of Emperor Chuai and Empress Jingu, revered by the ancient court as the 'Kashii Mausoleum.' It remains one of the few shrines to receive imperial envoys, sent once a decade — ancient history beneath an everyday place name.
Q33. In Hakata Ward, Fukuoka City, which theater hosts large productions such as kabuki and musicals?
Misonoza
Minamiza
Meijiza
Hakataza
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Correct answerHakataza
Hakataza, opened in 1999, is one of Kyushu's largest theaters devoted purely to drama, hosting kabuki, musicals and monthly commercial productions. Each June the kabuki cast arrives by boat down the Hakata River — the funanorikomi, now a beloved early-summer spectacle.
Q34. Connected to the Kuroda clan who built Fukuoka Castle, which place name in Bizen Province is said to be the origin of the city name 'Fukuoka'?
Bicchu Takahashi
Bizen Fukuoka
Harima Himeji
Mimasaka Tsuyama
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Correct answerBizen Fukuoka
The name 'Fukuoka' is held to come from a place called Fukuoka in old Bizen Province — now Setouchi City, Okayama — tied to the Kuroda clan's forebears. Nagamasa gave his new castle town that ancestral name, and a samurai Fukuoka rose opposite merchant Hakata: one city, two names.
Q35. Which river separated the merchant town of 'Hakata' from the castle town of 'Fukuoka' (the city name was later unified)?
Tatara River
Mikasa River
Hii River
Naka River
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Correct answerNaka River
In the Edo period the Naka River divided merchant Hakata on the east bank from the Kuroda castle town of Fukuoka on the west. In 1890 the city council split evenly over renaming the city 'Hakata'; the chairman's casting vote kept 'Fukuoka.' One river still marks that double identity.
Q36. In Sawara Ward, Fukuoka City, which reclaimed district is home to Fukuoka Tower, museums, and the like?
Arazu
Jigyohama
Wajiro
Momochihama
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Correct answerMomochihama
Momochihama is a reclaimed seaside district in Sawara Ward. It hosted the 1989 Asia-Pacific Exposition 'Yokatopia,' and around Fukuoka Tower — built for the fair — it has grown into a waterfront new town gathering the city museum and library.
Q37. Counted among the 'three great figures of Hakata,' which wealthy merchant was also known as a master of tea?
Imai Sokyu
Sen no Rikyu
Kamiya Sotan
Tsuda Sogyu
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Correct answerKamiya Sotan
Kamiya Sotan, merchant prince and tea devotee of Azuchi-Momoyama Hakata, is counted with Shimai Soshitsu and Oga Soku among the 'three greats of Hakata.' He backed Hideyoshi's rebuilding of the town and moved in his tea circles; his Sotan Nikki remains a prime source for tea history.
Q38. Among Hakata's local dishes, which jelly-like food is made by boiling down and setting the seaweed 'egonori'?
Dabu
Fugu sashimi
Gameni
Okyuto
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Correct answerOkyuto
Okyuto is a Hakata breakfast food of ego seaweed boiled down and set into oval cakes, sliced into ribbons and eaten with bonito flakes, spring onion and soy sauce. Peddlers once hawked it through the morning streets, and it remains an emblem of the Hakata breakfast table.
Q39. Select all of the following that relate to the traditions and culture of Hakata.
Hakata-ori
Hakata ningyo (Hakata dolls)
Hakata Niwaka
Yuzen dyeing
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Correct answerHakata-ori / Hakata ningyo (Hakata dolls) / Hakata Niwaka
Hakata Niwaka is an improvised comic art: performers in half-masks trade banter in Hakata dialect and cap it with a punning punch line. Designated an intangible folk cultural property by Fukuoka City, it stands beside Hakata weaving and Hakata dolls as homegrown culture — laughter included.
Q40. Arrange the following events in order from the oldest.
Taiko Machiwari
Start of Fukuoka Castle construction
Bun'ei War
Koan War
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Correct answerBun'ei War → Koan War → Taiko Machiwari → Start of Fukuoka Castle construction
Order: the Bun'ei invasion (1274), the Koan invasion (1281), Hideyoshi's town replanning (c. 1587), then the start of Fukuoka Castle (1601). Three centuries separate the Mongol assaults from Hakata's rebuilding, after which the Kuroda castle town rose — defense, recovery, construction, in that order.
