Yanagibashi Rengo Ichiba

柳橋連合市場Fukuoka

Food area

What makes this place special?

At a Glance

Yanagibashi Rengo Ichiba is an arcaded retail market in Haruyoshi, Chuo ward, Fukuoka, often called the kitchen of Hakata. It stands at the foot of Yanagibashi bridge over the Naka River, facing Sumiyoshi-dori, with about 50 shops along a passage of roughly 100 meters.

Despite the name, it is not a wholesale market but a group of retail shops that sell face to face, from fresh fish and processed seafood to produce and meat. It began in July 1918 around Akira Ichiba, a shop selling fresh fish from the fish market that was the forerunner of the city's central wholesale market, and neighboring stores joined it. After the war the area recovered quickly, and the shops later united as Yanagibashi Rengo. About seven in ten customers are said to be cooks from restaurants and food stalls, though tourists now visit as well. It is often compared with Tanga Market in Kitakyushu.