It’s 8.30am, and we have just touched down in Fukuoka, the capital city of Kyushu (the southern most of Japan’s four main islands) and by the time we reach the city it is still too early to check in to our hotel.

Instead of wandering the streets aimlessly, we decide to jump straight in and head an hour further south to explore the pretty town of Yanagawa, ‘The City of Water’, via canal boat.

The trip from Fukuoka takes approximately an hour, via the subway, a train and a taxi, and lands us at the Kamenoi Hotel where we are to wait for our guide. Our tour starts at 1pm, so we arrive in in the lobby in plenty of time.

Like clockwork, Masa-san, our boatman, dressed in a smart black yukata and conical straw hat, politely introduces himself, and we join 3 other guests as we walk to our ‘donkobune’, traditional flat-bottomed boat, for a relaxing 40 minute ‘kawakudari’ (canal cruise) along some of Yanagawa’s 930 canals.

We perch on a narrow wooden bench which runs along both sides of our long shallow boat and settle in. Masa-san takes up his position at the rear of the boat and with his long bamboo pole (‘ro’) and a deft mannouvre, pushes us out and away.

The waterway is pretty, lined with elegant willows and crisscrossed by little low bridges. In some cases they are so low that we have to get off our seats and lie in the bottom of the boat as we pass under. But Masa has his own way of negotiating this small challenge. He leaps with his pole onto the bridge as we pass under, then lands samurai-style back onto the boat as we emerge out the other side.

As if this is not entertainment enough, he then launches into song. His voice is delightfully resonant and beautiful. We are mesmerised. His repertoire is extensive, and he even sings from the opera ‘Carmen’ in japanese!

We slide peacefully along the canals past restaurants serving Yanagawa’s famous ‘unagi no seiro-mushi’ (bamboo-steamed eel) and we are lulled by the gentle movement of our boat and the blissful voice of our boatman. We travel without roar of engines and are transported back to another time and place.

What a magical way to be welcomed to the beautiful island of Kyushu!

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