A port town of baked curry and 1910s buildings
Mojiko is an old trading port at the northern tip of Kyushu, facing the narrow Kanmon Strait, about 15 minutes by local train from Kokura, which is about two hours from Osaka by shinkansen. Its dish is baked curry, curry and rice topped with egg and cheese and browned in the oven, said to have begun when a coffee shop here baked its leftover curry. After lunch, walk the waterfront, where a 1914 station and other Western-style buildings stand a few minutes apart.
A baked curry specialist right in front of Mojiko Station. Break through the soft egg and melted cheese on top, and the spiced curry underneath comes out still bubbling from the oven. Expect a line at weekend lunchtime.
A jazz coffee shop with shelves of records and a grand piano, keeping the feel of mid-20th-century Japan. Its specialty is the baked curry pot: curry baked inside a hollowed-out loaf of French bread, so you eat the bowl too. It is closed on some days early in the week, so check before you go.
The harbor district around Mojiko Station, where brick and wooden buildings from around 1900 to the 1920s stand within a few minutes' walk of one another. Ships pass close by, with the shore of Honshu, Japan's main island, just across the water. Baked curry shops are scattered among them, so lunch fits easily between sights.
A symmetrical wooden station from 1914, the first station in Japan named an Important Cultural Property, and restored to its original look in 2019. Trains still run from it, so your walk can begin the moment you step off.
A red-brick customs house from 1912, a few minutes' walk from the station. A tall open hall leads to the upper floors, with a small exhibit on how customs officers worked. Entry is free.
A half-timbered guest house where the Mitsui trading company hosted its visitors, with fireplaces still in its rooms. Upstairs is the room where Albert Einstein stayed in 1922 on his trip to Japan, kept as a memorial room. Only the second floor charges a small fee.