After quite a few hours/days of research I finally came to the conclusion that it is definitely possible to travel to Korea and look for a teaching gig while on the ground (tourist visa) rather than wait back in my home country. Now, there are definitely pros and cons for both of those options and if you are planning on coming to Korea to look for a teaching gig you have most likely decided that you want to teach at a Hagwon compared to EPIK (otherwise you would of most likely applied from your home country).
This is pretty much the standard within Japan in terms of what you need to bring:
Your Visa Issuance Number will be given to you by your employer. (Eg: PSDO 72001918). Don’t go to Japan without having this number.
Your passport with remaining validity of at least one year.
A Completed Visa Application. Download Here (All of this info can be obtained from your School – immigration only really care about your Visa Issuance Number).
Two passport sized photos.
The Visa fee differs depending on which country you are from. For Americans it’s 6,000 Yen (60,000 KRW), Aussies its about 12,000 Yen and its even more expensive for Brits.
Once you have received your Visa Issuance Number you are ready to purchase your flight/ferry to Fukuoka (you can go to other Korean Consulates in Japan such as Osaka, Tokyo etc). If you are teaching in Busan you can catch a ferry to Fukuoka (timetables can be found here – ask your school to purchase the ticket) or you can fly direct with Air Busan, Jeju Air or Korean Air. If you are teaching in Seoul, you can fly direct with Jin Air, Jeju Air, Eastar Jet, Asiana or Korean Air.
*Please note:getting the school to pay for your flight and your accommodation is something you should try to negotiate into your contract.
Once you arrive in Japan, here are the steps you will need to follow:
Submit the proper documents at the consulate by 11:30am on a weekday, so I would suggest getting there by 10am just in case there is a line.
Come back to the consulate between 1pm-4pm 2 nights from the day that you submitted your passport to be stamped (I handed my application in on a Tuesday and picked it up on the Thursday).
Fly back to Korea with your visa~
The address of the South Korean Embassy in Fukuoka is: 1 Chome-1 Jigyōhama, Chūō-ku, Fukuoka-shi, Fukuoka-ken 810-0065, Japan
In terms of where to stay in Fukuoka, I would definitely recommend staying in the Tenjin area (the busy and bustling area of the city) as there a loads of restaurants, department stores and bars to keep you entertained during your stay. Another area you may want to consider is near Hakata Station although it is slightly further away from the South Korean embassy.
If you do stay in Tenjin you can either catch the subway from Tenjin Station to Tojinmachi Station (only 2 stops away) then a 10 minute walk to the embassy OR catch bus #301 or W1 from Tenjin Bus Terminal (more info here). I have caught both transport options and they are both easy and hassle free. Also there are money exchanges next to Tenjin Station (there is a tourist information desk which will kindly point you in the right direction – they speak good English by the way).
In terms of where to stay in Fukuoka I would recommend the following the guest houses/motels/hotels depending on your budget:
Below are some photos from my trip, hope you enjoy them 🙂
Only a 40 minute flight from Busan to Fukuoka 🙂
after we arrived we headed to our accommodation (Rodem House)
After unpacking our luggage we headed on over to SUSHIRO (a budget-friendly sushi train restaurant).
Simply take a ticket (from the machine in the lower left and wait until your number is called).
Once seated every table has an electronic screen which you can simply order food from. Menu is available in English, Japanese and Korean.
Food is very good for the price. A very good variety of food available.
As you can see we ate fairly well 🙂
I always like to look at people playing Pachinko.
Next stop was a Tabe-houdai/Nomi-houdai restaurant which basically means you pay a set price and can eat/drink as much as you want.
Some of details here.
Simply use the screen to order away!
I’m not going to lie, I was drinking Chūhai all night haha
The food is pretty standard drinking food like takoyaki etc
We decided to walk back to our accommodation as it was only 20 minutes.. and of course stopped by a vending machine to grab a drink.
As we chose a slightly more budget-friendly place to stay, that meant catching this train into Tenjin Station (only 2 stops).
Anyone coming to Fukuoka must try Hakata Ramen and there isn’t a better place than Shin Shin.
The menu for the day.
The interior is nice and was filled with salary workers getting their fix.
Hakata Ramen 🙂
If you are looking for a data only sim while you’re in Japan, it is easy to pick one up at Yodobashi Camera Store. They have sims for all phones and different lengths (1 week, 2 weeks etc).
Very easy to set up and has instructions in English.
As we wanted to visit Canal City (to do some shopping), we thought it would be a good idea to check out the Kushida Shrine.
Some wishes from visitors.
Some giant statue.
This little piece of paper is suppose to tell your future.
It was fairly quiet at the time we visited this shrine.
Easily purchased for 50 yen.
This shrine was very well kept (they usually are in Japan).
This gentlemen making everything perfect.
These orange posts reminds me of my time at the Fushimi Inari shrine.
Again luckily this small shrine was very quiet as we could take pictures easily.
Tying up our hopes and dreams.
The weather was slightly warmer than it was back in Busan which made it beautiful for travelling.
Any chance I get to drink Bubble Tea I take it 🙂
We arrived at Canal City (easily walk-able from the Kushida Shrine).
Canal City is filled with all different kinds of stores.
As we were shopping I took my chances to sit down when I can while my ‘better half’ makes the most of it.
After doing some shopping we left Canal City in hunt for something to eat.
We decided to head towards Yatai stalls along the Naka river in Nakasu.
Quite a few stalls here (be prepared to wait a bit on busy nights).
It is a great spot if you are feeling hungry or you just want a walk along the river.
All sorts of street food including yakitori, takoyaki, odeng, ramen etc.
Easily accessible by bus.
Quite a few hotels here as well.
Just like Korea there is certainly no shortage of eating options in Japan.
Hakata Station.
We wanted to get something to eat at a restaurant and have a few drinks so we headed towards the other side of Hakata Station. Lots of Pachinko places here.
Again, a quick snap of the Pachinko players.
We found a good Motsunabe restaurant (Pork Tripe/Offal Stew). Similar to 곱창.
The big difference compared to Korea is that people can smoke in restaurants/bars here in Japan. A few salary-men getting started with their night.
I’m a big fan of Japanese beer (especially Kirin) so was glad to get some draft beer.
Motsunabe.
Squid Sashimi.
Squid Sashimi (very fresh).
Freshness in Japan is taken very seriously haha 🙂I wasn’t due to start my teaching contract for another week so we had already planned to visit some friends in Sasebo, Nagasaki.
Japanese toilets always seems to surprise me haha.
On the bus to Sasebo. Only about 1.5 hours by Bus.
A nice little street in Sasebo.
We liked the squid sashimi so much we decided to seek out a similar restaurant.
Again, it has to be fresh.We decided to order a variety of sashimi.
It tasted very good @.@
Some sake as well for good measure.
I don’t know how they fry the remaining squid but it was unreal (tasted better than anything I’ve had back home or in Korea). It is lightly battered and a bit of salt.
This was the name of the restaurant.
Sasebo is famous for it’s burgers (probably due to the fact that their is a large American naval base there) and this is one of the best.
Big Man’s menu.
Was looking forward to this for a few weeks and it definitely didn’t disappoint.
Next up is Kujuku-shima Islands (99 Islands).
Waiting for our ship.
Easily accessible from the main city.
Old-style vessel.
And off we go.
Some small fishing boats.
Loads of different islands spread out.
They seem to be doing some kind of aquafarming here.
The view was fantastic.
My ‘significant other’ enjoying the cruise.
Wasn’t very busy which allowed us to walk around the boat pretty freely.
Water colour is emerald green.
Would definitely recommend this tour.
Lots of small inlets.
I would love to have a small boat like that and cruise around here the whole day.
Even has a lookout tower on the boat 🙂No shortage of burger places in Sasebo.
Bought some cookies which were great.
After the cruise we headed back into the city area.
The really old looking arcade has a lot of restaurants and other stores.
After catching a small bus up the mountain, we walked to the lookout point.
Some great views of the islands we just cruised.
A small map (in Japanese).
A lookout over the port/naval base.
There is a restaurant which has a great view (if you are feeling hungry – orange roof).
A quick video of the view.Again, the weather was very kind to us over our stay.
A pretty bland looking waterfront (on our way to visit an old friend).
It’s that time to eat again 🙂
We came to the restaurant my partner used to work at.
Seafood again 🙂
It seemed to be the perfect entree.
Sashimi with the head haha
Nice presentation.
Creamy mushrooms and egg.
Some nigiri to top it off.
Some fried squid.
The name of the place (Sasa no Hanare).
And last they fried the head of the fish.
A walk down near the water after dinner.
It gets pretty empty in the arcade at night.
And after a couple of nights its time to leave.
Comfortable bus ride back to Fukuoka.
No shortage of vending machines in Japan (as expected).
We decided to head to Dazaifu Shrine (easily accessible by train).
Quick stop at a Ghibli store.
We were pretty hungry so we stopped for lunch before heading to the Shrine.
Some more ramen.
Some Inari.
Quite a few tourists here this day.
It made for a great day walking around the grounds.
Some good luck being made.
Some lovely old moss covered trees.
Lots of Koi in the water here.
Fantastic looking building.
I really enjoy the old style building in Japan.
Some more wishes.
I’m actually not sure what these are tbh.
Tying wishes for good luck.
Dango which I quite like.
In all its glory.
Every time I visit Japan I’m always amazed how tidy everything is kept.
You know it, back at this place.
A good mix of plates.
They quickly pile up trust me haha.
A quick game of Mario Kart to kill some time.
A really good selection of restaurants located here. Walk through these doors and go down to B2.
We ordered okonomiyaki 🙂
Okonomiyaki.
This was delicious.
We had a shop around and then went into the Tenjin area for something to eat and drink.
We couldn’t visit Japan and not sit at a Yatai.
The menu (we ordered a mixture of odeng and pork knee).
Sake 🙂
Definitely a different taste than in Korea (I like them both).
The next day we woke up and visited Ohori park.
A nice walk around the lake (it did rain after our good luck with the weather).
Not a whole lot of people about.
There is a small bridge which you can cross in the distance.
Walking towards the castle ruins.
As we both had been to Fukuoka before and being the day of our flight we decided to have only a quick look here (both have seen it before – however if it is your first time in Fukuoka this is a good spot to look around).
Our last meal in Korea (Katsu-don is one of my favourite Japanese meals).
Udon 🙂
I can’t recommend these enough when you leave Japan (I wish I had bought more).
These are so gooooood!
Your E2 visa run to Japan will all depend on how much time you have. If your school wants you to get it done as quickly as possible you may only have a day and a half to look around however if your starting date is not until a few weeks you may want to stick around in Fukuoka for 4 or 5 nights and include a day/overnight trip somewhere. The process for the visa was very simple so you shouldn’t stress about it. Just make sure you have your Visa Issuance Number, Passport validity (more than 1 Year), Application form and your Passport Photos and you will be fine.
If you end up doing a visa run to Fukuoka, good luck and I hope you enjoy your time there 🙂
2 thoughts on “E2 Visa Run to Fukuoka Japan”
Hey! I am doing my visa run in 2 weeks and I was wondering if it was better to exchange wons to yens at the FUK airport or is there a better place that I can do it in Korea before my trip? Thanks!
I exchanged some before my trip in Nampo-dong and also again in Fukuoka and found the rates to be very similar. No harm exchanging some before you go, just in case.
General tip is never exchange at the airport as it is generally higher than the city (eg: the exchange rate at FUK airport will be worse than Tenjin or Hakata station).
If you have any other questions please let me know 🙂
Hey! I am doing my visa run in 2 weeks and I was wondering if it was better to exchange wons to yens at the FUK airport or is there a better place that I can do it in Korea before my trip? Thanks!
Hi Tiffany,
I exchanged some before my trip in Nampo-dong and also again in Fukuoka and found the rates to be very similar. No harm exchanging some before you go, just in case.
General tip is never exchange at the airport as it is generally higher than the city (eg: the exchange rate at FUK airport will be worse than Tenjin or Hakata station).
If you have any other questions please let me know 🙂