Nakasu Yatai, Fukuoka

A ramen yatai on the Nakasu riverside in Fukuoka, packed shoulder to shoulder on a September night in 2024. Fukuoka is Japan's stronghold of these open-air food stalls, with around 100 of them in the city, mostly in Nakasu, Tenjin and Nagahama. Each one seats only a handful of people on stools around the cook, so the experience is closer to a tiny bar than a market. Order a bowl of tonkotsu ramen, then yakitori, oden or gyoza, and expect to chat with whoever is squeezed in next to you.