Welcome to Karatsu!
On the northern end of Kyushu lies a charming beach town overlooking the Sea of Japan. Among the gorgeous beaches, green mountains, seaside cliffs and islands, is a place where life is a little slower but perhaps more colorful. Bursting with local delicacies, dotted with beautiful geothermal hot springs, and home to some of the best festivals in all of Japan, is Karatsu! Home to places like “The Rainbow Pine Forest”, centuries of culture, Karatsuyaki Pottery, an elegant traditional Japanese castle overlooking the town, is a place a lot of foreigners have come to call home. The stories are as varied as the people who live here, and as different as the countries they hail from. Most of the people that have settled here couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.
It has been said that there are two types of foreigners who come to Karatsu, the kind that drives through and the kind that stays here forever. While we welcome the first type, Karatsu Foreigners Club is comprised of a small group of people that try to promote international interaction, cultural understanding and promote local events and news to Karatsu’s foreigners from every corner of the Earth. We list foreign friendly places in town (including some great restaurants and businesses owned by the foreigners who live here!), promote and host local events where foreigners can meet each other and provide essential information in several languages that makes living here easier.
Being an expatriate is never as easy as living in your home country, but helping your neighbors is something we should strive to do. If you have questions about Karatsu or about living here, chances are there is someone here who has an answer. Please feel free to drop us an email or follow us on our social media accounts (links are in the graphic above) if you are curious about the area or live in town.
We hope you like it here as much as we do!