Submitted by Zeroplate, who says:

I was in Fukuoka this summer and couldn’t help but admire the icons that the subway lines used to mark each station. Some like the elephant and the ramen bowl tied clearly to local attractions. Others pointed to historical or geographical notes about the city. Still others I never figured out. Since each station in the main part of town was labeled with kanji, hiragana, Roman letters, and an icon, the maps got sorta busy but I enjoyed the whimsy they added to the traveling experience. I’m curious about whether you’ve seen these before and what you think of them.

Transit Maps says:

I haven’t actually seen these before, so thanks for sharing! 

While the icons themselves are a bit of a mixed bag – some seem to belong to a family, while others have their own different style – they certainly liven up these strip maps. They’re definitely a contrast to Lance Wyman’s famous icons for the Mexico City Metro, which are all designed using a common design language and therefore have a uniformity to them that these icons lack. Of the icons shown here, my favourite is the double-headed pen/pencil “N” at Nishijin – lovely!

And you’re right about the maps being a little busy, but incorporating an icon, three different scripts and a station identification number will do that! At least you can’t complain that you’re not getting enough information…