Fukuoka

Fukuoka (福岡) is the capital of Fukuoka prefecture and the largest city on the island of Kyushu with 2.5 million citizens including its suburbs.

Understand


Historically, Fukuoka was two cities divided by the central river: the merchant town of Hakata (博多) and the samurai feudal domain of Fukuoka (福岡). According to legend, when the cities merged in 1889, a group of samurai heard that "Hakata" was probably going to win the vote for the name of the merged city, so they crashed the meeting and forced them to name it Fukuoka instead. While probably apocryphal, the important point to remember is that the city is named Fukuoka, but the main railway station and port are known as Hakata Station and Hakata Port. There are city centers in both Chūō-ku (in old Fukuoka's downtown of Tenjin) and Hakata-ku.

The surrounding cities and towns make up the prefecture of Fukuoka.

Fukuoka is a good starting point for first-time visitors to Japan. As a historic port city, Fukuoka is more welcoming of foreigners than other parts of Japan, and has significant numbers of residents and tourists from abroad, particularly from China and Korea. Being a sizable, modern city it's still not hard to get around. A subway connects most of the city's main attractions, providing transportation between Hakata, Tenjin, Fukuoka International Airport, Meinohama, and Nishijin (where you can find Fukuoka Tower and the baseball ground of the Softbank Hawks: Fukuoka Dome). The main station in Hakata marks the terminus of the Sanyo Shinkansen bullet train. The Kyushu Shinkansen line also terminates here, and links the Sanyo Shinkansen directly with Kagoshima, at the southern tip of Kyushu.


 * There are also tourist information counters in the airport and Hakata Port.
 * There are also tourist information counters in the airport and Hakata Port.
 * There are also tourist information counters in the airport and Hakata Port.
 * There are also tourist information counters in the airport and Hakata Port.

Tourist information site
The local tourist association has a multilingual guide site.

By plane


From Tokyo, flying to Fukuoka is much faster than the Shinkansen, and not significantly more expensive. The usual one-way fare on Skymark Airlines from Tokyo Haneda is ¥19,800, compared to ¥22,320 from Tokyo Station on the Nozomi Shinkansen, and steep discounts are available if you book in advance (as low as ¥5,300 with Skymark's "SKY Bargain" discount). The flight takes 2 hr while the train takes 5 hr. If you have a JR Pass, of course, you will still want to take the train.

Getting there and away:
 * The International Terminal is on the side facing the city. It is about 5 km walk from the city center. Buses directly to the airport leave from Hakata Station. Alternatively, take the subway to the Domestic Terminal and then the free shuttle to the International Terminal.
 * The Domestic Terminal is on the opposite side of the runway and requires a 10-min bus transfer to/from the International Terminal — free, leaving about every 10 min. The subway serves the Domestic Terminal with just 2 subway stops away from the Hakata JR station.

By train
Fukuoka's main station is named not "Fukuoka Station" but rather (博多駅); remember to use this name when searching for train routes. (If you search for schedules to "Fukuoka", you will likely be given an itinerary for a station in Toyama, about 700 km away.) Hakata Station is the dividing point between the Sanyo Shinkansen (from the north) and Kyushu Shinkansen (from the south) lines. Sanyo Shinkansen services are offered from Kokura in Kitakyushu (20 min), Hiroshima (1 hr), Okayama (1¾ hr) and Osaka (2½ hr), and through via the Tokaido Shinkansen from Kyoto (2¾ hr by Nozomi), Nagoya (3½ hr by Nozomi) and Tokyo (5 hr by Nozomi).

If you have a Japan Rail Pass, you can only use the fastest Nozomi (runs between Tokyo and Hakata) and Mizuho (runs between Shin-Osaka and Kagoshima-Chuo via Hakata) trains by paying a supplemental fee (up to ¥8,140 all the way from Tokyo), so if you are traveling from points east and don't want to pay extra you will have to take one of the two hourly Hikari trains from Tokyo and switch at Shin-Osaka (alternatives are Shin-Kobe, Okayama, and sometimes Himeji) to a Sakura (or Hikari runs between Shin-Osaka and Hakata only late in the evening) service. Travel time from Tokyo to Fukuoka using these trains is about 6 hours.

Another option from Tokyo is to take a westbound sleeper express such as the Sunrise Izumo or Sunrise Seto, leaving Tokyo around 10PM, and then connecting to the Shinkansen at Okayama (or Himeji) early in the morning, to arrive in Fukuoka just before 08:30 (or by 09:15 if you have a Rail Pass and use a Sakura service). While this takes much longer and costs more than the Shinkansen (from ¥25,000), it provides the benefit of doubling as lodging and transport.

From Kagoshima, Kyushu Shinkansen Mizuho and Sakura trains make the run to Fukuoka in 80–90 minutes at a cost of ¥10,170. As with the Nozomi service, the Mizuho service is available for an additional fee for tourists traveling with a Japan Rail Pass. Most Sakura trains do travel through Fukuoka, connecting Kagoshima to Osaka with no transfers.

With the opening of a portion of West Kyushu shinkansen from Nagasaki to Takeo-Onsen the journey from Hakata to Nagasaki now takes 1½ hours (instead of 2): Relay Kamome limited express runs at least hourly to Takeo-Onsen with a cross-platform transfer to Kamome shinkansen trains going the rest of the way, at the cost of ¥6,250.

Overnight by train with rest stop
If you hold a Japan Rail Pass, and you wish to travel overnight from Tokyo (or any other distant city), you may want to split up your journey, stopping at an intermediate destination en route in order to sleep somewhere. The Rail Pass covers your transportation, so you only have to worry about paying for a hotel. You could stay near major stations like Nagoya, Kyoto or Shin-Osaka, or pay less at a smaller transfer point such as Himeji.

As an example, you could leave Tokyo at 18:30 on a Hikari service and change in Shin-Osaka to a Kodama, arriving in Himeji at 22:11. In the morning, a Sakura service leaving around 07:00 will get you into Fukuoka just after 09:00.

By bus
Many overnight bus services run into Fukuoka from other parts of the country.

The Moonlight overnight bus runs from Osaka Umeda to Fukuoka in 9½ hr (¥10,000 one way); The Kyoto overnight bus runs from Kyoto to Fukuoka, also in 9½ hr (¥10,500 one way); and the oddly-named Dontaku runs from Nagoya to Fukuoka in 11 hr (¥10,500 one way).

Willer Express has a service from Osaka/Kyoto/Kobe from ¥4,800 with advance purchase tickets as cheap as ¥4,100. Other services are Nagoya (¥5,400), Okayama (¥4,300) and Hiroshima (¥2,500). They have an English website with online booking available. Discounts for tickets purchased 21 and 14 days in advance.

If you're really ambitious, Nishitetsu bus runs an overnight service, the Hakata, from the Shinjuku expressway bus terminal in Tokyo to Fukuoka non-stop. The ride, at just over 14 hr, is Japan's longest overnight bus service (¥8,000 for economy class ¥12,000 for high seasons, ¥15,000 for business class and ¥19,000 for 1st class, some round-trip discounts are available).

By boat

 * Busan-Fukuoka:
 * JR Kyushu Ferry, +81 92 281-2315 (Japan) or +82 51 469-0778 (Korea), operates the very comfortable, and eccentrically named, 'Queen Beetle' fast ferry that makes one return voyage daily, taking about 3.5 hr each way. Note that most shops have closed in the ferry terminal when the ferry from Busan arrives in the evening and there aren't facilities to buy or charge IC cards, so plan ahead - it's a good idea to arrive with Japanese cash for the bus if you're relying on public transport and don't have an IC card.
 * Camellia Line, +81 92 262-2323 (Japan) or +82 51 466-7799 (Korea), operates a ferry that takes about 8 hr and starts at ¥9,000; if overnight, it may stop and wait in front of Busan Port in the morning until Korean Immigration opens. (Compared to most airports, there should be relatively little security hassle on this line.)
 * An economy-class ticket on the Meimon Taiyo Ferry from Osaka to Kitakyushu costs about ¥6,000 (20% discount if booked online); tickets in other price ranges are available.

By public transport
The Fukuoka City Subway consists of 3 lines. The Hakata subway station, located under the JR Hakata Station, can take passengers straight to Fukuoka International Airport (6 min, ¥260), to Tenjin, the city's de facto downtown district, and to other major stops. An all-day subway pass (ichinichi joshaken) costs ¥620. Regular tickets cost between ¥200 and ¥370 depending on distance. The local rechargeable contactless smart card is called Hayakaken and is compatible with other smart cards like PASMO (Tokyo) and ICOCA (Kyoto and Osaka).

There is a special pass for overseas tourists which costs ¥1500 (¥750 child) for one-day unlimited rides on buses, trains and subways, with some discounts at sights.

Fukuoka is well served by Nishitetsu buses. Buses around the Tenjin and Hakata area cost ¥100. Outside that area, prices go up slightly to about ¥440 for greater distances.

On foot
Downtown is small and compact enough to potentially wander around on foot. In the Tenjin area, Tenjin Chikagai (天神地下街, Tenjin Underground Shopping Center) runs under Watanabe Street and has many shops. It also connects the Tenjin and Tenjin-Minami subways stations with most major department stores and the Nishitetsu Fukuoka station; when transferring between these stations, you can take up to 120 minutes, leaving plenty of time for shopping. There is a passenger tunnel which connects Hakata and Gion subway stations and is useful during the frequent rains in summer and the bitter cold winds in winter, the latter of which is close to some of Fukuoka's temples and shrines.

By taxi
Taxis are available; they start from about ¥550, not the cheapest way to go. Some drivers speak English, but it's best to have your destination written down in Japanese if you do not speak the language. Velotaxis are also available; they are ¥500 for the greater Tenjin area. Also, an environmentally friendly option is the human operated bicycle taxis.

By bicycle
If you can get a hold of a bicycle, it is probably the best way to get around. Parking does become a problem in some areas, but in Tenjin there are long term (06:00-23:00) underground parking areas, which are free for the first 3 hr. BIC Camera's 8th floor, which is opposite Kego shrine, has free bicycle parking from 10:00-21:00.

In addition to the free parking in Tenjin, street bicycle meters are another great spot to park a bike. Much like many shopping centers around the world, it takes about ¥100 to release the bike lock, that wraps around the front wheel to be connected back into the slot. For a safer bicycle parking, use two bike locks and chain the front and back tires to the body of the bike.

Talk
Standard Japanese is understood pretty much everywhere. However, the area is known for the local Hakata dialect (博多弁 Hakata-ben) which, like other nearby dialects in Kyushu, is well known for being somewhat incomprehensible to speakers of Standard Japanese. Just to scratch the surface, here are a few of the more widely-known differences:
 * と (to) is used as both a replacement for の (no) or か (ka) at the end of sentences, as well as a replacement for 〜ている (teiru) verb endings, leading to sentences like 知っとーと? (Shittō to?) instead of Standard 知っているの? (Shitteiru no?, "Do you know it?").
 * The particle を (o) is replaced with ば (ba). Standard 何してんの？ (Nani shiten' no?, "Whatcha doing?") becomes なんばしようとね？ (Nan' ba shiyō to ne?).
 * Instead of i-adjectives, Hakata-ben has ka-adjectives. Hakata speakers often give their okay with よか、よか (yoka, yoka) where a Tokyoite would use いいよ (ii yo), and proclaim a tasty meal with うまか (umaka).

There are plenty more idiosyncrasies, like yokarōmon instead of ii ja nai ka. Learning a bit of Hakata-ben from locals is a fun way to make friends.

Fukuoka's railway smart card, Hayakaken, has two explanations for its name, one of which is that hayaka ken is Hakata-ben for hayai kara ("Because it's quick").

Do
For a good listing of what's happening and places to eat and drink, the local monthly English-language magazine Fukuoka Now is a great start.
 * If you haven't tried karaoke yet, why not try it now? There are many karaoke places to choose from, some with costumes you can borrow (just don't try to take them home). If you just want to go for a couple of hours, most places will charge by the hour; morning and afternoon hours being the cheapest. If you want to make a night of it, from 23:00, most have free time systems which mean nomihodai (all you can drink) and all you can sing for about ¥2,500, until 05:00.
 * If you haven't tried karaoke yet, why not try it now? There are many karaoke places to choose from, some with costumes you can borrow (just don't try to take them home). If you just want to go for a couple of hours, most places will charge by the hour; morning and afternoon hours being the cheapest. If you want to make a night of it, from 23:00, most have free time systems which mean nomihodai (all you can drink) and all you can sing for about ¥2,500, until 05:00.
 * If you haven't tried karaoke yet, why not try it now? There are many karaoke places to choose from, some with costumes you can borrow (just don't try to take them home). If you just want to go for a couple of hours, most places will charge by the hour; morning and afternoon hours being the cheapest. If you want to make a night of it, from 23:00, most have free time systems which mean nomihodai (all you can drink) and all you can sing for about ¥2,500, until 05:00.
 * If you haven't tried karaoke yet, why not try it now? There are many karaoke places to choose from, some with costumes you can borrow (just don't try to take them home). If you just want to go for a couple of hours, most places will charge by the hour; morning and afternoon hours being the cheapest. If you want to make a night of it, from 23:00, most have free time systems which mean nomihodai (all you can drink) and all you can sing for about ¥2,500, until 05:00.

Events
Fukuoka is famous for two annual festivals which are some of Japan's oldest and draw huge crowds.

Other events:
 * If you are visiting in November, be sure to check out the sumo matches held at Fukuoka Convention Center. You are bound to see some of the sumo wrestlers out on the streets doing a bit of tourism as well.

Outdoors

 * Rent bikes and tour about the city. There are a handful of shops that have reasonable prices. The cities best treasures are discovered while following any of the many paths or sidewalks.
 * Get out of the city. Although Fukuoka doesn't seem like the premier beach destination city, there are quite a few beautiful beaches in and around Fukuoka city. Most are an easy train ride away. While surfing isn't very good during the summer, a few waves can be caught around Mitoma (take the subway to Kaizuka Stn, then transfer to the Nishitetsu Miyajidake line to Mitoma Stn. Takes about 20 min or so. From the station, it's a 10-minute walk to the beach. West of the city, Nijinohama and Futamigaura, are supposed to have nice waves. To get to Nijinohama, you'll need a car. Also, Shikanoshima, which has pristine beaches, is an easy 30-min ferry ride.
 * Drive to Maebaru IC, head in the Shima (志摩) direction along Kendo 12. Go straight at the intersection in front of Shima town office and turn left at Nogita intersection in front of 7-Eleven. 50 min from Tenjin. To get to Futamigaura, take a Showa bus for Tani from JR Chikuzen Maebaru (so first take a subway to Chikuzen Maebaru if you are in Tenjin or Hakata). Get off the bus at Imuta (around 30 min). About a 15 min walk to the beach.
 * Get out of the city. Although Fukuoka doesn't seem like the premier beach destination city, there are quite a few beautiful beaches in and around Fukuoka city. Most are an easy train ride away. While surfing isn't very good during the summer, a few waves can be caught around Mitoma (take the subway to Kaizuka Stn, then transfer to the Nishitetsu Miyajidake line to Mitoma Stn. Takes about 20 min or so. From the station, it's a 10-minute walk to the beach. West of the city, Nijinohama and Futamigaura, are supposed to have nice waves. To get to Nijinohama, you'll need a car. Also, Shikanoshima, which has pristine beaches, is an easy 30-min ferry ride.
 * Drive to Maebaru IC, head in the Shima (志摩) direction along Kendo 12. Go straight at the intersection in front of Shima town office and turn left at Nogita intersection in front of 7-Eleven. 50 min from Tenjin. To get to Futamigaura, take a Showa bus for Tani from JR Chikuzen Maebaru (so first take a subway to Chikuzen Maebaru if you are in Tenjin or Hakata). Get off the bus at Imuta (around 30 min). About a 15 min walk to the beach.

Tenjin



 * Kokutai Dohro: walking up this street can be a bit of a challenge at times as the sidewalk narrows and widens but the crowds don't go away. Head towards Nishidori and on the way, on your right just past the drugstore, you'll find Kego Shrine and Kego Park. Across the street is Bic Camera, for your electronic needs.

Learn
There are several schools for studying Japanese in Fukuoka.



Buy


(天神) is Fukuoka's largest shopping district. You can find here, designer stores housed in towering retail blocks such as Tenjin Core, IMS, Vivre to the east, and Solaria Plaza Vioro to the west. There are also several large department stores, Iwataya, Daimaru and Mitsukoshi (all with food available.) Also, there are boutique areas, including Tenjin Chikagai, housed in a pleasant underground area adjacent to the Tenjin subway station and under Watanabe street. Nishi-Dori and Oyafuko-Dori (actually the same street, separated by Showa-Dori) contains a multitude of stores and restaurants, both mainstream and independent.

The Shotengai or shopping arcades are also good places to shop. In Tenjin, to the west of Solaria Stage you can find a shotengai with great deals and a used kimono store. Near Nakasu, across from Eeny Meeny Miny Mo (a large mall), you can find the Nakasu-Kawabata shopping arcade. Here you can find traditional paper goods, Noren curtains and inexpensive bakeries.

Tenjin is very much about shopping, above and below ground.
 * In the on Showa-dori, head downstairs to the underground shopping arcade. All of the major shops and department stores are connected to the underground.
 * will provide you with a chance to see younger and more colorful fashion, ranging from frilly and cute to flashy and glam.
 * houses Incube, a shop with a variety of kitsch toys and gifts.
 * and, towards the end of the underground shopping, are large departments stores with more or less the same products. Both also house grocery stores and deli-style gourmet markets in their basements.

Over the past few years, the main shopping, eating and drinking area has been moving away from north Tenjin and the Oyafuko-dori street south towards Daimyo, Kego and Imaizumi. With a different feel to the commercial district of Tenjin, just to the west (past Nishi-dori) is Daimyo, an area filled with small, mostly independent shops, bars and restaurants. Plan on staying all day; for daytime shopping and eating dinner. On Sundays, this area is full of young people out shopping. For a similar feeling area, check out Kego and Imaizumi, two upcoming areas to the south.



Eat


Hakata is famous for its style of ramen, which has a very pungent smell thanks to a pork rib broth called tonkotsu (豚骨). Enjoy it with pickled ginger and lots of sesame seeds. Save the broth, because you can order a refill of noodles (kaedama) for around ¥300 at many places.

Although there are restaurants all over town serving ramen at various price levels, some of the best joints are yatai, mobile food stalls (see also the Drink section). The stalls are set up early evening and can be found on major streets; particularly in Tenjin (near the post office), Nakasu and Nagahama-Dori. Also, along the river from Canal City, an entire strip of yatai can be found. Although ramen is the norm, you can find anything from yakitori to Italian cuisine. Brush up on your Japanese or pointing skills as these guys don't speak English at all. A few tips: respect other customers' space, don't go in large groups (split up and use multiple stalls), and don't stay too long.

Another regional product Hakata is famous for is the spicy mentaiko (明太子), or pollock roe condiment, though in actuality these days it is all imported. Enjoy it plain with breakfast, inside an onigiri, or tossed with spaghetti. It's widely available for tourists in JR Hakata Station as well as major department stores, although it needs to be refrigerated.

Fukuoka is also known for having good gyoza (pork dumplings) and there are many places to try some. (They are a perfect appetizer/side dish for ramen, incidentally.)

Lunch time is probably the best value for the money. Most restaurants will do lunch sets at 1/2 or 1/3 the price of their dinner sets, but serve the same course. If you have a bit more cash to spend and want to have a nice Japanese style lunch, the Grand Hyatt at Canal City and the Excel Hotel near Nakasu are both good. Most of the larger, nicer hotels in the area will serve beautiful lunch sets. Many restaurants and cafes in the area will have lunch sets under ¥1,000.



Drink
Yatai, or street stalls, are plentiful throughout Fukuoka and present a great place to grab a bite to eat and drink while mixing with the locals. Yatai are usually a last stop on a pub crawl since they provide cheap eats that taste better after a long night, and it's easier to start a conversation with a stranger after many beers. Don't rely on one for dinner! And bring your meishi (business cards) if you have any, because they often get swapped here. Along the river in Hakata, from about 16:00, you'll see the yatai vendors setting up their booths and preparing ingredients for the evening crowds. A few of the yatai vendors speak a bit of English. Just be careful about the prices, sometimes the yatai don't have menus, so be sure to ask what they have and how much things are.

Tenjin, ¥100 by bus from Hakata Station or to the west of Fukuoka Nishitetsu Station, is one of the best places in the whole country to explore Japanese nightlife. This also includes Daimyo, a farther out area which is becoming the "new Tenjin". The most well-known place to start is (親不孝通り); the aptly-named "Disobedient Child Street" comes alive with youth activity, especially on weekend nights. It also has several ex-pat bars. It's only 400 m long but swells with young people at night. Unlike comparable areas in Tokyo, there are no scam bars in Tenjin, and the "snack bars" are not ridiculously overpriced. The area is aimed towards the locals but it is still large, new, fashionable, and full of unique experiences. This is one of the safest places imaginable to drop into a new bar, so why not give it a try?

Some of the smaller bars down the backstreets will often have a table charge of ¥200-500 per person. This usually means you get a tiny bowl of nuts, chips or pickled octopus.

For less adventurous groups, the area abounds with chain izakaya (Japanese pubs) that have picture menus which make it easy for the traveler who speaks no Japanese. Watami (和民) and Warawara (笑笑) are two such chains. Shirokiya (白木屋), another izakaya, is decent and fairly easy to find. It is on Nishi-dori, across from the Nishtetsu Grand Hotel above Kitamura Camera in the same building as Sam and Dave's, a night club popular with the hip-hop crowd.

The happy hour concept is just beginning to make its way into the bars in the area, so you can now find places that do cheap drinks. Thursday night is also a good time to avoid weekend crowds, find the local ex-pat population and get some good deals on drinks.

In the summer, many of the department stores have beer gardens on their roofs, with buffet style courses and all you can drink for about 2 hours. If you have a bit of cash (around ¥3500) it's a nice way to spend a hot summer evening.



Sleep
There are several hotels around Hakata Station, and in the Gion area, Nakasu, and Tenjin. Hotel options range from capsule hotels and reasonably priced western hotel rooms to more expensive tourist hotels.

Budget




Consulates

 * 🇰🇷 South Korea
 * 🇺🇸 United States
 * Vietnam

Go next
JR train tickets (set of 2 or 4) for one day travel on Limited Express trains are cheaper than individual tickets. The Bullet Train has cheap rates to Kitakyushu on the weekend (¥3,000 return.)
 * Dazaifu &mdash; a site of pilgrimage every new year for Japanese students, this small town houses the beautiful Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine (dedicated to a Shinto deity of learning) and the National Museum (Kyushu).
 * Kurume &mdash; famous for its ramen noodles, 30 min from Tenjin by train.
 * Munakata
 * Itoshima
 * Karatsu
 * Iizuka
 * Yanagawa
 * Yoshinogari
 * Beppu &mdash; and its famous Hells (unique hot springs for viewing) is a potential day trip at 2 hr via Sonic Limited Express trains (departing via Hakata Station), or a bit longer via bus.