Getting Around Fukuoka

Fukuoka Airport (FUK) is about 3 km from Hakata Station, one of the closest big airports to a city centre anywhere.

The subway station is under the domestic terminal. If you land at the international terminal, take the direct Nishitetsu bus to Hakata Station or the free shuttle to the domestic terminal and then the subway. The airport has a curfew from 10pm to 7am, so the last subway around midnight catches even late arrivals.

Three lines, colour-coded and numbered on every sign:

• Kuko Line (orange, K): the one you will use most. Fukuoka Airport, Hakata, Gion (for Kushida Shrine and the old temples), Nakasu-Kawabata (for the yatai), Tenjin, Akasaka and Ohorikoen (for the castle ruins and Ohori Park), Tojinmachi and Nishijin (for Momochi and Fukuoka Tower), and Meinohama (for the Nokonoshima ferry). Many trains run through onto the JR Chikuhi Line to Chikuzen-Maebaru for Itoshima, and some continue to Karatsu.
• Hakozaki Line (blue, H): from Nakasu-Kawabata north-east to Hakozakimiyamae (Hakozaki Shrine) and Kaizuka, where Nishitetsu’s Kaizuka Line continues.
• Nanakuma Line (green, N): from Hakata through Kushida Jinja-mae, Tenjin-Minami, Watanabe-dori and Yakuin to the south-west suburbs. Tenjin-Minami is a 5 to 10 minute underground walk from Tenjin station on the Kuko Line.

Fares run from 210 yen for one or two stops to about 380 yen for the full length. The 1 Day Pass costs 640 yen (children 320 yen) from any ticket machine, so it pays off on the third ride. Trains run from about 5.30am to just after midnight, every 4 to 8 minutes in the day. Single tickets are sold at machines with an English button.

Nishitetsu runs the biggest bus fleet in Japan and its buses go where the subway does not: Fukuoka Tower and Momochi, Bayside Place and the ferry terminals, the international terminal and the suburbs. Most centre routes run through Hakata Station, Canal City and Tenjin. Board at the rear door, tap your IC card or take a numbered ticket, and pay at the front when you get off; a display above the driver shows the fare for each ticket number. Central Hakata to Tenjin rides cost a low flat fare (about 150 yen), and longer rides cost more.

The Fukuoka Tourist City Pass gives one day of unlimited rides on the subway, buses, trains and ferries within the pass area (check the coverage map, as some operators and routes are excluded). It costs 2,500 yen (children 1,250 yen) for Fukuoka City, or 2,800 yen including Dazaifu, and is sold only to foreign visitors on a short-stay visa: show your passport at the bus terminals, Tenjin and Hakata subway offices or tourist information centres. It also gives small discounts at Fukuoka Tower and several museums. It is not valid on the Dazaifu Liner “Tabito” express bus. See Fukuoka’s official pass page for current terms.

The maths: the subway day pass (640 yen) is cheaper for most city days. The Tourist City Pass only pays off on a day that combines the subway, two or three bus rides and a ferry or a Nishitetsu train, for example the Shikanoshima ferry (about 670 yen each way) plus Fukuoka Tower by bus.

The Nishitetsu Tenjin Omuta Line leaves from Nishitetsu Fukuoka (Tenjin) station above the Solaria and Mitsukoshi buildings.

• Dazaifu: take an express or local to Nishitetsu Futsukaichi (about 15 to 20 minutes) and change across the platform to the short Dazaifu Line (5 minutes). Allow 30 to 40 minutes; some direct trains, including the decorated “Tabito” sightseeing train, run at weekends and busy times. Dazaifu Tenmangu and the Kyushu National Museum are a 5 to 10 minute walk from the station.
• Yanagawa: limited express to Nishitetsu Yanagawa, about 50 minutes, for the canal boats. The punt landing is a short walk or shuttle from the station.
• Kurume: limited express about 30 minutes, for Kurume ramen.

Nishitetsu raised fares in April 2026, and Tenjin to Dazaifu now costs roughly 450 yen one way, Yanagawa about twice that. The Dazaifu and Yanagawa Sightseeing Ticket bundles the return train from Tenjin, the Yanagawa canal boat and small discounts, at around 3,000 yen; it pays off only if you do both towns and the boat. Buy it at the Tenjin station counter. The Dazaifu Liner Tabito bus runs from Hakata Bus Terminal and the airport to Dazaifu without changes in about 40 minutes.

Hakata Station is two railways. JR West runs the Sanyo Shinkansen north; JR Kyushu runs the Kyushu Shinkansen south and all the local and limited express lines.

The Nishi Kyushu Shinkansen opened in 2022 between Takeo-Onsen and Nagasaki but is not yet connected to the main network. From Hakata you ride the Relay Kamome limited express to Takeo-Onsen (about an hour), then cross the same platform to the waiting Kamome shinkansen (about 25 to 30 minutes). One ticket covers both. Reserve seats on both trains together.

Other JR Kyushu lines that visitors use: the Kagoshima Main Line local and rapid trains to Kokura and Kurume; the Sasaguri Line to Kido-Nanzoin-mae for Nanzoin’s reclining Buddha (about 25 minutes); the Kashii Line to Uminonakamichi Seaside Park; and the Chikuhi Line beyond Meinohama to Itoshima. Shinkansen bags over 160 cm in combined dimensions need an oversized-baggage seat; the rules and booking sites (SmartEX covers Tokyo to Kagoshima) are in Japan trains and the JR Pass.

Children aged 6 to 11 pay half. None of the JR Kyushu passes covers the Sanyo Shinkansen between Hakata and Kokura, which belongs to JR West; take the JR local train (about an hour) or pay for the shinkansen.

The maths for a typical Fukuoka-based trip: Hakata to Nagasaki and back is about 12,000 yen, and Hakata to Beppu and back about 12,000 yen, so a 5-day Northern Kyushu Pass at 17,000 yen saves around 7,000 yen if you do both, and the 3-day pass at 15,000 yen saves around 3,000 if you go Hakata, Nagasaki, Hakata, Beppu in three days. A single day trip to Kumamoto (about 10,000 yen return) does not justify any pass. For the All Kyushu Pass, Hakata to Kagoshima and back alone is about 21,200 yen, so it pays off once you add Nagasaki or Beppu. Online booking prices can differ slightly; check JR Kyushu’s pass page before you buy.

Fukuoka has three local IC cards: Hayakaken (the subway’s card), nimoca (Nishitetsu’s) and SUGOCA (JR Kyushu’s). They are interchangeable and part of the national network, so Suica, PASMO, ICOCA and the others work on every Fukuoka train, subway and city bus too. A new card costs 2,000 yen including a 500-yen deposit (Hayakaken also sells 1,000-yen cards) from subway, Nishitetsu or JR machines. Top up with cash at any station machine or convenience store. Hayakaken riders earn small points refunded on later rides.

iPhone users can add Suica or ICOCA in Apple Wallet and tap through without a physical card; Android phones bought outside Japan usually cannot. Contactless credit cards are accepted at some subway and Nishitetsu gates, but IC cards remain the simplest option. IC cards do not cover shinkansen or limited express supplements, highway buses (except some), or crossing into another region’s network on one fare, so you can tap from Hakata to Kokura but not on to Hiroshima.

To Busan, Korea. The Camellia Line ship New Camellia sails from the Hakata Port International Terminal: a daytime crossing of about six hours from Hakata, and an overnight sailing from Busan that lets you sleep on board. From October 2026 a second-class one-way fare is 15,000 yen, plus a 1,400-yen fuel surcharge, a 500-yen Hakata terminal fee and the 3,000-yen international tourist tax charged on leaving Japan, about 19,900 yen in total. Book on Camellia Line’s site. JR Kyushu’s Queen Beetle jetfoil, which took about 3 hours 40 minutes, has not run since it was suspended in 2024 over a concealed hull leak, and JR Kyushu has said it will leave the sea business, so do not plan around it. Flights to Busan take about 55 minutes and are often cheaper.

Local ferries. Fukuoka City ferries go from Meinohama port to Nokonoshima (about 10 minutes, a few hundred yen) and from Bayside Place to Shikanoshima (about 30 minutes) and Uminonakamichi. Bayside Place also has boats to the outer islands; Ainoshima is reached from Shingu port north of the city. Ferry services run less often in winter.

Highway buses leave from the Nishitetsu Tenjin Expressway Bus Terminal (third floor of Solaria Stage) and the Hakata Bus Terminal next to Hakata Station. They are cheaper than the train for Kyushu cities: Nagasaki about 2h30 (about 2,900 yen), Kumamoto about 2h (about 2,500 yen), Yufuin about 2h20 and Beppu about 2h40 (about 3,000 to 3,500 yen), and Kagoshima about 4h. Night buses go to Osaka (8 to 10 hours) and Tokyo. Seats book out at weekends; reserve online or at the terminal. The SUNQ Pass covers most Kyushu buses for 3 or 4 days; check the current price at the terminal.

Taxis queue at every station and hotel, and the GO and DiDi apps work here. Flagfall is around 600 to 700 yen; Hakata to Tenjin costs about 1,200 to 1,600 yen. No tipping.

Cycling and walking. The centre is flat and the walk from Hakata Station to Tenjin takes about 30 minutes via Canal City and Nakasu. The red Charichari bike-share bikes are parked all over the city and unlocked by app, priced by the minute.

Driving is pointless in the city but useful for Itoshima, Munakata and inland Kyushu, including Aso. You need an International Driving Permit under the 1949 Geneva Convention; see getting around Japan for the rules.

All subway stations have lifts from street to platform, with wide gates and tactile paving; ask staff at the gate for a boarding ramp. Hakata Station’s shinkansen concourse and the Nishitetsu Tenjin station both have lifts. Coin lockers at Hakata Station cost about 400 to 800 yen a day and fill by late morning; the staffed baggage room and the luggage delivery counters are in the station. Google Maps covers all Fukuoka subway, JR, Nishitetsu train and most bus routes in English, and the Nishitetsu bus app gives live bus locations.