- Population
- 1,603,043
- 1.6M
- Elevation
- 14 m
- above sea level
- Local time
- UTC+09:00
- Asia/Tokyo · UTC+09:00
- Places inside
- 7
- listed under Fukuoka City
- Airports
- FUK Fukuoka Airport9 km
- HSG Kyushu Saga International Airport47 km
About Fukuoka City
Fukuoka City is a district. Location: Fukuoka, Japan. Population: 1,603,043.
Fukuoka (福岡市, Fukuoka-shi; [ɸɯ̥̈.kɯ̈́.ò̞.kä̀, -ó̞.kä́.ɕì] ) is a designated city in the Kyushu region of Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. The area has long been considered the gateway to the country, as it is the nearest point among Japan's main islands to the Asian mainland.
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
Travel notes for Fukuoka City
From Wikivoyage
Fukuoka (福岡) is the capital of Fukuoka prefecture and the largest city on the island of Kyushu. 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.
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. The city has 2.5 million residents including its suburbs.
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.
1 Fukuoka City Tourist Information (Sightseeing Plaza Tenjin), Lion Plaza, 2-1-1, Tenjin, Chuo-ku. Daily 09:30-19:00. Information centre with English, Chinese and Korean speakers. (updated May 2019)
2 Fukuoka City Tourist Information (Hakata Station). Daily 08:00-21:00. In the middle of Hakata JR train station there is a Tourist Information Center (sometimes with English speakers) with brochures in English, Japanese and other languages. They can help with transport information and bookings. (updated May 2019)
Get in+
By plane:
1 Fukuoka Airport (FUK IATA) (to the east of the city, surprisingly close to the city centre). Within the country, Japan Airlines and ANA fly to Fukuoka from most larger cities, including Tokyo (both Haneda and Narita), Osaka (Itami and Kansai), and Nagoya (Komaki and Centrair Airport). There are scheduled flights to most major cities in China and South Korea, as well as Taipei, Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, Manila, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, but the only scheduled transpacific flights are to Honolulu and Guam.
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 or try to avoid flying, 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:
Source: Wikivoyage · CC BY-SA 4.0 · abridged
Places bordering Fukuoka City
- Ōnojō
- Kasuga
- Umi
- Kasuya Machi
- Shime Machi
- Shingū
- Hisayama Machi
- Saga City
- Kanzakimachi-kanzaki
- Yoshinogari Chō
Twin towns and sister cities of Fukuoka City
- Oakland· United States
- Bangkok· Thailand
- Atlanta· United States
Source: Wikidata. Only places with a page on this site are shown.
Population of Fukuoka City over time
| 2010 | 1,463,743 | |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 1,538,681 | |
| 2020 | 1,603,043 |
Censuses and official estimates; source: Wikidata.
Climate of Fukuoka City
Best months for sightseeingBest months for sightseeing: May, October.
This month · November
Outside the best season
Day 17° · Night 9° · Rain 77 mm
Better nearby cities in November
- Beppu · 111 km east17°
- Ōita · 121 km east18°
- Nobeoka · 164 km southeast18°
- Hottest month
- August (day 31°)
- Coldest month
- January (night 2°)
- Wettest month
- June (288 mm)
- Driest month
- December (59 mm)
Bars: average monthly low and high temperature. Below: precipitation. Monthly averages for 1970–2000 at about 18 km resolution, adjusted for elevation. Highlighted months are mild and relatively dry. Source: WorldClim 2.1 (CC BY 4.0).
Show values as a table
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average high (°C) | 9° | 10° | 13° | 19° | 23° | 26° | 30° | 31° | 27° | 23° | 17° | 12° |
| Average low (°C) | 2° | 3° | 6° | 10° | 15° | 19° | 24° | 24° | 20° | 14° | 9° | 4° |
| Precipitation (mm) | 71 | 75 | 108 | 140 | 150 | 288 | 283 | 175 | 191 | 91 | 77 | 59 |
How to get to Fukuoka City
The nearest airport is Fukuoka Airport (FUK), 9 km to the east as the crow flies. The nearest large city is Kasuga, 11 km to the southeast.
Airports
- Fukuoka Airport (FUK) Fukuoka 9 kmeast
- Kyushu Saga International Airport (HSG) Saga 47 kmsouth
- Iki Airport (IKI) Iki 57 kmwest
Nearby large cities
- Kasuga Population: 111K 11 kmsoutheast
- Ōnojō Population: 102.1K 12 kmeast
- Chikushino-shi Population: 103.3K 17 kmsoutheast
- Iizuka Population: 126.4K 31 kmeast
- Kurume Population: 303.6K 32 kmsoutheast
Straight-line distances; road distances are longer. Airport data: OurAirports.
Day trips from Fukuoka City
Within 100 km: 20 historic and cultural sites, 17 natural sites, 13 lakes, rivers and coasts.
0–25 km20 places
- Kyūshū Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan Museum 18 kmE
- Shika Island Island 13 kmNW
- Mt. Abura Mountain 6 kmS
- Shōfū-en Natural site 4 kmE
25–60 km8 places
- Chikugo River River 48 kmS
- Wakato Ōhashi Landmark 56 kmNE
- Mount Sarakura Mountain 51 kmNE
- Space World Natural site 54 kmNE
60–100 km22 places
- Iki Island Island 64 kmNW
- Hiko Shima Island 65 kmNE
- Hario Jima Island 75 kmSW
- Okino-shima Island 78 kmN
Straight-line distances.
Places in Fukuoka City
7 places- 1 Higashi Ku 321.7K
- 2 Minami 265.1K
- 3 Hakata 245.4K
- 4 Sawara 220.9K
- 5 Nishi 212.2K
- 6 Chūō-ku 204.6K
- 7 Jōnan-ku 133.1K
Bar: population relative to the most populous place in this list.
Nature and heritage in Fukuoka City
Nearby attractions & nature
Everything nearby-
Mount Hōman Mountain, Dazaifu-shi20 km E -
Kyushu Historical Museum Museum, Ogōri-shi24 km SE -
Aino-Island Island, Shingū-machi21 km N -
Kyūshū Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan Museum, Dazaifu-shi18 km E
Sources & licences
Data last updated: · 2 independent sources