We hope all of you are familiar with the location of Japan in the world. Although it is said in western countries that Japan is located in the Far East, we usually draw Japan in the middle of a world map as shown here.

Kyushu Island is located in the southwest of Japan and has the longest cultural ties to mainland Asia. Fukuoka City is located in the north of Kyushu Island and the largest in Kyushu with population of over 1.3 million people.

Fukuoka has excellent access and a highly functional urban environment. The entranceway to Fukuoka is, first of all, Fukuoka International Airport, which offers links to numerous cities in Japan, and 23 major cities overseas. Seoul is just 85 minutes away, and Shanghai can be reached in 100 minutes. Tokyo is a 90-minute flight, and Osaka 65 minutes. Furthermore, big advantage of Fukuoka is that it takes only 10 minutes to reach the center of Fukuoka City from the airport using the subway system.

By land, visitors reach Fukuoka by expressway or Japan Railways (usually written as JR) particularly Shinkansen, bullet trains you may say. Extension of the Shinkansen line into the south of Kyushu Island would be making travel more convenient and speedier. Hakata Port, which is very close to Fukuoka International Congress Center, welcomes 2 million travelers a year. This port serves as a terminal for the jet foil, which links Fukuoka to Busan, Korea, with a journey time of approximately 3 hours.

PDF file showing Fukuoka Subway Systems (Route Map)
PDF file of Fukuoka Downtown Walking Map
PDF file of Fukuoka Sightseeing Map
Fukuoka City Subway Official Home Page
Fukuoka Airport Building Co., Ltd. Official Home Page

Since Fukuoka Airport is very conveniently located as you can see on the map, it is easy to come to the center of Fukuoka City (i.e. JR Hakata Station or Tenjin) by using a subway or a taxi. Note that the international and domestic flight terminals are separated (on the other side across the runway as shown on the map), and the shuttle bus between these two terminals is available every 10 minutes free of charge. Just outside the domestic-flight terminal No. 2 of Fukuoka Airport, you may easily find out the subway terminal station; Fukuoka-kuko (Airport) Station.

With the subway system, Hakata Station is the second from Fukuoka Airport and it takes only 5 minutes. Furthermore, Tenjin Station is the third station from Hakata Station and it takes another 6 minutes. Buses are available from both Hakata and Tenjin Stations, the information of which is provided on another web page for Access linked here.

If you will fly in Fukuoka Airport with an international flight, you are supposed to arrive at the international flight terminal; from there, it might be a little troublesome to come around to the domestic flight terminal with free shuttle bus and use the subway. From the international flight terminal to the central area of Fukuoka City, taking a taxi is more convenient and can be recommended, especially if you have large luggage. Although the journey time depends on the traffic condition, it takes normally about 10 - 15 minutes, and the taxi fare is about 1,500-2,000 Yen, depending on the distance and journey time. The taxi drivers in Japan are generally very kind and well-disciplined, but sometimes they cannot understand English. It might be better for you to prepare a copy of a map downloaded from the above or a print-out with the name of your hotel written in Japanese, and you should show them if a taxi driver seems to be unable to understand your English.

General Information for the 25th ITTC is also prepared in Microsoft WORD file.
For information on Fukuoka City, please click here and jump to the web page listing some useful links to public web sites.


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