(1) Location & Access
- Its population is 1.4 million, making it the eighth most populous city in Japan.
- It is located roughly 1 hour 45 minutes by air from Tokyo, or 1 hour 15 minutes by air from Osaka.
- While Fukuoka is roughly 1,000 km from Tokyo, it is roughly 200 km and 600 km, respectively, from Pusan and Seoul, Korea, as well as being roughly 1,000 km from Shanghai, placing it in close proximity to several major East Asian cities.
Canal City
(2) Overview
Various urban functions are concentrated in Fukuoka City, making it the economic center of the entire Kyushu region. Office buildings are concentrated around JR Hakata Station and the Tenjin area. Since the late 1990s, banking and insurance corporations have been downsizing their offices, but there has been an influx of call centers and office facilities targeting SOHO and venture businesses, and the supply-demand balance is showing signs of recovery. The Tenjin area is also a commercial center and several large-scale commercial development projects have taken place here since the 1990s.
Fukuoka City's rate of population growth ranks high among Japanese cities and recent years have seen a rapid increase in the number of condominiums in the city center and its surrounding areas. There have been numerous real estate transactions, especially for rental apartments and commercial buildings, and many of the acquisitions have been by REITs or private funds.
Across Fukuoka
(3) Profile Data
1. Major office buildings: year completed, major owner
Canal City: 1996, Fukuoka REIT Corporation
AM Hakata Ekimae Building: 2008, Asset Managers
2. Major companies headquartered in Fukuoka City
Kyushu Electric Power, Fukuoka Bank, Kyushu Railway
3. Major facilities
Department Stores: Izutsuya, Iwataya, Daimaru, Mitsukoshi
Hotels: JAL Resort Sea Hawk Hotel Fukuoka "Hawks Town", Grand Hyatt Fukuoka "Canal City Hakata", Hyatt Regency Fukuoka
Stadium: Fukuoka Dome "Hawks Town"
