That's "Fukuoka" Airport, Not "Fukoka"
Written: Apr 29 '05 (Updated May 04 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Immigration conveniently at the airport; hassle-free baggage claims and customs; good subway and bus connections
Cons: Cold steel look; utilitarian; shops are sparse; snack shops are lacking; spoken English is rare
The Bottom Line: Fukuoka International Airport is an expeditious waystation that will send you on your way quickly. However, this airport is not the most romantic place to linger.
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| kedsand1's Full Review: Fukoka Airport, Japan |
I was perusing the Travel section of our beloved Epinions.com, hoping to read some reviews of Japanese locations nostalgic to me. Instead, I found that the amount of Japanese locales to choose from were wanting. However, I also discovered that "Fukoka Airport" had an entry, but no reviews. So, I decided to "fill the gap" and write a review about it.
First of all, Fukuoka International Airport (or Fukuoka Kokusai Kuukou in Japanese) is located south of Fukuoka, which is the largest city on Japan's southernmost major island, Kyushu. Fukuoka is a growing metropolis of 1.2 million people, and is well-known in Japan for its tonkotsu ramen (which features a beef-based, cloudy broth), its mentaiko (or "spicy fish roe"), Fukuoka Tower (a spectacularly tall vertical aluminum structure that punctuates Fukuoka Bay), Fukuoka Dome (home of the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks), and Ohori Park. Fukuoka is not quite so replete with historical sites or cultural centers (though there is a Noh/Kabuki theater located in Ohori Park), but the food is great, the nightlife in Tenjin (which is downtown Fukuoka) is jumping, and the shopping in Fukuoka can afford wayward foreigners with opportunities to purchase English-language materials...
Sadly, this review is NOT about Fukuoka, a city that I lived in or around for five years; this review is about Fukuoka International Airport, which would be your final destination if you chose to visit the relatively laid-back "countryside" of southern Japan.
To briefly describe Fukuoka Airport, it is actually two separate airports connected to each other by underground causeway and tram: the International Airport, and the Domestic Airport. The International part of the airport was completed around 2000; I know because when I flew into Fukuoka in 1999, I disembarked at what is now exclusively the domestic terminal. Once you arrive at Fukuoka International Airport, you have easy access to Fukuoka proper, either by subway, which takes you to JR Hakata Station or, if you go farther, to Tenjin Station, in the heart of Chuo Ward -- downtown. Moreover, you can get to JR Hakata Station's bus terminal by taking the buses that arrive and depart from the International Airport 4-6 times per hour. When I last took the bus, it was 280 yen; so, please be sure to change your money at the airport.
There are a few positive aspects to Fukuoka International Airport. One is the aforementioned convenient connections that can be made via bus or subway. The second is hassle-free baggage claims and customs: in all of my experience with Fukuoka International Airport, I have experience little or no delays either getting my luggage from the baggage claims or getting through customs. One time, I had flown back to the U.S. to pick up some baby-related goods to bring back to Japan, including a car seat AND a stroller in two large boxes. After I arrived, I claimed the boxes, went to the customs officials, answered his questions, and then he sent me on my way. Admittedly, Japanese customs is notorious for being slack, but that's a benefit for the thousands of honest travelers who want nothing more than to get to a hotel (or, in that instance, home) after a 13-hour flight via Seoul.
Another positive aspect of Fukuoka International Aiport is how the Immigration office is conveniently located at the Domestic Terminal -- only a short tram ride from the International Airport. Up until 2001, Immigration was located near Hakata Futou (Port), which was about a 20-minute walk from the subway station nearest it (I believe it was Gofukumachi Station, which was two stops away from JR Hakata Station). That made visa renewals arduous and required a better part of an afternoon to do. Now that the Immigration office is at the Airport, people who have to settle work visa issues can leave Japan, go to Korea to get the visitor visa changed to a work visa, return to Fukuoka, and then go directly to the Immigration office. Unlike the U.S., it's exceptionally easy to get your work visa paperwork sorted out, granted you have sponsorship through a company.
Now, the negatives: Fukuoka International Airport is a futuristic structure with large, turbine-like vents resembling jet engines spanning the first/second floor divide. Futuristic isn't bad, but Fukuoka International Airport has a cold, metallic look to it that can be very tedious to look at if you have any kind of layover there. The airport is strictly utilitarian, meeting needs, but providing little along the lines of amenities.
To provide a comparison, Inchon International Airport near Seoul was finished before World Cup 2002 and it is decidedly modern, but the lounges are also filled with plush chairs; the gates feature comfortable chairs of their own; there is free internet access; and you have such amenities as a video game room, a massage room, and a prayer room. Fukuoka Airport has none of these. Of course, Fukuoka Airport may not have any need for these amenities, since it is not nearly the travel hub that Inchon Airport is, but at least Fukuoka International Airport could have some comfortable chairs! In any case, airport design in Japan aims to be utilitarian and not luxurious; for evidence, go to Osaka International Airport or Narita International Airport and behold the drabness!
Also, Fukuoka International Airport does not have many shops for transit browsing, and the snack shops/convenience stores stock decent foods, but 7-11 or FamilyMart would easily dwarf these shops; in the land of convenience stores, an airport with dinky shops is unacceptable.
Besides this, though English signs abound everywhere (not to mention some Korean and Chinese), spoken English is hard to come by. This stems from Japanese education, wherein students are made to study and perfect written grammar instead of learning how to speak and construct spoken sentences; so, finding anyone that speaks decent English may be difficult and would require patience. Likewise, if you need Chinese, Korean, or any other language spoken, you may have to hunt for a person who can translate from those languages into Japanese. My advice is to bring an English-Japanese phrasebook with you, and master basic Japanese phrases. Here are some useful sentences at the airport (please pronounce the vowels with a short pronunciation; for example, "a" is like "ah"):
1) Sumimasen. (Watashi wa)ryougai sh'tai desu kedo...
--> Excuse me. I'd like to exchange my money...
2) Sumimasen. Je Aru Hakata-eki ni ikitai desu.
--> Excuse me. I'd like to go to JR Hakata Station (say this to a taxi driver or when talking to a subway worker)
3) Oterai wa doko ni arimasu ka?
--> Where is the toilet? (very useful!)
4) Tasukete kudasaimasen ka
--> Can you help me?
5) (name of food), Onegai shimasu.
--> (name of food), please.
Once you have left Fukuoka International Airport, and then you have made your way to Tenjin, you can take the Nishi-tetsu Omuta Line from Fukuoka-Tenjin Station down to the southern part of Fukuoka Prefecture. If you want to see some interesting sights via the Nishi-tetsu Line, go to the following stations:
1) Futsukaichi-eki (Station): Once you get off at Futsukaichi Station, exit at the west exit and then ask the taxi driver to take you to a hot-spring ("Futsukaichi onsen ni ikitain desu kedo..."). Futsukaichi is known for its "onsens," or hotsprings.
2) Kurume-eki: for shopping, Kurume Station has some great shopping opportunities near it.
3) Yanagawa-eki: At Yanagawa, you can sample some fine unagi-don (eel rice bowl) and take a ride down Yanagawa's famous transport canals on a gondola-like longboat. Just ask about "kawa-kudari."
In conclusion, Fukuoka International Airport is a convenient transit point from which you can begin your travels through Kyushu. I cannot recommend hanging out in the International Terminal, but once you've been expeditiously guided through Customs, you can take a bus to Hakata Station and take the JR trains to most of the picturesque locales in Kyushu, or you can take the subway to Hakata or Tenjin, a place with great yatai (food stalls), shopping, nightlife, and relatively safe urban exploring. O-tanoshimi!
(For more info about traveling in Japan on a shoestring budget, check out http://www.epinions.com/content_4338655364)
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Friends
Best Time to Travel Here: Mar - May
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Epinions.com ID:
kedsand1
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Location: Circle City, USA
Reviews written: 120
Trusted by: 34 members
About Me:
Even if you're homeless, you can still write Epinions at the local library.
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