Kitakyushu

Worth seeing in and around Kitakyushu

10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.

1. 01
   Kokura Castle

   Kokura Castle is a five-story castle in Kitakyushu, Japan. A castle was first built at the current site in 1569.

   800 m · Japanese castle in Kokura, Kitakyushu City, Japan · Wikipedia
2. 02
   Matsumoto Seicho Memorial Museum

   The Matsumoto Seicho Memorial Museum is a literature museum in Kitakyushu, Japan. It is dedicated to Seichō Matsumoto, who spent the first half of his life in Kitakyusyu.

   1 km · museum in Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka, Japan · Wikipedia
3. 03
   Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art

   The Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art is located in Tobata-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Designed by Arata Isozaki, it sits on a hill straddling the three wards of Kokura Kita, Tobata, and Yahata Higashi.

   5.5 km · museum in Japan · Wikipedia
4. 04
   Yawata Steel Works

   The Yahata Steel Works is a steel mill in Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Imperial Steel Works was established in 1896 to meet increasing demand from the nation's burgeoning shipbuilding, railway, construction, and armaments industries.

   5.4 km · steel works as a component of world heritage site in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan · Wikipedia
5. 05
   Mount Sarakura

   Mount Sarakura is a 622 m mountain in Yahatahigashi-ku, Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka, Japan. This mountain is a part of Kitakyūshū Quasi-National Park.

   9 km · mountain in Japan · Wikipedia
6. 06
   Mikuni World Stadium Kitakyūshū

   Mikuni World Stadium Kitakyushu, often known colloquially as Kitakyushu Stadium, is a stadium located in the city of Kitakyushu in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The stadium was built between 2015 and 2017, being officially opened in February 2017.

   1 km · building in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan · Wikipedia
7. 07
   Kitakyushu City General Gymnasium

   Kitakyushu City General Gymnasium is an arena in Yahatahigashi-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan.

   4 km · arena in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan · Wikipedia
8. 08
   Kokura Racecourse

   Kokura Racecourse is located in Kokura Minami-ku Kitakyushu, Japan. It is used for horse racing.

   4.6 km · horse racecourse in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan · Wikipedia
9. 09
   Riverwalk Kitakyushu

   Riverwalk Kitakyushu is a shopping centre near the Murasaki River and Kokura Castle in Kokura Kita ward, Kitakyushu, Japan. It was opened as part of the Kitakyushu Renaissance policy on April 19, 2003.

   800 m · shopping mall in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan · Wikipedia
10. 10
    Kyushu Railway History Museum

    The Kyushu Railway History Museum is a railway museum owned by JR Kyushu in Kitakyushu, Japan.

    9.8 km · railway museum in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka prefecture, Japan · Wikipedia

Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.

What Wikivoyage says to see

The city has the reputation of being just an industrial area, but this is only true of part of the coastline. The city covers a very large area (much larger than Fukuoka, 486 km² as compared with 340), and there are many pleasant spots for sightseeing and recreation.

1. 01
   Kokura Castle
2. 02
   Hiraodai

   A rare karst plateau in Kokura Minami ward, 30-40 minutes by car from Kokura station.

3. 03
   Sugao

   This waterfall in Kokura Minami ward is cool and popular with Japanese residents in the summer.

4. 04
   Kanmon Kaikyo Museum
5. 05
   Railway Museum

From Wikivoyage: Kitakyushu, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Things to do

Visit the Blast furnace near Space World train station. Japan's steel industry began here in 1901 and the original furnace is preserved as steelmaking was so important to Japan and the development of Kitakyushu in the 20th century. Also nearby are the city's natural history museum and environment museum. Cruise the Dokaiwan sea inlet between Tobata and Wakamatsu wards at night.

From Wikivoyage: Kitakyushu, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Where to eat

1. 01
   Rihga Royal Hotel

   This hotel has several high-priced restaurants.

From Wikivoyage: Kitakyushu, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Getting to Kitakyushu

Airports

Kitakyushu (KKJ), 15 km · Fukuoka (FUK), 52 km · Kyushu Saga (HSG), 98 km

Stations

Mojikō Station, 9.9 km · Kokura Station, 400 m · Shimonoseki Station, 8.2 km · Jōno Station, 2.8 km · Kokura Airport, 7.9 km

• Fukuoka → Kitakyushu

  49 km · quickest by road, 1h 25m · ¥730–990
  GuideToday
• Saga → Kitakyushu

  86 km · quickest by road, 2h 17m · ¥1,230–1,680
  GuideToday
• Kumamoto → Kitakyushu

  117 km · quickest by road, 2h 36m · ¥1,650–2,250
  GuideToday
• From anywhere

  The planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
  Plan a trip

Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.

No local-transport research exists yet for Kitakyushu

Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Kitakyushu. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.

If you know how people move in Kitakyushu – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.