3.76/5
283 reviews
Photo by Alexander Schimmeck via Unsplash

Fukuoka

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work

coffee

lovely

spaces

feeling

coworking

livable

english

affordable

stores

rest

tenjin

min

tourist

space

major

Fukuoka offers a balanced city feel with plenty of nearby green space and a relaxed, organic vibe that mixes urban and small-town elements.

Food and coffee culture stand out, with many local spots good for meals or focused work.

The city is practical for getting around and has useful English signage, making daily life manageable even without fluent Japanese.

Some reviewers note that popular central areas like Tenjin and Hakata lose appeal after a couple of weeks, suggesting quieter neighborhoods like Kiyokawa for longer stays.

Weather can be challenging, with hot, humid summers and cold winters.

AI-generated summary of reviews
5 months ago

Something I haven't seen mentioned here about
Fukuoka long stays —

Most people end up in Tenjin or Hakata.
Both fine. Neither interesting after week two.

The neighbourhood worth knowing is Kiyokawa.
It's in Chuo-ku, 5 min from Watanabe-dori station,
12 min walk from Tenjin.

What makes it different: you're above a covered
shopping arcade that's been operating for decades.
The city moves beneath you. Yatai stalls at dusk,
a French chef running one of them, motsu-nabe spots
that locals have been eating at for 30 years,
ramen that doesn't exist on any tourist list.

I stayed in a 140m² corner space above the arcade.
Floor-to-ceiling glass on two sides.
After about three days it stops feeling like travel.

For anyone doing 30+ nights in Fukuoka —
this is the area I'd look at.
Instagram: @lux_hotel_Fukuoka

5 months ago

I work in Fukuoka and all I can say is that it's a fantastic city. As a disclaimer I happen to be close to fluent in Japanese, and as the metrics here would indicate speaking next to no Japanese might be somewhat difficult, but it's certainly still livable (tons of signage is in English, and there is information on places to go and see in English as well). Also it feels a tad more unexposed in comparison to some of the more major cities, though Fukuoka has a pretty large population at about 1.6 million inhabitants. I find it incredibly affordable (but I hail from NYC), and there is a lot of green space in close proximity to urban areas, which gives the city this really organic feeling to it- the perfect mix of big and small city. Food is without a doubt exceptional. Incredibly rich culinary history and culture here. Coffee is also terrific (may I recommend ManuCoffee? I used to work in a coffee start up and I still think Manucoffee makes one of the best blends I've had the pleasure to drink in a while). As another reviewer stated, these low key coffee places are often optimal for getting work done/studying/etc. and I often frequent them for this reason. I would say of the major Japanese cities is certainly one of the most livable, and with an airport 15 minutes away from the city center by subway it's very accessible and you can quite easily get around to different parts of the country from there.

As for cons summers here are quite tough. Brutally humid and hot. Winters then get quite cold, but there's rarely snow.

I remember the first time I came here I was visiting as a tourist but even as I work from here the same mellow, free feeling predominates. Lovely, lovely, lovely city.

5 years ago

Solo female travelers can find safe and affordable accommodations with quiet work spaces included. It's a great taste of Japan with shopping and canals. English is spoken enough to assist at stores and supermarkets. You may want to have some things translated if you're looking for a specific item. It's a convenient location for those traveling throughout Asia and want to rest for a month or two in Japan.

7 years ago

Hipster capital of Japan. Fukuoka is a lovely city with a super mellow feeling to it. There's 1.5 million people living here but you wouldn't think so when walking here. It feels a lot like Utrecht, a kinda relaxed artistic hipster city than's more livable than the busy capital Tokyo.

And unlike Tokyo, there is lots of short-term coworking spaces, artisinal coffee places, affordable boutique hotels and even coliving spaces with hotel and coworking mixed.

Fukuoka is just very different than the rest of Japan. In the rest of Japan it's hard to come by good coffee places to work (mostly bad coffee chains), accommodation is crazy expensive (you'll end up sleeping in capsules) and coworking spaces look more like offices and require 1 or 2 year minimum subscriptions!

The best area to stay is Tenjin, it has coworking spaces, fashion stores, vintage stores, boutique hotels and startups.

Fukuoka is absolutely lovely. And I wouldn't mind living here for longer times. And this comes from someone who's been pretty critical at Japan for how unlivable it usually is for remote workers. Fukuoka is a great exception.

7 years ago

✅ Lots of green space close to urban areas

✅ Exceptional food with rich culinary culture

✅ Good coffee spots suitable for working or studying

✅ Easy to get around and accessible

✅ Mellow and free atmosphere

✅ Very safe

✅ Fast internet

✅ Lots of fun stuff to do

✅ Warm in the spring

✅ Good air quality on average

✅ Nomads.com members liked going here a lot

✅ Many Nomads.com members have been

✅ Spacious and not crowded

✅ Very easy to do business

✅ High quality of education

✅ Great hospitals

✅ Roads are very safe

✅ Freedom of speech

✅ Democratic

✅ Very safe for women

✅ Family friendly

✅ LGBTQ+ friendly

❌ Summers are brutally humid and hot

❌ Winters get quite cold

❌ Very expensive

❌ Gets cold in the winter

❌ Not many Nomads.com members right now

❌ Very difficult to make friends

❌ People don't speak English well

❌ Many people smoke tobacco

❌ Marijuana is illegal

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels (median)

745°
cold

643°
cold

1355°
cool

1966°
mild

2272°
mild

2984°
warm

38100°
hot

3697°
hot

3290°
hot

2373°
mild

1763°
cool

948°
cold

Real (median)

846°
cold

744°
cold

1355°
cool

1965°
mild

2272°
mild

2679°
warm

3086°
very warm

2984°
very warm

2882°
very warm

2373°
mild

1661°
cool

948°
cold

Humidity

damp
71%

nice
70%

damp
73%

nice
69%

nice
76%

sweaty
80%

sweaty
84%

sweaty
86%

sweaty
83%

nice
75%

damp
72%

nice
70%

Most common

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

Rain

rainy
63mm

rainy
82mm

rainy
116mm

rainy
97mm

rainy
150mm

rainy
155mm

rainy
132mm

rainy
89mm

rainy
171mm

dry
35mm

rainy
89mm

rainy
54mm

Cloud

cloudy
72%

cloudy
55%

cloudy
66%

cloudy
75%

cloudy
78%

cloudy
79%

cloudy
65%

cloudy
72%

pockets
39%

cloudy
64%

cloudy
63%

Air quality

okay
59 US AQI

okay
63 US AQI

okay
67 US AQI

okay
65 US AQI

okay
68 US AQI

okay
61 US AQI

okay
55 US AQI

okay
52 US AQI

okay
51 US AQI

okay
61 US AQI

okay
58 US AQI

Sun

safe
2 UVI

seek shade
3 UVI

seek shade
4 UVI

seek shade
6 UVI

avoid sun
6 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

seek shade
5 UVI

seek shade
4 UVI

safe
3 UVI

safe
2 UVI

Remote workers

1,560 people

1,575 people

2,945 people

2,291 people

2,236 people

1,440 people

1,309 people

1,691 people

2,700 people

4,680 people

1,615 people

1,133 people

Green is good. Red is bad. Values shown are the medians of all daily highs in a month based on past few years, not necessarily current numbers. Remote worker count is estimated based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members.

If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomads.com's Climate Finder

Current weather data from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0)

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$6,185 / mo

38 Mbps

💵 Cost 🙂 Okay

📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

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☀️ Feels 29° 84° 27° 80° Has AC AQI 59 😷

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⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

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👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

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☀️ Feels 37° 99° 30° 86° Has AC AQI 48

✈️5h

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Thailand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

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☀️ Feels 46° 115° 33° 91° Has AC AQI 65 😷

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⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

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🌥 Feels 38° 100° 30° 86° Has AC AQI 78 😷

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💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

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🌥 Feels 38° 100° 31° 87° Has AC AQI 80 😷

✈️6h

$4,113 / mo

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Berlin

Germany

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

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🌥 Feels 9° 48° 10° 50° AQI 53 😷

✈️12h

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Amsterdam

Netherlands

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💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

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London

United Kingdom

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🚀 Super fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

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🌫 Feels 12° 54° 12° 54° AQI 76 😷

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Paris

France

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💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

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1,800 remote workers in Fukuoka now, of which 3+ members checked in (some members are set to private)

Members who will be here soon

Members who have been here

Values shown are estimated visits by traveling remote workers based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members. Visits to a place are only counted once per year per user, even if they visit more in that year. Visits are also normalized by overall trips added per month on the site, so if site usage goes up or down it does not affect trends. Not all digital nomads are on Nomads.com, and not all Nomads.com members log their trips. So the data is only indicative.

The chart below shows visitors by nationality normalized for population size. This means we take all trips logged on Nomads.com, check which country of origin the user is from, then divide that total visit count by the country of origin's population. If we didn't, it'd just show the big countries like US, Brazil and India always on top. Instead, this shows which nationalities worldwide proportionally visit more or less, which is more useful.

🎒 Nomad Score™	3.76/5 (Rank #85) 283 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍10 liked it 👎0 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Good
👶 Family score	Good
🎒 Community score	Okay
🤯 Overcrowding score	0% is nomad here
💵 Cost	🧐 Pricey: $3,743 / mo
📡 Internet	🚀 Super fast: 157 Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Good
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🌞 Nice: 19°C66°F (feels 19°C66°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	😊 Comfy: 68%
❄️ % of buildings with AC	😍 Very high: 91%
💨 Air quality (now)	😐 Moderate: 66 US AQI
💨 Air quality (annual)	🌱 Good: 57 US AQI
👌 Safety	Great
👩 Safe for women	Good
🌈 Safe for LGBTQ+	Okay
🤮 Food safety*	Great
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Great
🤝 Lack of racism*	Okay
🎓 Education level*	High
⚡️ Power grid	Great
🌊 Resilience to climate change	Bad
💰 Income level*	Very rich: $2,996 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Bad
😤 People density	🧘‍♀️ Low density: 4k ppl/km² (1 per 16x16m)
🚶 Walkability	Great
🚦 Traffic safety*	Okay
✈️ Airline scores*	Great
🧳 Lost luggage*	Great
🏥 Hospitals	Good
😄 Happiness*	Good
🍸 Nightlife	Okay
📶 Free WiFi in city	Bad
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Great
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Bad
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Good
🎅 Startup Score	Okay

🌍 Continent	Asia
🚩 Country	Japan
🗓️ Average trip length	5 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	157 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	☀️ 19°C 66°F + 😊 Comfy (68%) = feels 19°C 66°F
💨 Air quality (now)	👍 66 US AQI 🍃 OK
💨 Air quality (annual avg)	👎😷 57 US AQI
🔌 Power	115V 60Hz
🧔 Best neighborhood to stay	Minami
🚀 Upcoming neighborhood	Hakata Extended
🚕 Best taxi app*	Line Taxi
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 1,000 JPY in USD	USD 6.35
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	JPY 10,000 = USD 63
💸 Tipping	No
💳 Cashless	💳 Yes, cards OK almost everywhere
💻 Best coworking space	Regus
☕️ Best coffee place	Red Coffee
🚰 Tap water	👌 Yes, safe to drink
🦷 Fluoride added	🚫 No fluoride added
🪨 Water hardness	Soft · 40 mg/L
♻️ Return rate	👍14% of visitors return
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	2,200,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$35,951 / year
😤 Population density	🧘‍♀️ not busy: 16x16m (256m²) per person
👫 Gender ratio (population)	👨 44% 👱‍♀️ 56%
👫 Gender ratio (young adults)	👨 55% 👱‍♀️ 45%
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 86% 👱‍♀️ 14%
🏞 Foreign land ownership allowed	Yes
⛪️ Religious government	Non-religious
💻 Online electronics shop	Amazon
🏠 Apartment listings	Airbnb
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	All Nippon Airlines
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	Japan Airlines

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$3,743 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$2,548 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$2,877 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$822 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$2,337 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$6,591 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$1,883 / month
🏠 Median home price	$260,185
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$109 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$216 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$127 / month
🍛 Dinner	$7
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$1
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$4
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$4
👩‍🏫 International school	$12,314 / year
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$7 / trip

Fukuoka

1,800 remote workers in Fukuoka now, of which 3+ members checked in (some members are set to private)

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Members who have been here

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