Daughter Traveling Alone to Japan

My 14 year old daughter-nearly a 15 year old will be traveling to Japan alone this summer vacation to her Obachan's house in Yatsushiro/Hikawa. As a non Japanese and my husband being japanese, I do not know if it is safe for her at all. We have a car who can pick her Up buy it will cost around 600 USD (63,000 JPY) However, if we do shinkansen for her from Hakata station to Kumamoto station, is there a direct train for nighttime? Possibly around 10 pm or later when she arrives at Fukuoka airport? I know there is some English there to get the tickets. Is it safe? my husband says plenty of high schoolers and middle schoolers and elementary schoolers travel on the train. Is it true? Can she then use taxi and give them the address in Japanese On paper to her grandmother's house? Thanks.

Arriving at Fukuoka at 10PM puts a bit of pressure on to make the right connections as there aren't too many trains left heading southbound (Check out www.hyperdia.com). There is an 11:08 PM Shinkansen from Hakata to Kumamoto where she'd have to transfer to the local line (usually track 1 or 2- just a short walk inside the station). For Hikawa, she'd want to get off at Arisa, the 6th stop on the local line bound for Yatsushiro, or Ogawa, the 5th stop, depending on where her obaachan lives. On this route she would get into Ogawa at 12:35AM or Arisa at 12:40 AM. At Arisa or Ogawa, a taxi into Hikawa town wouldn't be too bad, but she would be close enough to Hikawa for someone to pick her up at the station. Depending on where the house is in Hikawa, getting there late at night might not be easy as it's totally countryside. There are usually taxis around the station all the time though.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hikawa,+Yatsushiro+District,+Kumamot...

Alternatively, she could do what I do when I arrive at night, stay in Fukuoka 1 night and get a train the next day. I do this just to relax a bit before business but it would allow her to combat jet lag a bit before meeting the relatives. Fukuoka Airport is one of the easiest to access. She could take the subway 2 stops to Hakata Station where there are many hotels, or she would take a taxi for Y1000 to Y1500 to get to a hotel. The Hotel Centraza is a nice one and it's on top of a lot of restaurants and a convenience store. It's also a 1 minute walk from the station (and the subway exit). The next morning she could just walk to the station, get a ticket for Arisa, and ride down.
https://www.google.com/maps/search/hotels/@33.590002,130.420622,17z/da...

I don't think there's any problem with safety, but to keep it daytime most of the way, I would recommend stopping in Hakata 1 night. You can make hotel reservations online and run off a copy to show the taxi driver.

I recommend someone from obachan's house to go and pick up your daughter in Fukuoka airport. I think it will be quite difficult to travel alone to Kumamoto by her own way unless she had a previous experience to Fukuoka on her own way.

Japanese children often travel their own way by trains but they get to used to use the railway and know how to get there.

But the problem is that, she lives alone and all her family lives in Tokyo due to jobs. So no additional support is helpful tof us :(

Is it possible for her to stay in that hotel, go to Jakarta station and take shinkansen directly to shin Yatsushiro and take a cab to her obachans house? Will her extremely large luggage disrupt other passengers on train

A lot of prefectures including Fukuoka and Kumamoto has by-laws encouraging that minors, 17 years old and younger, should not stay out of their homes during 11pm to 5am. In Tokyo it is basically prohibited, even when the minor is accompanied by an adult.

It's not that we don't see minors at midnight all, and it's not that it's always dangerous, but it's definitely something that is not recommended.

These by-laws were established in the recent decade or so. Your husband apparently comes from the past era, but we had basically been obeying these by-laws until my son turned 18.

On the other hand, it's very normal for mid-teens to travel alone on long-distance transportation during the day. That said, it does require some getting-used-to, so if your daughter is not used to traveling on long-distance trains/buses in her home country, she does need to be bold and wise.

My recommendation is to let her fly into Tokyo first and have a relative pick her up at either the airport or at least where she gets off her airport bus/train service. Then she can stay the night over, and start traveling during the day. She can have everything written down in her language and Japanese, and then travel early enough so that she can get on a taxi at the nearest station to her grandmother's. A mobile phone would be a necessity. You are free to ask each transportation company for assistance.

Again, this should all be done before 11pm. And remember that transportation can delay, especially flights!

Do you have the same problem on the return? Also, how much Japanese does your daughter know?

The time is the problem. If you got to the first place in the dark, you should stay there. It is my recommendation, regardless of age.

I recommend taking a flight from Hakata Airport to Kagoshima Airport

This way there is no train transfers or anything. She can then take a cab from the airport to her granny's place

She does not know How to speak it.

To get a Shinkansen direct from Hakata to ShinYatsushiro after 10 PM isn't possible; you would have to wait until the next day. 6:10AM is the first train from Hakata direct to ShinYatsushiro. From ShinYatsushiro station you would then take the local back 2 local stations to Arisa or 3 to Ogawa. ShinYatsushiro is a much less busy station than Kumamoto, so the transfer would be easier. The local station is adjacent to the Shinkansen station and is reached by an overpass. A taxi to Hikawa from ShinYatsushiro station is also a possibility. Hikawa isn't that far north and ShinYatsushiro Station is on the north side of Yatsushiro. I used to ride my bicycle as far as the first station (Sencho) and it didn't take that long.

Depending on the luggage size, most shinkansen aren't equipped to handle big bags. That said, there is usually room behind the last seats on each car that can fit 2 or 3 bags on each side. The last seats are the ones at the end for the direction the train is going as the seats get reversed at the end stations.

Kagoshima Airport is not near the Hikawa that's north of Yatsushiro.

I still recommend getting a taxi from the Fukuoka airport to a hotel next to Hakata Station, spending the night, and have the overland transportation the next day. At night, the taxi fare should be about Y1000 as traffic would be less. There's a tourist information desk in the the middle of Hakata Station (between the 2 main exits) where they speak good English. She could get any help she needs getting tickets and finding her way around the station from them.

If luggage is a problem, it's also possible to send her luggage from the hotel to the Hikawa address. The front desk at the hotel she stays at can help with this if she has the address written down. It might be possible for them to take it at check in so she wouldn't be bothered with it the next day or getting it to her room.