Train travel from Fukuoka Airport

Hello gurus!

So grateful for all the advice on this forum. It's been extremely helpful for me planning my upcoming trip.

I'm flying into Fukuoka Airport on 5 April 2020. Flight is scheduled to arrive at 7 am. From my research, it seems that the flight generally arrives quite on time.

I intend to take the shinkansen to Okayama on the same day. I am currently thinking of booking the 9.24 am or the 9.47 am train, but am concerned if I will be able to make it to Hakata station in time? I understand that I will have to take a shuttle bus to the domestic terminal and then a subway to Hakata station. How long do you think it will take for me to clear immigration and retrieve my baggage? From my research it seems that around 5 international flights will land at the airport around the same time as mine.

Alternatively, would you suggest that I only buy the train tickets when I arrive in Hakata station? Is there a risk that the tickets will be sold out, considering that it will be cherry blossom season?

Thank you very much for your help!

There's no need to book the train. April 5th is not a holiday, so the chances of any one train being full is rather slim. Just take the first one available when you finally get to the station.

Lots of unreserved seating also. Not need to worry.

I was able to use my Suica Card, to take a subway to go from the Airport to Hakata Station, a few years back. You should have no problems.

If you want to maximise your time for sightseeing, you could also take a taxi from the airport to Hakata station. It is quite close and wont cost a fortune. Might be more convenient, than shuttle bus and subway specially as you have a lot of luggage.

Yes, if you are dead tired after a long flight, the taxi might save you a little sanity. If you want to take the subway though, it's only a 5 minute ride to Hakata Station.
It would be a pity to just skip the whole area though. The Nanzoin Temple in particular is one of the best sights in Japan, and an easy 20 minute train trip from Hakata Stn.
https://goo.gl/X3LDaE

You don't give your whole itinerary, but there are many JR West passes that might save you some money.
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2357.html

Thank you all for the helpful information! Reassuring to know that the trains are unlikely to be full. I'll take your advice and only buy the train tickets when I get to the station. Thank you also for the tip about the taxi. I had not considered it before. A taxi or the bus certainly seem to make much more sense than taking a shuttle to the domestic terminal and then a subway for only 2 stops.

I'm travelling to Okayama but will slowly make my way back to Fukuoka via Shikoku and Kyushu, so hope to be able to visit Nanzoin before I fly out!