Hakata Station to Hard Rock Cafe Fukuoka

In an earlier thread I mentioned I was going to help out a friend and acquire 6 of the 7 Hard Rock Cafe T-shirts from Japan in March 2012, seeing as Fukuoka wasn't in my original itinerary. However, I really want this person to feel appreciated and appreciative of my efforts, so I think I can squeeze a brief visit to Fukuoka for a dash to the HRC. And I mean brief , as in a dash there and back.

I'm using the end of my Okayama-Takahashi day trip to squeeze the Fukuoka visit before the Shinkansen lines shut down for the night. I will be arriving at Fukuoka via the Sakura 569 at 18:39 and will be departing at 20:33 on the Rail Star 582. That gives me just under 2 hours to get to the HRC and back the Hakata station.

The thing is.... I have no clue how to get from Hakata station to the HRC. The map provided by the HRC and the Google Map I've looked at reveal no subway station nearby. The closest one I can gather is Tojinmachi/Tojimmachi, which is about a 10 minute ride from Hakata. Am I correct in this assumption? Is it possible to walk it from there to the HRC, purchase the item and walk back to that station to make a train to Hakata in the time alloted before the Rail Star leaves?

I know it's not the way to see Fukuoka. I was actually planning on going there in 2013 and stay for some time. If you guys can tell me if my plan is feasible, I would really appreciate it.

Hi, John,

The closest one I can gather is Tojinmachi/Tojimmachi, which is about a 10 minute ride from Hakata. Am I correct in this assumption?

Yes, you are right.

Is it possible to walk it from there to the HRC, purchase the item and walk back to that station to make a train to Hakata in the time alloted before the Rail Star leaves?

Yes, I think so. According to Google maps, it takes about 13 min (1.1 km) from Tojinmachi to HRC Fukuoka. As you might see on the map, HRC is close to the Yahoo Dome. There may be signs on the street directing the Yahoo Dome. Local people might not know HRC, but most of them know the Yahoo Dome, therefore, you should have a card printing "ヤフードーム" and show it to the people around you. Then she/he should know you are going to the Yahoo dome. If you see the Dome, then show another card, "ハードロックカフェ". Near the Dome, someone should know it.

I visited the Hard Rock Cafe in Fukuoka last month. You can take a bus from Hakata station to the HRC (don't remember which one), but in my experience the subway was faster, although we did go there during rush hour... From the nearest subway station it's still a 10 minute walk, but as long as you have a map it should be pretty straight forward to find HRC. If you're just going to buy something I think 2 hours should suffice as long as you don't take the wrong subway on the way back, like we did :)

frog1954 and svb:

Thank you! Thank you for your replies! I definitely will take the train because I had a bad experience with the buses during rush hour in Kyoto and I missed my Hikari run back to Tokyo.Being as it is the last run of the day, I definitely don't want to miss it.

I will definitely carry a card with the kana for both places, just in case. I have looked at the map and if I stick to the Meiji Dori and the one that crosses it, then I shouldn't get lost. It just seemed there were quite a few blocks but they appear to be deceivingly small.

Again, I want to thank the both of you for your prompt responses.

John