Fukuoka with Kids: 4 Indoor and Outdoor Picks

If you're going to Fukuoka with kids, I'd recommend four places: the Canal City fountain show, the life-size Gundam at LaLaport, the Japanese garden in Ohori Park and Fukuoka Tower. Beyond shopping and food, Fukuoka doesn't have a lot of sights, so pairing the two indoor malls for hot or rainy days and the park and tower for cooler days keeps things easy.

I've been to Fukuoka more than four times and visited all four of these myself. There were families everywhere every time I went, so here's why each one works with kids and how to time your visit.

The four places at a glance

Canal City is close to Hakata and Tenjin, and the other three are 20 to 30 minutes out by bus. Do indoor places in the heat of the day and outdoor ones in the morning or evening.

Canal City Hakata: catch the fountain show in the evening

Canal City is an indoor mall between Hakata and Tenjin, which makes it the easiest of the four with kids. It's open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Ramen Stadium on the fifth floor brings together well-known ramen shops, so it's easy to time a visit around a meal. Many shops offer discounts for foreign visitors, so bring your passport.

The fountain show runs every hour during the day too, but when I saw it in the daytime it was small and I was disappointed, so I went back the next evening. In the evening, the Aqua Panorama projects video onto the glass behind the fountains, and it felt like a completely different show. The schedule changes by season, so check it before you go. The second-floor terrace of the Grand Building had the best view.

LaLaport Fukuoka: a Gundam that moves

LaLaport was about 20 minutes by bus 44 or 45 from the Hakata Station bus terminal. The life-size Gundam is right in front of you as you step off the bus, and I'd never seen a figure that big, so it's worth seeing even if you don't know the anime. At set times the Gundam actually moves, and when I went, the show ran every 30 minutes until 9 p.m. In the evening, video is projected onto the outside of the building too, so I'd go then.

The mall has five floors and is huge, so give yourself three hours to see it all. It's indoors and cool even in summer, and most major brands are there, which made it easy to buy kids' clothes and shoes in one go. It was open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Ohori Park and the Japanese garden: a morning walk

If you take the subway to Ohorikoen Station, you come out on the north side of the lake. Coming by bus from Fukuoka Tower, you get off on the south side. It's a park built around a big lake, so it's an easy walk with kids, and even on a weekday afternoon there were locals out jogging and strolling.

Don't skip the Japanese garden on the south side. It's built around a pond, with every tree carefully shaped, and it felt more Japanese than the big lake. Admission is ¥250 for adults and ¥120 for children, and free for those 65 and over with a passport, but it was cash only.

The Starbucks on the east side of the park is popular for its lakeside window seats, and there was hardly a free seat even on a weekday. It also sold a Fukuoka city mug (¥2,600). It's open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., so it works for a stop after a morning walk.

Fukuoka Tower: collect stamps with a view

Fukuoka Tower is a seaside observation tower about 30 minutes west by bus. A guide rides the elevator with you and explains the tower on the way up, and if you walk the top deck collecting the north, south, east and west stamps, you get ¥50 off at the cafe one floor down, which kids should enjoy. The first level has fortune machines and photo spots too!

Walking over to Momochi Beach right in front makes it a perfect half-day outing. I compared daytime and sunset visits separately in Fukuoka Tower: daytime vs sunset.

With kids, pairing one indoor place with one outdoor place each day was less tiring than packing in a lot.