🇯🇵Fukuoka for Digital Nomads
Japan · Japan, at half the price
Photo: Alexander Schimmeck / Unsplash
Costs
—
community-reported
Wifi
84Mbps
Mild months
2of 12
Safety
9.7
Overall
6.2
Fukuoka at a glance
Fukuoka is Japan with the difficulty setting turned down: a compact, sea-facing city where the airport sits 5 km from the centre6 (source: OurAirports — distance to the nearest major airport), the food culture runs through open-air yatai stalls, and the measured internet — an 83.5 Mbps median download5 (source: M-Lab — median download speed) — matches the capital without the capital's densities or prices.
The trade-offs are Japanese-national ones. The digital nomad visa exists but sets a high income bar with no renewal12 (source: Government sources — checked 2026-07-29), so most stays run on the 90 visa-free days12 (source: Government sources — checked 2026-07-29); the working day shares nothing with Europe1 (source: Copernicus ERA5 — overlap of a 09:00-17:00 day against Central Europe); and only 2 of 12 months land in the mild band2 (source: Nomadbase comfort index — from 2025 data) — winters are short but real, summers humid with a rainy-season overture.
It suits you if you want Japan as a life rather than a trip — food, order, sea, and a city small enough to become yours — on Asian or American hours. It suits you less if you need European overlap or a visa that stretches past a season without a corporate income.
What works
- Median download of 83.5 Mbps5 (source: M-Lab — median download speed) and a homicide rate of 0.23 per 100k7 (source: UNODC — national rate per 100,000)
- The airport is 5 km out6 (source: OurAirports — nearest major airport) — Asia becomes a weekend menu
- Yatai stalls, ramen capital status and a city beach inside the grid
- Drinkable tap water and Japanese civic order10 (source: Nomadbase country research — country tap-water tier)
Worth knowing
- 0 hours of overlap with a European working day1 (source: Copernicus ERA5 — 09:00-17:00 against Central Europe)
- The nomad visa's income bar is high, with no renewal12 (source: Government sources — checked 2026-07-29)
- Only 2 of 12 months land in the mild band2 (source: Nomadbase comfort index — from 2025 data)
- English thins fast; effort is part of the deal
Living in Fukuoka
Neighbourhoods, finding a place and getting around — the practical layer the data tiles below cannot carry. Working, money, people and time off live in their own sections.
Where to stay
Daimyo and Imaizumi are the café-dense central districts where the city's youth and coffee live — the default landing zone. Ohori Park side suits runners and calm; Momochi puts the beach and the seaside towers in play; Hakata station east is practical and cheaper. The city is compact enough that the subway makes every choice reversible — this is not a metropolis where the district decides your life.
Finding a place
Japan's rental system (key money, guarantors) resists short stays, so foreigners run on monthly apartments, share houses and serviced flats found through the dedicated foreigner-friendly platforms. Small and impeccable is the standard product. Book the first month before arrival and upgrade locally — inventory turns over steadily in a city this size.
Getting around
The subway is small and sufficient, buses fill the edges, and the city rewards cycling — flat, orderly, with the seaside paths as a bonus. The airport-to-centre run is famously one of the shortest in the world, which reshapes how you think about the rest of Asia.
Cost of living
#91of 101 destinations
What a month actually costs, as a range — housing you can verify, everyday spending modelled from national price levels, and every line labelled with which it is.
Money
Cash still matters in the yatai and the older izakaya; cards and IC transit money cover the rest. Prices land noticeably below Tokyo across the board — the city's quiet pitch — and tipping does not exist.
- Coworking deskadd-on, not in the range
- €137/mo8 (source: Published prices — The Company free-desk plan (22,330 JPY incl. tax) and fabbit GG Hakata-Ekimae (27,500 JPY incl. tax) — EUR mean, checked 2026-08-05)
- Local transport
- €69/mo
Spot prices: Big Mac €2.688 (source: Published prices — The Economist Big Mac Index, national average (500 JPY = 3.08 USD), July 2026 release — data CC BY 4.0) · eSIM, 30 days €62.508 (source: Published prices — Airalo, unlimited data 30 days (Moshi Moshi), checked 2026-07-29)
We cannot put a month together for Fukuoka yet: we have no housing price for it — neither a coliving room nor a place of your own. Everyday spending we can model from national price levels, but housing is the part that actually varies by city, and a month without it would say more about our data than about Fukuoka. The prices we do hold are above.
Live in Fukuoka? Members report what they pay — and the medians appear right here.
Join the waitlistWork
#24of 103 destinations
84Mbps
median download, measured in the city
Connection, desks and whether a day here meets yours — the three things that decide whether you can do your job from this city.
Working from here
The café culture tolerates laptops in the chains and the specialty rooms alike, and the coworking scene is compact but real, seeded by the city's own startup-visa ambitions. Convenience-store wifi, power everywhere and a society that runs on quiet consideration make the whole city low-friction office space.
Internet
Coliving & coworking
CoworkingClick the map to open it — 26 places mapped in Fukuoka altogether.
- Coworking spaces mapped
- 104 (source: OpenStreetMap — within 15km)
- Cafés mapped
- 4214 (source: OpenStreetMap — within 15km)
Time zones
Workday overlap with Europe
0 of 8 h1 (source: Copernicus ERA5 — Nomadbase overlap of a 09:00-17:00 day against Open-Meteo time zone (Asia/Tokyo), standard time; Europe reference UTC+1)
Workday overlap with US East
0 of 8 h1 (source: Copernicus ERA5 — Nomadbase overlap of a 09:00-17:00 day against Open-Meteo time zone (Asia/Tokyo), standard time; US East reference UTC-5)
Overlap is the hours a 09:00–17:00 day here meets a 09:00–17:00 day there, at standard time.
Climate & air
#40of 103 destinations
2of 12
mild months — felt temperature between 18 and 27 °C
Month by month, not as one annual average. 18–27 °C is the range where being outside feels good — we count how much of the year sits inside it.
Seasons
The year runs mild-sharp: a short real winter, a spring that does cherry blossoms without Tokyo's crowds, the June rains, then a humid summer that the sea breeze takes the edge off. Autumn is long, blue and the local secret. The rhythm asks little planning — a rainy-season umbrella, a summer of early mornings and evening yatai, and a light winter coat cover the whole calendar.
Tap a month for details.
feels-like monthly mean · ticks = rain days1 (source: Copernicus ERA5 — 2025 monthly means (felt temperature, rain-day share, cloud share))
comfortable & clearcomfortable, wetter/greyeroutside the 18–27 °C band
- Dry days a year
- 221 days/year1 (source: Copernicus ERA5 — 2025 full-year count)
- Cloud cover, annual mean
- 61%1 (source: Copernicus ERA5 — 2025 annual average)
Air quality — PM2.5, recent median
4.5 µg/m³ · good3 (source: OpenAQ — median of 6 stations, 2026-07-27)
The climate score is built from that band plus rain and cloud cover, month by month — so a hot summer costs a destination points rather than earning them.
Safety & everyday life
#24of 103 destinations
8.7/ 10
women's safety — Georgetown WPS index, country level
Country-level indicators — a practical baseline for the whole country, not the vibe of one neighbourhood. Community reports refine this picture over time.
Staying safe
Street risk rounds to zero — this is lost-wallet-returns country — and the practical safety list is environmental: typhoon season announcements in late summer, the occasional earthquake drill reflex, and nightlife districts (Nakasu's neon in particular) where the only hazard is the bar bill you agreed to without reading. Solo life here, any gender, any hour, is unremarkable.
- Homicide rate, national
- 0.2 per 100k7 (source: UNODC — intentional homicide rate for Japan, 2024)
- Hospitals & clinics
- ≈ 15 / 100k4 (source: OpenStreetMap — within 15km)
- Pharmacies
- ≈ 15 / 100k4 (source: OpenStreetMap — within 15km)
Safety for women
8.7 / 10
Georgetown WPS index — inclusion, justice and security, country level
233 mapped within 15 km
242 mapped within 15 km
Getting by in English
1.8 / 10
very low English proficiency
LGBTQ+ legal position · Japan10 (source: Nomadbase country research — checked 2026-07-29)
5.0 / 10- Same-sex relationshipsLegal
- Partnership recognitionNone
- Employment protectionsNo
- Legal gender changePossible
Five high courts ruled the same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional in 2024–25 (one Tokyo panel disagreed in Nov 2025); the Supreme Court has taken the cases with a ruling expected around 2027. Fully safe and socially low-friction for visitors, but couples have no national legal status.
Tap water · Japan10 (source: Nomadbase country research — checked 2026-07-29)
10.0 / 10Unsafe
Bottled advised
Mostly fine
Drink the tap
Safe to drink nationwide
Potable straight from the tap nationwide; Tokyo’s water bureau actively promotes its tap water as safe and good-tasting.
Getting there & staying
#15of 103 destinations
90 days
visa-free on an EU passport · set in Your setup
How you get in, how long you may stay, and what it takes to run a business from here.
Visa & entry requirements
Digital nomad visa
Digital Nomad Visa (Designated Activities No. 53)12 (source: Government sources — Dedicated remote-work visa: Digital Nomad Visa (Designated Activities No. 53) (checked 2026-07-27))
Most Western passports get 90 days visa-free. The digital nomad visa adds six months but sets a high bar: ¥10 million annual income, private insurance, and no renewal.12 (source: Government sources — checked against the official source on July 27, 2026)
How long you can stay
Around 70 nationalities — including the EU, UK, US, Canada and Australia — enter visa-free for 90 days. That is enough for most stays and needs no paperwork beyond the arrival formalities.
The digital nomad visa
Introduced in March 2024, it sits under the "Designated Activities" status (Notice No. 53) rather than being a visa class of its own:
- Six months, and it cannot be renewed or extended. Once you have used it, you wait six months before applying again.
- Annual income of at least ¥10 million (roughly €58,000–65,000 depending on the rate).
- Private health insurance covering death, injury and illness with at least ¥10 million of medical cover.
- Open only to nationals of countries that both have a tax treaty with Japan and enjoy visa-free entry.
It does not grant resident status, so you get no residence card and no access to the national health system — which is why the insurance requirement is not a formality.
Work must be for employers or clients outside Japan.
Visa rules change frequently. This information was last checked on July 27, 2026. It is not legal advice — confirm before booking with the official source.
Flights
The nearest major airport — Fukuoka Airport — is 5 km6 (source: OurAirports — nearest major airport is Fukuoka Airport) out, with 7 airports6 (source: OurAirports — major and regional airports with scheduled service) within 100 km overall.
Company & banking
Setting up a company
7.5 / 10
partly remote · 100% foreign ownership · no real minimum capital · ~14 days to register
Opening an account
4.5 / 10
personal account difficult · business account difficult · branch visit needed · one major EMI
Setting up, in practice
Since March 2015 no representative director has to be resident in Japan — the single biggest barrier is gone. Capital is JPY 1 for both the KK and the simpler GK, but almost nobody uses it: banks, landlords and visa officers read low capital as weakness, so JPY 1,000,000+ is the working floor. A KK needs notarised articles, a GK does not.Banking, in practice
The hard part, and it is hard for residents too. Banks routinely decline companies whose representative has no Japanese address or residence card, regardless of what the company registry says. Budget for this before the incorporation, not after.Not legal or tax advice. Company law, fees and bank policy change without notice — confirm with the registry linked on each figure and with a local adviser before you act on any of it.
Going out
#55of 103 destinations
30.7/ 100
bars, pubs and clubs per 100 restaurants & cafés
Evenings, eating and what there is to do once the laptop closes.
Time off
The island position is the feature: Busan by hydrofoil, Seoul and Taipei by budget flight, and the rest of Kyushu by train — Beppu's hells and onsen, Kumamoto's castle, Kagoshima's volcano. Nearer, Itoshima's beaches and cafés make the standard sea-day, and Dazaifu's shrine town sits at the end of a local line.
CafésBars & pubsClick the map to open it — 26 places mapped in Fukuoka altogether.
- Bars, pubs and clubs
- 6784 (source: OpenStreetMap — within 15km)
- Restaurants
- 1,7904 (source: OpenStreetMap — within 15km)
- Vegan-friendly places
- 44 (source: OpenStreetMap — within 15km)
- Vegetarian-friendly places
- 54 (source: OpenStreetMap — within 15km)
mapped within 15 km
mapped within 15 km — the base the shares below are measured against
0.2 per 100 restaurants & cafés
0.2 per 100 restaurants & cafés
Being active
#51of 103 destinations
60spots
gyms and yoga studios mapped in town
Gyms, studios and board sports in town, and the nature within reach — counted where counting is honest, shown as a badge where the map is too sparse to rank.
Staying active
The Ohori Park loop is the running institution — a measured lakeside circuit that hosts half the city's training. The seaside paths add flat kilometres, Momochi puts paddleboards and beach volleyball inside city limits, and the gyms and public sports centres run at Japanese standards for modest fees. Mount Homan and the Sefuri range wait behind the city for weekend legs.
In town
GymsYogaClick the map to open it — 26 places mapped in Fukuoka altogether.
- Gyms
- 554 (source: OpenStreetMap — within 15km)
- Yoga studios
- 54 (source: OpenStreetMap — within 15km)
mapped within 15 km — ≈ 3.4 / 100k
mapped within 15 km — ≈ 0.3 / 100k
Nature within reach
Community
Who is here, who is coming, and who has been. Counts only — never names.
Meeting people
The city is friendly at a scale where regulars get remembered: the yatai counter is a social institution that seats you next to strangers on purpose, and the international crowd — students, engineers, the startup scene — concentrates around Daimyo and the universities. Language exchanges and the climbing gyms do the structured work. Smaller than Tokyo means shallower anonymity and faster belonging.
here now
arriving soon
have been
Nobody from the community has checked into Fukuoka yet. If you are here, you would be the first.
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Places like Fukuoka
The closest matches in the catalogue, measured across cost, climate, connection and safety — with the reason each one is here. Compare any of them against this page in one click.
How the scores work
Every score runs 0–10 and is comparative — where Fukuoka lands across the catalogue, not a grade in isolation.
Cost
1.3#91 of 101 · 1 of 1 measured
What a month costs, from the cheapest way of living here to the dearest we can price.
No housing price is verified here yet, so the score rests on the country price level (69, US = 100). Across the catalogue that ranks 91st of 101.
Public data 1.3
Work
6.6#24 of 103 · 2 of 2 measured
Connection, desks and whether the working day here meets yours.
Typical downloads run around 84 Mbps and 10 coworking spaces are mapped in town. Across the catalogue that ranks 24th of 103.
Public data 8.9
Public data 4.3
Climate
6.7#40 of 103 · 1 of 1 measured
How the year feels outside, air quality included.
2 of the 12 months sit in the comfortable 18–27 °C range and the air is very clean (4.5 µg/m³ PM2.5). Across the catalogue that ranks 40th of 103.
Public data 6.7
Safety
7.2#24 of 103 · 6 of 6 measured
The country-level baseline: violence, healthcare, water, and who the law protects.
Violent crime is rare nationwide (0.23 homicides per 100k), women's safety scores 8.7/10 on the Georgetown index, 233 clinics and hospitals are mapped within reach and tap water is drinkable. Across the catalogue that ranks 24th of 103.
Public data 9.7
Public data 4.5
Public data 8.7
Public data 10.0
Public data 5.0
Public data 1.8
Getting there
7.7#15 of 103 · 3 of 3 measured
Getting in, staying legally, and flying out again.
An EU passport gets 90 visa-free days, there is a dedicated nomad visa and the nearest major airport is 5 km from town. Across the catalogue that ranks 15th of 103.
Public data 7.3
Public data 9.2
Public data 6.0
Going out
4.8#55 of 103 · 4 of 4 measured
Evenings, eating and what there is to do when the laptop closes.
For every 100 restaurants and cafés there are 31 bars, pubs or clubs and 0 vegan-friendly places per 100 restaurants and cafés. Across the catalogue that ranks 55th of 103.
Public data 8.5
Public data 5.2
Public data 0.8
Public data 0.2
Being active
5.1#51 of 103 · 2 of 2 measured
Gyms and studios, board sports, and the nature within reach.
55 gyms and 5 yoga studios are mapped in town, 1 nature reserves and 8 hiking routes lie within 30 km and it sits on the coast. Across the catalogue that ranks 51st of 103.
Public data 4.5
Public data 5.7
Community
Nothing measured here yet
Members on the ground, chapters and events — our own data, not a proxy.
Not measured here yet: community.
Read the sectionSources
Every figure on this page carries the source it came from and the date it was measured. Where no source exists, the field is left empty rather than estimated.
- 1
Copernicus ERA5Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information
ECMWF’s ERA5 reanalysis, retrieved through Open-Meteo. Temperatures, rainfall, cloud cover and wind are daily values for the last complete calendar year.
- 2
Our own reading of ERA5 data, not a measurement: a month-by-month score for how comfortable the felt temperature is, damped for rain and cloud. The formula is published.
- 3
OpenAQCC BY 4.0
Air quality measured at ground stations. Only reaches part of the catalogue — a city needs a station nearby that is still reporting.
- 4
OpenStreetMapODbL
Community-mapped places: coworking, cafés, gyms and diet options within 15km. Counts are a floor rather than a census — coverage depends on local mappers.
- 5
M-LabCC BY-SA 4.0
Internet speed from real speed tests run by people in the city, aggregated over a seven-day window.
- 6
OurAirportsPublic domain
Airport locations and types. Distances are to the nearest major airport with scheduled service.
- 7
UNODCFree with attribution
Intentional homicide rate from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime — a national figure, because no free source measures crime per city. The year next to the number is the year the country last reported.
- 8
Prices read by hand from the operator’s or authority’s own published price list — a transit tariff, a coworking rate card, an eSIM store — on the date shown. Checked quarterly; the linked page is the source.
- 9
World BankCC BY 4.0
Price level of household consumption at market exchange rates (US = 100) — a national figure that anchors the cost score where no city-level source exists yet. It measures what arriving with foreign income feels like, which is why a weak currency lowers it.
- 10
Hand-maintained country tables for the LGBTQ+ legal position and tap-water safety, compiled from advocacy databases (ILGA World, Human Dignity Trust), national authorities and government travel advice, and scored with a published rubric. Country-level by nature — city reality can differ, which is what the practical note is for.
- 11
WikidataCC0
Structural facts taken from the place’s Wikidata entity — resident population, which mirrors a national census figure, and elevation above sea level. The year is the one Wikidata records for that figure; where the entity was the wrong scale for the place we describe, the number has been replaced by a hand-sourced one from the statistics office instead.
- 12
Government sources
Visa and entry rules come from the responsible authority for each country, linked in the visa section and re-checked by hand on the date shown.
Frequently asked questions
How fast is the internet in Fukuoka?
Median download speed is about 83.5 Mbps. Source: M-Lab median of 22,004 tests within 50 km, last 7 days.
What visa do I need for Fukuoka?
Most Western passports get 90 days visa-free. The digital nomad visa adds six months but sets a high bar: ¥10 million annual income, private insurance, and no renewal. Last checked 2026-07-27. Always confirm with the official source before booking.
What is the weather like in Fukuoka?
Winters average 6.5 °C and summers 27.9 °C. 2 of 12 months average a comfortable 18–27 °C (felt temperature). Source: Copernicus ERA5, 2025 annual average.
Can I work European or US hours from Fukuoka?
A 09:00–17:00 working day in Fukuoka overlaps 0 hours with Central European time and 0 hours with US Eastern time, at standard time.
Are there coworking spaces in Fukuoka?
10 coworking spaces are mapped in Fukuoka, plus 421 cafés to work from. Source: OpenStreetMap, within 15km. Counts are a floor, not a census — coverage depends on local mappers.
How do you get to Fukuoka?
The nearest major airport is about 5 km away. 7 airports with scheduled service within 100 km. Source: OurAirports — nearest major airport is Fukuoka Airport.
Where Fukuoka ranks
Last reviewed August 5, 2026. Every figure carries its own measurement date; hover a footnote for the source, or see the list above.