EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

Airlines Air China (tel 092/282-5611); Air Lanka (tel 092/451-2855); Air New Zealand (tel 092/724-3211); ANA (tel 0120-029222); Asiana Airlines (tel 092/441-8800); Cathay Pacific (tel 092/441-1806); China Airlines (tel 092/471-7788); China Eastern Airlines (tel 092/472-8383); Eva Air (tel 092/412-3553); Garuda (tel 092/475-3400); JAL (tel 0120-255971); Korean Air (tel 092/441-3311); Northwest Airlines (tel 092/262-2771); Philippine Airlines (tel 092/415-3232); Qantas (tel 092/761-1821); Singapore Airlines (tel 092/731-7052); Thai International (tel 092/734-6409).

Airport information tel 092/621-6059. Note that Fukuoka airport has three terminals: numbers 1 and 2 for domestic flights and 3 for international.

Banks and exchange There's a whole cluster of banks with foreign exchange desks outside the front, west entrance of Hakata Station, including Tokyo Mitsubishi Bank and Dai-ichi Kangyo Bank. In Tenjin, head for Meiji-dori, near the junction with Watanabe-dori, where you'll also find Fuji Bank and Sanwa Bank.

Buses Long-distance buses depart from outside Hakata JR Station, with a stop at Tenjin. There are connections to cities on Kyushu, as well as express buses to Kyoto, Osaka and Tokyo.

Consulates Australia, 7F, Tsuruta-keyaki Building, 1-1-5 Akasaka (tel 092/734-5055); Canada, 9F, FT Building, 4-8-28 Watanabe-dori (tel 092/752-6055); China, 1-3-3 Jigyohama (tel 092/713-1121); South Korea, 1-3-3 Jigyohama (tel 092/771-0461); USA, 2-5-26 Ohori (tel 092/751-9331).

Car rental Eki Rent-a-car (tel 092/431-8775), Nissan Rent-a-car (tel 092/471-1623), Nippon Rent-a-car (tel 092/414-7535) and Toyota Rent-a-car (tel 092/441-0100) all have offices in or near Hakata Station.

Emergencies The main police station is at 7-7 Higashikoen, Hakata-ku (tel 092/641-4141). In an absolute emergency contact the Foreign Advisory Service on tel 092/733-2220.

Ferries The RKK Line (tel 092/291-3362) operates weekly ferries from Hakata Futo, northwest of Hakata Station, to Naha on Okinawa (26hr; ¥13,220). There's also a choice of services to Pusan in South Korea, from Hakata Futo's International Terminal. Beetle 2 is a daily hydrofoil service (3hr; ¥13,000; tel 092/281-2315), with a free shuttle bus to the port from Hakata Station, while the Camellia Line (tel 092/262-2323) operates conventional ferries on Monday, Wednesday and Friday (13-14hr; from ¥9000).

Festivals Hakata celebrates a whole host of festivals, of which the biggest are the summertime Gion Yamakasa (July 1-15) and the Hakata Dontaku, now held during Golden Week (May 3 & 4). In feudal times, Hakata townspeople were permitted across the river once a year to convey New Year greetings to their lord. Today's festival centres on a parade along Meiji-dori to the old castle.

Hospitals The largest general hospital with English-speaking staff is National Kyushu Medical Centre, 1-8-1 Jigyohama (tel 092/852-0700), near Hawks Town. In a more central location, there's the Saiseki Fukuoka General Hospital, 1-3-46 Tenjin (tel 092/771-8151), south of the ACROS building.

Immigration For visa renewals, contact Fukuoka Regional Immigration Bureau, 1-22 Okihama-cho, Hakata-ku (tel 092/281-7431).

Internet access You can surf the Net for ¥500 an hour at any one of the six Kinko's in Fukuoka. The two most convenient branches are found in front of Hakata Station (IF, Daiichi Seimei Building, 1-4-1 Hakata Eki Mae; tel 092/473-2677) and south of Tenjin Station across from Kego Park (1F, Hummingbird, 1-22-17 Ima-Izumi; tel 092/722-4222). Open 24 hours a day.

Police tel 092/641-4141.

Post offices Fukuoka Central Post Office, just north of Tenjin subway station at 4-3-1 Tenjin, offers a poste restante service. There's also another big branch beside the west exit of Hakata Station.

Shopping Fukuoka's main department stores are Iwataya and Daimaru in Tenjin, and Izutsuya built over Hakata Station. All of these sell a selection of local crafts, the most famous of which are Hakata ningyo , hand-painted, unglazed clay dolls fashioned as samurai, Kabuki actors, or demure, kimono-clad women. Hakata ori is a rather more transportable, slightly rough silk fabric traditionally used for obi (sashes worn with kimono), but now made into ties, wallets and bags. Chanpon are totally impractical - a long-stemmed, glass toy with a bowl at the end which makes a clicking sound when you blow into it. Apart from the big stores, try Hakata Machiya Fur usato-kan , the Kawabata-dori arcade or Hakata Station's Ming arcade for local souvenirs.

Sumo Japan's last basho of the season, the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament, takes place in Fukuoka's Kokusai Centre (tel 092/272-1111) during November. Phone the centre for tickets and information.

Taxis For a taxi, call Nishitetsu Taxi (tel 093/531-0531).

Travel agents For domestic travel, JTB (tel 092/752-0700) has English-speaking staff; their main office is in the Yamato Seimei Building, on Meiji-dori west of the ACROS building. International tickets are available at A'cross Travellers Bureau, 2F, Dayton Building, 2-4-5 Tenjin (tel 092/761-9309) and H.I.S No 1 Travel, 1F, Tenjin Yomei Building, 1-2-1 Maizuru (tel 092/761-0957).