JR Hakata City

Completed on March 3, 2011 and opened the following day — one day before the full opening of the Kyushu Shinkansen — JR Hakata City replaced the old Hakata Station building with a 10-floor, 60-meter mixed-use complex. At approximately 199,085 m², it is about seven times the size of its predecessor and remains the largest station commercial facility in Kyushu.

Use

Office tower

Area

Hakata, Fukuoka

Completed

2011

Floors

10 above ground, 3 below

Height

60 m

Total floor area

approx. 199,085 m²

Developer

Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu)

Architect

Mitsubishi Jisho Sekkei, JR Kyushu Consultants

The Day Before the Shinkansen

On March 4, 2011, the Kyushu Shinkansen opened its full route between Hakata and Kagoshima-Chuo — the culmination of years of construction and a landmark moment for the island of Kyushu. One day earlier, on March 3, the new Hakata Station building had just completed construction, and it opened its doors to coincide exactly with the shinkansen’s arrival. That building is JR Hakata City.

The complex was developed by Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu) to fully replace the previous station building. It stands 10 floors above ground and 3 below, reaching approximately 60 meters in height, with a total floor area of 199,085 square meters. Mitsubishi Jisho Sekkei and JR Kyushu Consultants handled the design; Shimizu Corporation and Maeda Construction built it as a joint venture.

The old Hakata Station building had a floor area of roughly 28,300 square meters. The new building is about seven times larger, making it the largest station commercial facility in Kyushu. The lower floors house the Hakata Hankyu department store and Amu Plaza Hakata shopping mall, while the rooftop holds a lawn plaza called Tsubame-no-Mori Hiroba and a small railway shrine.

A City-Scale Upgrade for Hakata Station

For years, Hakata Station’s commercial facilities lagged behind its role as the gateway to a major city, especially compared to the dense commercial energy of Tenjin a kilometer to the west. JR Hakata City changed that calculation. An open rooftop garden where visitors could look out over Fukuoka, a mix of department store and lifestyle retail under one roof, and seamless connections to the shinkansen, JR conventional lines, subway, and bus terminals — all in one building — raised the profile of the entire station district.

In the years since opening, new offices and commercial buildings have continued to develop around the station, and Hakata now stands alongside Tenjin as one of two major commercial centers in Fukuoka. The full opening of the Kyushu Shinkansen and the rebuilding of the station took place as a single, coordinated transformation of the city’s central transit hub.

Summary

JR Hakata City was completed in March 2011: 10 floors above ground, 3 below, approximately 60 meters tall, with a total floor area of about 199,085 square meters — roughly seven times the size of the building it replaced. Timed to open with the Kyushu Shinkansen’s full-line debut, it transformed Hakata Station into Kyushu’s largest station commercial complex. The rooftop lawn and railway shrine have become easy stops for anyone passing through Fukuoka.

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