Renting an apartment in Fukuoka, in English

This page covers the Fukuoka metro area: Fukuoka city, with Kasuga, Ōnojō, Chikushino, Dazaifu, Nakagawa, Itoshima, Koga, Fukutsu and the towns of Kasuya District. Kitakyushu and the rest of the prefecture are outside it. Smoovin still explains their listings, without the commute or English station names.

Open a listing and Smoovin explains every fee in English, shows the amounts in yen and US dollars, gives station names in English and lists the convenience stores, supermarkets and pharmacies nearby.

For the commute, it finds the nearest station with a direct train to Tenjin, Hakata, Yakuin and Nishijin, with the line and the walk. When every one of them needs a transfer, it links to a public-transport route instead.

It works on listings from SUUMO, GaijinPot Apartments, LIFULL HOME'S and at home.

On these four rental sites, Fukuoka listings mostly use Tokyo's terms. Many ask no deposit (shikikin, 敷金) and charge key money (reikin, 礼金), often one to three months' rent. The Kansai-style guarantee deposit (hoshōkin, 保証金) and its deduction (shikibiki, 敷引) appear less often, but the government's renting guide names Kyushu among the regions that use the deduction, so check whether a listing keeps part of the deposit when you move out. Smoovin shows each fee as the listing states it and flags the ones it leaves out. The move-in costs guide explains each one.

In September 2026, a single's flat of 30 m² or less in Fukuoka city was listed at ¥67,115 a month on average in a マンション (a concrete apartment building), and ¥54,212 in an アパート (a smaller wood or light-steel building). Both figures are rent plus the management fee, from listings on at home.

The room layouts guide explains what codes such as 1K and 1LDK mean, with the average size of a 1K flat in Fukuoka city.

Fukuoka has three IC cards: はやかけん Hayakaken from the city subway, nimoca from Nishitetsu and SUGOCA from JR Kyushu. Any of them pays fares on the subway, and so do Japan's other main IC cards, such as Suica and ICOCA, so a card from another city still works here.

Register your address at the ward or city office within 14 days of moving in. The moving-in guide says what to bring.

In Fukuoka city, garbage goes out at night: after dark and before midnight on your collection day, in the city's designated bags (¥45 for a large 45 L bag of burnable garbage). The garbage guide covers sorting.

Electricity is 60 Hz, as in the rest of western Japan. The utilities guide explains what that means for appliances.

The Fukuoka City Consultation Support Center for Foreign Residents, at the Fukuoka City International Center in Hakata-ku, is the city's one-stop service for questions about daily life, in English and other languages.

• Using SUUMO and Japan's rental sites in English: How to use SUUMO, LIFULL HOME'S and at home in English: what each site is, searching with your browser translating, and the labels on an apartment listing.
• Apartment move-in costs in Japan: Deposit, key money, guarantor fees and the other move-in costs on a Japanese apartment, what the first payment covers, and what to ask about the estimate.
• Japanese apartment layouts: 1K, 1LDK and 2LDK: What 1K, 1LDK and 2LDK mean on a Japanese apartment listing, how room sizes in jō compare with square meters, and what a floor plan can't tell you.
• Applying for an apartment in Japan as a foreigner: Applying for an apartment in Japan as a foreign resident: the documents you may need, the application form, screening, and when application money is refunded.
• Moving into an apartment in Japan: Your first weeks in a Japanese apartment: the handover check, registering your address and residence card, National Health Insurance, the pension and mail.
• Garbage and recycling in Japan: How garbage sorting and collection work in Japan, when to put it out, and how to get rid of oversized items, appliances, computers, batteries and moving boxes.

Once it's in Chrome, Smoovin appears on its own the next time you open a listing.