By plane
The New Kitakyushu Airport 新北九州空港 Shin KitakyÅ«shÅ« KÅ«kÅ (http://www.kitakyu-air.jp/), built on reclaimed land offshore in Suo nada, the most westerly part of the Seto Inland Sea, opened its doors in March of 2006. With a size much larger than the airport it replaced, the New Kitakyushu Airport hoped to increase tourism and trade dramatically.
The airport is served by several domestic airlines, including JAL and new discount carrier StarFlyer (http://www.starflyer.jp/e...). Connections to Tokyo did indeed improve, but most other flights have petered out, with only service to Naha Okinawa and Seoul South Korea) clinging on.
Hourly buses run between the airport and Kokura station 45 minutes, ¥600. Buses also run to/from Shimonoseki station eight times per day 70 minutes, ¥1000. If coming from the southeastern side of Kyushu, instead of going all the way to Kokura you can disembark at Kusami station æ½ç¶²é§ , which has shuttle buses every 30 minutes or so to the airport, 20 minutes away.
By train
Kokura Station å°åé§ is the main railway station and is on the San'yo Shinkansen Line. All San'yo Shinkansen trains stop at Kokura. Nozomi, Mizuho, Sakura and Hikari Rail Star trains make frequent runs to/from Hiroshima, Okayama and Osaka, with some Nozomi trains also running from Kyoto, Nagoya and Tokyo. Sakura trains also run to/from Kumamoto and Kagoshima.
Both the San'yo Shinkansen Line and the Kagoshima Main Line 鹿å 島æ¬ç· Kagoshima honsen connect Kitakyushu to Hakata station in Fukuoka. On the Shinkansen, Kokura can be reached from Hakata in 15-20 minutes at a cost of ¥2050 for an unreserved seat. Frequent Kodama runs are made between the two stations during rush hours.
By ship
Kokura ferry terminal connects with Matsuyama in Ehime Prefecture, Shikoku.
Shin Moji ferry terminal connects with Osaka, Kobe and Tokyo. The Tokyo service is operated by Ocean Tokyu Ferry, 03-5148-0109; passenger fares are ¥14,000 for second class and ¥26,600 for first class.