Japan · Fukuoka Prefecture · Fukuoka
Nakasu, Fukuoka — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Nakasu is an island in Fukuoka City, set between the Naka River and the Hakata River, and the city's entertainment and red-light quarter.
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Where to stay in Nakasu
The right area depends on your trip — here's what each neighbourhood is best for.
Two rivers, one island. A room in Nakasu sits on the strip between the Naka River and the Hakata River, which is the point for anyone whose evening runs late and whose morning starts at the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum. Noise comes with it. Fukuoka City spreads well beyond the island, and quieter beds there still leave Hakata Dai Suidō and Masa a short crossing away.
Few places to stay in Nakasu — most visitors book in Fukuoka nearby.
About Nakasu
What are the main landmarks in Nakasu?
Three names are recorded. The Fukuoka Asian Art Museum is the largest of them, Hakata Dai Suidō carries the same Hakata name as the river on one side of the island, and Masa closes a short list. Entertainment does the rest.
What draws people to Nakasu is not a monument roll but the streets themselves, laid out on a sandbank narrow enough that the Naka River and the Hakata River are both minutes from any door.
What is the history of Nakasu?
The name came from Edo. A short-lived entertainment quarter there lent Nakasu its title in the late 18th century, and the translation, the island in the middle, describes exactly what the ground is, a sandbank held between the Naka River and the Hakata River. Fukuoka City grew around it.
The quarter that took the borrowed name outlasted the original by a wide margin, and the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum stands on the same island as the streets that made it known.
Where is Nakasu?
Nakasu is an island between the Naka River and the Hakata River, a sandbank lying inside Fukuoka City in Fukuoka Prefecture.
Common questions
What is the best area to stay in Nakasu?
Fukuoka: sleeping away from the entertainment quarter with Nakasu one bridge off.
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More areas in Fukuoka
Updated September 2026