Marine Messe Fukuoka

Marine Messe Fukuoka sits on the Hakata Bay waterfront at 7-1 Okihama-machi in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, within the city's concentrated convention zone alongside the Fukuoka International Congress Center and the Fukuoka Kokusai Center. Hall A opened in 1994 and was the venue for the 1995 Summer Universiade, which is why the building combines an arena, an exhibition floor and a concert hall in one envelope. It is the largest arena-scale facility in Kyushu and has hosted the 2001 and 2023 World Aquatics Championships, volleyball and basketball championships, and arena tours by major Japanese and Korean artists. Hall A is a multipurpose structure: its arena floor of about 8,000 sqm doubles as exhibition space of roughly 9,100 sqm, and the seated capacity reaches 15,000 for sport and about 13,000 for concerts. Hall B, opened in 2019 as a second-phase exhibition building at 2-1 Okihama-machi, adds a 5,000 sqm pillar-free multipurpose exhibition room with a capacity of 6,000, modern utility supply, ceiling-suspended rigging points and dimming equipment. Together the two halls give Fukuoka a combined exhibition and arena offer that no other city in Kyushu matches, and they are operated as one complex with the congress centre by the Fukuoka Convention Center Foundation. The architecture is unmistakable from the water: the roof and facade are shaped after gulls wheeling over the bay, a form that also breaks up the mass of the arena behind it. Parking for about 1,200 visitor cars is available. Access is by Nishitetsu bus from Hakata Station or Tenjin to the Marine Messe-mae stop, roughly 15 to 20 minutes, or by subway to Gofukumachi or Nakasu-Kawabata followed by a 17 to 18 minute walk; taxis from Hakata Station take about 15 minutes, and Fukuoka Airport is a short drive to the south.