This page lists, in date order, what to decide ahead of the 2026–27 year-end and New Year holidays in Fukuoka (December 2026 to January 2027): garbage collection, trains and buses, emergency clinics, New Year cards, osechi (New Year boxed meals), first-sale shopping, first shrine visits, first sunrise and airport parking, with links to the detailed articles. The detailed articles linked below are in Japanese.
The earliest key dates are the Fukuoka Airport year-end parking reservations, which opened at 0:00 on Nov 5, and the Nov 30 deadline for the Hakata Ryotei Chikae osechi “Yui”. Garbage collection in Fukuoka City stops from Dec 31 to Jan 3. The special train and bus timetables and the first-sale hours for 2026–27 have not been announced yet, so they are shown with last year’s (2025–26) record.
In short
- Garbage (Fukuoka City): no household collection from Thu, Dec 31 to Sun, Jan 3.
- Osechi: Chikae “Yui” closes Nov 30; the New Otani Hakata and Sagano osechi close Dec 20. Pickup on Dec 31.
- Christmas cakes: deadlines cluster between Dec 10 and Dec 18.
- Airport parking: reservations for Dec 26 to Jan 3 opened Nov 5 (reservation fee ¥1,000).
- First sunrise in Fukuoka on Jan 1, 2027: 7:23.
Checked with official pages on Oct 24, 2026 (Japan time). Prices and schedules may change.
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1. Quick calendar of year-end and New Year dates (November to January)
Dates are for 2026–27 unless marked “last year,” which means the 2025–26 record.
| Date | What | Details | Detailed article |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon, Nov 30 | Osechi | Deadline for Chikae “Yui” (limited to 300 boxes) | Osechi in Fukuoka (Japanese) |
| Dec 10–18 | Christmas cakes | Booking deadlines for hotels and department stores cluster here | Cakes in Fukuoka (Japanese) |
| Sun, Dec 20 | Osechi, New Year cards | Deadline for the New Otani Hakata and Sagano osechi. New Year cards can be posted from this day | Osechi in Fukuoka (Japanese) |
| Sat, Dec 26 – Sun, Jan 3 | Airport parking | Period covered by the bulk reservation. Dec 26–31 uses peak-season rates (24-hour maximum ¥4,500 for domestic terminal) | Fukuoka Airport (Japanese) |
| Sun, Dec 27 | New Year cards | Guideline for the last posting day to arrive on Jan 1 | New Year cards (Japanese) |
| Wed, Dec 30 – Sun, Jan 3 | Garbage (Kasuga City) | No collection (already announced for 2026–27) | Garbage in 8 cities in the prefecture (Japanese) |
| Thu, Dec 31 – Sun, Jan 3 | Garbage (Fukuoka City) | No household collection. Bringing garbage to the clean center is possible until 15:00 on Dec 31 | Garbage in Fukuoka City (Japanese) |
| Thu, Dec 31 | Osechi | Pickup at New Otani Hakata (11:00–16:00) and Sagano (9:00–15:00) | Osechi in Fukuoka (Japanese) |
| Fri, Jan 1 | First sunrise, first shrine visit | Sunrise in Fukuoka at 7:23. The Mt. Sarakura cable car’s first car is at 4:30 | First sunrise (Japanese) |
| Not yet announced | First sales | Last year (2026), many department stores and station buildings opened at 10:00 on Jan 2 | First sales and lucky bags (Japanese) |
Cake deadlines differ by shop (Iwataya Mitsukoshi on Dec 10; Hotel New Otani Hakata and Hotel Okura Fukuoka on Dec 18). Osechi and cakes in other Kyushu prefectures are in the quick deadline table for osechi and Christmas cakes in Kyushu (Japanese).
2. Daily life: garbage, trains and buses, emergency clinics, New Year cards
Household garbage in Fukuoka City is not collected for 4 days, from Dec 31 to Jan 3, and the last evening you can put it out in the year depends on your district’s collection day. Last year (2025–26), the last evenings were Dec 28 to 30. Year-end and New Year train and bus timetables and the garbage put-out dates are usually announced in December.
| What | Closures / special timetable | Status for 2026–27 | Where to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garbage in Fukuoka City (Japanese) | No collection from Dec 31 to Jan 3. Phone bookings for bulky garbage stop from Dec 29 | Put-out dates not yet announced (usually in ward newsletters in December) | Fukuoka City household garbage page (Japanese) |
| Garbage in 8 prefectural cities (Japanese) | Kasuga: Dec 30 to Jan 3; Chikushino: Dec 31 to Jan 3; Koga: Dec 31 and Jan 1 | 4 cities announced. Kitakyushu, Kurume, Onojo and Itoshima not yet | Each city’s garbage collection page (list in the article) |
| Trains and buses (Japanese) | Last year, the subway ran a Saturday/holiday timetable from Dec 30 to Jan 4, and Nishitetsu buses ran a special timetable from Dec 31 to Jan 3 | Not yet announced (usually around mid-December) | Fukuoka City Subway / Nishitetsu (Japanese) |
| Emergency clinics in Fukuoka City (Japanese) | The Higashi, Minami and Nishi emergency clinics are open 9:00–23:30 over the holidays. Hakata and Jonan are closed | The city publishes the hours for Dec 31 to Jan 3 | Fukuoka City emergency clinic page (Japanese) |
| New Year cards (nengajo) (Japanese) | Went on sale Nov 2 and are sold until Jan 15. Posting is accepted from Dec 20 | Announced by Japan Post on Aug 31, 2026 | Japan Post issue outline (Japanese) |
Last year the subway ran 30 extra trains between 0:00 and 2:59 a.m. on New Year’s Day after New Year’s Eve, and the Nishitetsu Tenjin Omuta Line ran all-night extra trains as far as Dazaifu Station. Emergency clinics in other places are covered separately for Kitakyushu, Kurume and Itoshima (all Japanese). Holiday clinics in 6 cities (Kumamoto, Kagoshima, Nagasaki, Oita, Miyazaki and Saga) are compared in year-end holiday clinics in 6 Kyushu cities (Japanese).
For a child’s sudden illness, call #8000; for emergency consultation at any age, call #7119. If you think a life is at risk, call 119 without hesitation.
3. Buying, eating, ordering: first sales, osechi, cakes, year-end cleaning, airport parking
At last year’s first sales in Fukuoka, most department stores and station buildings were closed on New Year’s Day and opened at 10:00 on Fri, Jan 2. Daimaru Fukuoka Tenjin opened at 9:00 on Jan 3, and Canal City Hakata opened from Jan 1. Last year each building announced its hours between late November and late December.
| What | Date / amount | Status for 2026–27 | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| First sales and lucky bags (Japanese) | Last year, 6 of 11 buildings were closed on Jan 1 and many opened at 10:00 on Jan 2 | Not yet announced | Last year, Iwataya Main Store and Fukuoka Mitsukoshi were open 10:00–18:00 on Jan 2 |
| Osechi (Japanese) | Chikae “Yui” (¥32,400) closes Nov 30; New Otani Hakata and Sagano close Dec 20 | Taking bookings (as of Oct 24) | Whether you pick up at the shop on Dec 31 or have it delivered changes which shops you can choose |
| Christmas cakes (Japanese) | 14 hotel, department store and cake shops. Deadlines mostly Dec 10–18 | Hilton Fukuoka Sea Hawk and others taking bookings (as of Oct 16) | New limited-quantity cakes are safest to book early |
| Year-end cleaning companies (Japanese) | One air conditioner: ¥14,000–¥15,000 range at all 4 companies (regular price) | Kajitaku and Osoji Honpo have discounts (as of Oct 24) | Check each company’s official table for range hood and bathroom prices |
| Airport parking (Japanese) | Reservations for Dec 26 to Jan 3 opened Nov 5 at 0:00. Reservation fee ¥1,000 | Peak-season rates: 24-hour maximum ¥4,500 (domestic) and ¥3,400 (international) | Fukuoka Airport peak-season page (Japanese) |
4. Going out: first shrine visits, first sunrise, hot springs, zoos
Sunrise in Fukuoka on New Year’s Day is at 7:23, and among the 7 places covered in the first-sunrise article, only the Mt. Sarakura cable car runs a special New Year’s Day schedule (4:30–17:00). The sunrise time is from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. Uminonakamichi Seaside Park is also closed on Dec 31 and Jan 1 in fiscal 2026.
| Where | Year-end and New Year details | Which year’s values | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| First shrine visits (Japanese) | Visiting hours and parking at Dazaifu Tenmangu, Hakozaki Shrine, Kushida Shrine and Miyajidake Shrine | Each shrine’s official guide | At Hakozaki Shrine, “Daigaku-dori” becomes a pedestrian road from 23:00 on Dec 31 to 20:00 on Jan 1 |
| First sunrise (Japanese) | 7 places in Fukuoka, Kitakyushu and Itoshima. Sunrise at 7:23 | Jan 1, 2027 | The car park at the Shikanoshima observation deck holds about 10 cars and fills easily |
| Day-trip hot springs (Japanese) | 10 places in and around Fukuoka City. Only Gozen-yu is set to close on New Year’s Day | 2025–26 record | Many places raise prices over the holidays |
| Zoos and aquariums (Japanese) | Fukuoka City Zoo and Botanical Garden is closed from Mon, Dec 28 to New Year’s Day and opens on Jan 2 | 2026–27 (each park’s closing-day rules) | Marine World Uminonakamichi is open on Dec 31 and New Year’s Day |
For trains on the day of the first shrine visit, last year Nishitetsu ran extra trains to Dazaifu and a direct express “Hatsumode-go” from Jan 1 to 3 (trains and buses article, Japanese).
5. Not yet announced
The 2026–27 year-end and New Year train and bus timetables, the garbage put-out dates for combustible garbage in Fukuoka City, and first-sale opening hours have not been released yet. They are usually announced from late November to December. Once they are out, each article will be updated to the 2026–27 dates. Until then, the “last year” values in the tables cannot be used as they are, because the days of the week differ from 2026 (in 2026, Dec 31 is a Thursday and Jan 3 is a Sunday).
FAQ
When is garbage not collected in Fukuoka City?
From Dec 31 to Jan 3 there is no household collection. The last evening you can put garbage out in the year depends on your district.
Do the first-sale stores open on Jan 1?
Last year most department stores and station buildings were closed on Jan 1 and opened on Jan 2. The 2026–27 hours have not been announced.
Sources
7 pages we checked
Checked with official pages on October 24, 2026 (Japan time).
