How Do You Get to Hita from Fukuoka and Oita, and Get Around?

Published 2026-10-04 · Sources checked 2026-10-04 · Treasure Hunting Co., Ltd.

This guide is for visitors who want to reach Hita, a small city in the west of Oita Prefecture, and plan how to get between its main areas. It follows the English pages of Hita City's official sightseeing site (run with the Hita City Tourism Association) and of the Oita prefectural tourism site. We read them on 2026-10-04. Fares and timetables change, so confirm them before you travel.

Where Hita is

The prefectural site describes Hita Onsen as lying in Hita City near the borders of Fukuoka and Kumamoto Prefectures. In practice most overseas visitors come from Fukuoka, which has the nearest large airport and the Shinkansen station at Hakata. The city's own site says the Hita area is divided into the Mameda area, the Kuma-machi area and other surrounding areas, with Amagase, Oyama and Tsue as separate areas further out.

By air and highway bus from Fukuoka Airport

The city site says you can reach Hita from Fukuoka International Airport, which has a domestic and an international terminal. A free shuttle bus runs from the international terminal to the domestic terminal, and the highway bus to Hita leaves from the domestic terminal. The site gives two buses an hour, 90 minutes, 1,800 yen. It also describes a train route: take the subway Airport Line from Fukuoka Airport station to Hakata Station (5 minutes, 260 yen) and change to the JR line.

By train from Hakata and Kurume

Both the Shinkansen and the airport routes meet at Hakata or Kurume Station. The city site lists these JR options to Hita Station:

• Limited express from Hakata: 1 hour 14 minutes, 3,060 yen, 6 trains a day.
• Local train from Hakata: JR Kagoshima Line to Kurume (30 minutes), then the Kyudai Line (1 hour 10 minutes), 1,950 yen in total, with 17 trains a day from Kurume to Hita.
• Limited express from Kurume: 42 minutes on the Kyudai Line, 1,730 yen, 6 trains a day.
• Local train from Kurume: 1 hour, 1,110 yen, 17 trains a day.

Because the limited express runs only a handful of times a day, check the timetable before you plan a day trip.

By car

The city site says you can come to Hita by car on the Oita Expressway. From Fukuoka Airport the route is the Fukuoka Urban Expressway from the Hanmichi-bashi entrance, the Kyushu Expressway from the Dazaifu Interchange, then the Tosu Junction to the Hita Interchange on the Oita Expressway, about 60 km and 40 minutes. From the Yufuin Interchange to Hita is 47 km, about 35 minutes.

Getting between the main areas

The prefectural site lists access for each sight, and the figures show how the areas relate:

• Mameda-machi, the old merchant street: about 5 minutes by car from Hita IC, or about 15 minutes on foot from JR Hita Station.
• Hita Onsen on the Mikuma River: about 15 minutes by car from Hita IC, about 5 minutes by taxi from JR Hita Station, or about 15 minutes on foot.
• Onta Pottery Village, in the north of the city: about 30 minutes from Hita IC and about 30 minutes from JR Hita Station.
• Amagase Onsen: JR Amagase Station is the nearest train station; by car it lists about 60 minutes from Oita IC on the Higashi-Kyushu Expressway.
• The three shrines of the Hita Gion Festival are about 15 to 25 minutes on foot from JR Hita Station.

Oita's own getting-around page is a route-search tool that includes Hita Station and Amagase Onsen as destinations, so you can ask it for a route from wherever you are staying.

Help for visitors

The city site calls itself the city's official sightseeing information site and lists the Hita City Tourism Association as the contact. It is available in English, Traditional and Simplified Chinese, Korean and Japanese. The prefectural pages for each sight carry a reminder that facility information is subject to change and that you should check each official website for the latest.

What we could not verify, and therefore left out

• The current highway bus and limited express timetables.
• Local bus routes from Hita Station to Amagase and Onta, which neither page gives.
• Taxi fares and rental car prices.

Related guides

• What is Hita? The Edo-period merchant town of Mameda-machi and its festivals
• What is Hita like through the year? Hot springs, cormorant fishing and waterfalls

Sources

All URLs retrieved 2026-10-04.

1. Access to Hita (Hita City's Official Sightseeing Information Site) — (airport, subway, JR, car)
2. Hita Mameda Machi Shopping Street (Visit Oita) — (car and foot access)
3. Hita Onsen (Visit Oita) — (car, taxi and foot access)
4. Onta Pottery Village (Visit Oita) — (access)
5. Amagase Onsen (Visit Oita) — (access)
6. Hita Gion Festival (Visit Oita) — (walking times to the shrines)
7. Getting Around Oita (Visit Oita) — (route search destinations)