Canal City Hakata is a large private shopping and entertainment complex in central Hakata, notable as an example of what its American architect Jon Jerde described as "festival architecture" — a dense, internally focused urban environment built around a man-made canal with fountains, a theatrical stage, and tiered retail galleries wrapping around an open-air atrium. The canal runs through the centre of the complex with hourly fountain shows; the curved facades in terracotta and blue create an atmosphere deliberately unlike standard Japanese commercial buildings.
The complex holds retail shops, restaurants, a cinema multiplex, and hotel accommodation. By international standards it is an unremarkable shopping mall; by Japanese standards it is architecturally adventurous and its central atrium is livelier than most. The ramen stadium on the fifth floor gathers eight ramen restaurants representing different regional styles from around Japan, which makes it a reasonable destination for visitors who want to compare Hakata tonkotsu with other regional varieties. The complex is a 10-minute walk from Hakata Station.