Kitakyushu is accessible from most parts of Japan by shinkansen. Kokura Station is a stop on the San'yo and Kyushu Shinkansen lines — about 15 minutes from Hakata (Fukuoka), 2 hours from Osaka, and 4 hours from Tokyo. Local JR trains and the Kitakyushu Monorail connect the five main districts.
Kitakyushu Airport (KKJ) on Kyushu's northern coast handles domestic routes to Tokyo (Haneda and Narita), Naha (Okinawa), Sapporo, and several other cities. The airport is on an artificial island and connects to the city by bus in about 30 minutes.
The Kanmon Pedestrian Tunnel connects Kitakyushu's Moji ward to Shimonoseki in Honshu — a 15-minute walk under the strait and one of the few places in Japan where you can walk between the main islands.