JR Kyushu Mulls Using Trains for Concertgoer Lodgings; Performances by Two Big-Name Groups Leave Fukuoka Hotels Nearly Full in Late April

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:16 JST, February 27, 2026

FUKUOKA — Kyushu Railway Co. (JR Kyushu) has revealed that the company is considering whether it will be possible to offer train seats as accommodations for visitors to Fukuoka in late April, when two big-name music groups are scheduled to perform in the city.

If realized, it will be the first time for a railway company to respond in such a way to big-draw concerts.

Idol group Arashi will give concerts at Mizuho PayPay Dome Fukuoka from April 24 to 26, and the band Dreams Come True will perform at Marine Messe Fukuoka on April 25 and 26. According to Nishitetsu Hotels Co., which operates six hotels in the city, almost all the rooms at its hotels are already booked for April 24 and 25.

“[Accommodation rates for those days] are very expensive as well,” said Yoji Furumiya, the president of JR Kyushu, during a regular press conference on Thursday. He added that the company was looking into whether they would be able to offer overnight stays aboard trains. April 25 is the target date for the plan, under which an express train that is not a Shinkansen bullet train would be stopped near Hakata Station, and the seats onboard offered to customers.

Meanwhile, West Japan Railway Co. (JR West) will operate five extra Sanyo Shinkansen bullet train services out of Hakata Station from April 24 to 26, scheduled to depart in accordance with times when the concerts are expected to end.