About Canal City
Canal City Hakata, established in April 20th, 1996, is a multifunctional complex facility with different types of business categories such as shopping mall, movie cinema, theater, and amusement arcade.
There’s an approximately 180-meter-long “canal” crosses the center of Canal City surrounded by curvy, colorful buildings. The dynamic fountain show informs the flow of time. Many performances and music lives are performed daily on the waterside stage, and this city of entertainment is a gathering spot, location to rest, and the city full of life.
Concept “City Theater”
The Concept and Characteristic
Its concept is “City Theater”
The protagonist of the city is not the building or its function; it is the “people”. The visitors sometimes are performers and sometimes they become audiences. People with different purposes gather, rest and many different stories are created.
Characteristics of Canal City
- Fountain Show
- Stage Event
- Street Stand
- Seasonal Decoration
- Portrait Painting
- Public Art
Fountain Show 10:00 am – 10:00 pm
At the Sun Plaza on B1 floor, you can enjoy the dancing water along the music, fountain shows. In addition, at night you can see the largest entertainment show in Japan, the “Canal Aqua Panorama” using 3D projection mapping projected on the facility wall and glass surface (equivalent of 2,500 inches screen dimension) along with the water screen, concert-hall-quality sound, and lighting effects.
※Please note that the schedule are subject to change due to events, weather and maintenance.
Seasonal Event
During Christmas Season there will be romantic arrangements, lively decorations from anniversary in April to Golden Week Holiday, and Hakata’s trademark Kazariyama floats of Hakata Gion Yamakasa festival. Depending on the season and event, the city will change its style with a variety of decorations and illuminations.
Stage Event
On the B1 floor at Sun Plaza Stage, events are held almost every day. Performers from all over the world and music lives can be enjoyed. There are many entertaining events!
Portrait Painting
At the portrait painting shops along the canal, each portrait artists with their own unique touch will paint the portrait. Would you like one as a memory item of the visit to Canal City. They can draw the visitors on the spot or based on photos so it would be an ideal gift for faraway friends and families.
Get one as a memorable item of your visit to Canal City
※Please note that the spots of portrait painting shops are subjected to change depending on the weather or events.
Street Stands
The stand along the canal is so much fun to take a look at, just like a fun toy box. Many interesting, cute things are beckoning you to drop by.
※Please note that the spots of stands are subjected to change depending on the weather.
Public Art
Fuku/Luck,Fuku=Luck,Matrix
The title is “Fuku/Luck,Fuku=Luck,Matrix”. It is the largest Paik’s art work in Japan.
The diversity image pieces picked out by Paik, which is from sophisticated to common images, western context to Asian landscape and so forth, dizzyingly appear on the 180 TV monitors consisting of orderly set 10 row of 18 monitors. Its complicated aspect seems to be just chaos of overflowing information.
Nam June Paik Profile
Born in 1932, in Korea. Earned his degree in aesthetics and the history of music at University of Tokyo. Went to Germany to study modern music, developed avant-garde artistic activity, then later moved to United State and continued creating his work mainly in New York. In 1995 he was awarded the Arts and Culture Prize of the Fukuoka Prize (Fukuoka Ajia Bunkasho), artist who is closely connected with Fukuoka. Died at age 73 in Jan 29, 2006.
Video art by world artist
Lucky Frog
On the East Bldg, along the Hakatamae-dori, the “Lucky Frog” created by Taiwan artist Hung Yi welcomes you. Just a glance at charming “Lucky Frog” everybody shows a smile and it is a happy-spot of Canal City Hakata.