Fukuoka: Tenjin vs Hakata
 

I will be in Fukuoka from Dec 9-15. I plan to check out the local area (so including both Tenjin and Hakata-Canal City), but I also want to travel out to see Nagasaki (2 hours by JR lines) and Kagoshima (1.5 hours by JR lines). So in order to shop, see the night life, and travel outward, would Tenjin or Hakata be more convenient? I have heard Tenjin is better for shopping/eating/nightlife, but Hakata has better subway/JR access. Where to stay?
(I do not care about airport access--not using)

I'll be there in November and I'm staying in Hakata, but I rate convenience well above shopping and nightlife.

I've stayed in Hakata based on hotel cost for short stays. Hakata station was convenient for the direct bus to the arena for Kyushu Bassho (November), to shop for Hakata dolls in Tenjin, and to the airport.

A six-night stay is different. Five full days with 2-day trips. On one of those days you might want to shop, dine, and enjoy nightlife in Tenjin. If your hotel is in Tenjin then there is no subway involved with going to the hotel to drop off purchases, or to freshen up after dinner, or after a few drinks. Nothing beats stepping out of your hotel and being in the place that you would have to commute to, but that hotel might cost more because of location. You are going have 3 full days of that.

With that much time, I would choose the location based on convenience to my interests in Fukuoka and not for the day trips. Staying near a transport hub like Hakata is not necessarily more convenient if you have to start and end every day with a subway or taxi ride.

As far as Canal City goes, Hakata is not that much more convenient than Tenjin: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4800.html

I stayed in Hakata because it is an easy 15 minute walk to the train and bus stations, which are adjacent to one another. One day, I took a local train north to Kitakyushu. The next day, I took a bus south to the Dazaifu temples and museum. It was splendidly convenient. I stayed at the Hakata Dormy Inn, which is nice, but not fancy.

Canal City is about a 15 minute walk from the Dormy Inn, but I found it quite disappointing. It was a huge, outdated, claustrophobic mall, and I left right after I got there. It was not as nice as the Ginza area in Tokyo, for example.

There are local subway stations all over to get you to other parts of the city, if you are not in the mood to walk.