270px, Asakura CIty Hall is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

located in south central

Fukuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 Square kilometre, km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. , the city had an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 50,488 in 22168 households, and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

of 200 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Asakura is located in the central part of Fukuoka Prefecture, about 40 km southeast of

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...

and about 20 km northeast of

Kurume is a city in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 295,367 in 137,140 households, and a population density of 1309 people per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Kurume is located in the Chikugo Plain ...

Adjoining municipalities

* Chikuzen *

Kama ''Kama'' (Sanskrit: काम, ) is the concept of pleasure, enjoyment and desire in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. It can also refer to "desire, wish, longing" in Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, and Sikh literature.Monier Williamsका� ...

* Tachiarai * Tōhō * Ukiha

Ōita Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Ōita Prefecture has a population of 1,081,646 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 6,340 km2 (2,448 sq mi). Ōita Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northwest, K ...

* Hita

Climate

Asakura has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''Cfa''). The average annual temperature in Asakura is . The average annual rainfall is with July as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Asakura was on 16 July 1994; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 25 January 2016.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Asakura in 2020 is 50,273 people. Asakura has been conducting censuses since 1920.

History

The area of Asakura was part of ancient

Chikuzen Province was a province of Japan in the area of northern Kyūshū, corresponding to part of north and western Fukuoka Prefecture. Chikuzen bordered on Hizen to the east, and Buzen east, and Bungo to the southeast. Its abbreviated form name was (a ...

. It is also one of the locations theorized to have been the location of

Yamatai Yamatai or Yamatai-koku is the Sino-Japanese name of an ancient country in Wa (Japan) during the late Yayoi period The Chinese text ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' first recorded the name as ()Schuessler, Axel (2014). "Phonological Notes ...

, based on the similarity of local place names to those in

Yamato Province was a province of Japan, located in Kinai, corresponding to present-day Nara Prefecture in Honshū. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2005). "Yamato" in . It was also called . Yamato consists of two characters, 大 "great", and 和 " Wa". At first, th ...

. According to the

Nihon Shoki The or , sometimes translated as ''The Chronicles of Japan'', is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the , the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeol ...

, after the fall of the Kingdom of

Baekje Baekje or Paekche (; ) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BCE to 660 CE. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. While the three kingdoms were in separate existence, Baekje had the h ...

to the combined forces of

Tang China The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

and

Silla Silla (; Old Korean: wikt:徐羅伐#Old Korean, 徐羅伐, Yale romanization of Korean, Yale: Syerapel, Revised Romanization of Korean, RR: ''Seorabeol''; International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ) was a Korean kingdom that existed between ...

Empress Saimei The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

relocated the capital of Japan to the Tachibana no Hironiwa Palace in Asakura in 661 AD in preparation for a counter-invasion of the

Korean Peninsula Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically divided at or near the 38th parallel between North Korea (Dem ...

; however, he died the same year and the invasion never took place. In 1203, during the

Kamakura period The is a period of History of Japan, Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the G ...

, the area was awarded as a ''

shōen A was a field or Manorialism, manor in Japan. The Japanese language, Japanese term comes from the Tang dynasty Chinese language, Chinese term "莊園" (Mandarin: ''zhuāngyuán'', Cantonese: ''zong1 jyun4''). Shōen, from about the 8th to th ...

'' landed estate to Harada Tanekatsu, who took the name of "Akitsuki" and who began construction of Akizuki Castle. The

Akizuki clan 230px, Akizuki Tanehide, 29th chieftain of the Akizuki clan, in 1913 The was a Japanese samurai clan who ruled Takanabe Domain of what is now part of Miyazaki Prefecture in Kyushu Japan under the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate. In the Meiji pe ...

would rule the area for 17 generations to the end of the

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

. Following the establishment of the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

, the area became part of the holdings of the

Kuroda clan The was a Japanese samurai clan which came to prominence during the Sengoku period. Origins The Kuroda clan claimed its origins in Tōtōmi Province. Sengoku period In the 16th century, the Kuroda clan was located in Harima Province. Und ...

Fukuoka Domain 270px, Kuroda Nagamasa, the 1st daimyo of Fukuoka Domain 270px, Kuroda Nagahiro, the 11th next to last daimyo of Fukuoka Domain 270px, Kuroda Nagatomo, final daimyo of Fukuoka Domain was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. It was assoc ...

Kuroda Nagamasa was a ''daimyō'' during the late Azuchi–Momoyama and early Edo periods. He was the son of Kuroda Kanbei, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's chief strategist and adviser. Biography Nagamasa's childhood name was Shojumaru (松寿丸). In 1577 his fathe ...

's third son, Kuroda Nagaoki, was assigned 50,000 ''

koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. One koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about of rice. It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1,000 gō. One ''gō'' is the traditional volume of a single serving of rice (before co ...

'' of the domain's ''

kokudaka refers to a system for determining land value for taxation purposes under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo-period Japan, and expressing this value in terms of ''koku'' of rice. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Koku"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 5 ...

'' and allowed to establish Akizuki Domain as a subsidiary domain. The Kuroda continued to rule to the

Meiji restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

. In October 1876, the Akizuki rebellion occurred in which former ''

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

'' of the domain attempted to overthrow the

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji ...

. With the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889 the town of Amagi; and 18 villages: Akizuki, Asakura, Haki, Hinashiro, Fukuda, Fukunari, Kamiakizuki, Kanagawa, Takagi, Kugumiya, Mada, Masue, Minagi, Miyano, Ōba, Shiwa, Tateishi and Yasukawa were created. Akizuki was elevated to town status on December 27, 1893. *June 15, 1909 - Fukunari and Ōba were merged to create Daifuku Village. *April 17, 1939 - Haki was elevated to town status. *April 1, 1951 - Kugumiya, Masue and Shiwa were merged into Haki Town. *April 1, 1954 - Amagi, Akizuki, Fukuda, Hinashiro, Kamiakizuki, Kanagawa, Mada, Minagi, Tateishi and Yasukawa were all merged to create Amagi City. *March 10, 1955 - Takagi was merged into Amagi City. *March 31, 1955 - Daifuku and Miyano were merged into Asakura Village. *April 1, 1962 - Asakura was elevated to town status. *March 20, 2006 - Amagi, Asakura and Haki were merged to create the city of Asakura.

Government

Asakura has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

city council of 318 members. Asakura, together with the town of Chikuzen and village of Tōhō contributes two members to the Fukuoka Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of the

Fukuoka 5th district Fukuoka 5th district (福岡県第5区, ''Fukuoka-ken dai-goku'' or simply 福岡5区, ''Fukuoka-goku'') is a single-member constituency of the House of Representatives in the national Diet of Japan located in Fukuoka Prefecture. Areas covered Si ...

of the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

Economy

Asakura is a regional commercial center.

Bridgestone is a Japanese multinational manufacturing company founded in 1931 by Shojiro Ishibashi (18891976) in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture, Fukuoka, Japan. The name Bridgestone comes from a calque translation and transposition of (), meaning ...

and

Kirin Beer is a Japanese beer and beverage holding company. It is known for brands such as Kirin Beer, Kirin Lemon, Mets, and Gogo no Kōcha. The predecessor of the company, the Japan Brewery Company, was founded in Yokohama in 1885 by William Henry Tal ...

have large factories in Asakura, however, the mainstay of the local economy is agriculture.

Education

Asakura has 11 public elementary schools and six public junior high schools operated by the city government, and three public high schools operated by the Fukuoka Prefectural Board of Education.

Prefectural senior high schools

*Asakura Kōyō Senior High School *Asakura Higashi Senior High School *Asakura Senior High School

Municipal junior high schools

*Amagi Junior High School *Akizuki Junior High School *Haki Junior High School *Hiramatsu Junior High School *Jūmonji Junior High School *Nanryō Junior High School

Municipal elementary schools

*Amagi Elementary School *Asakura Higashi Elementary School *Akizuki Elementary School *Daifuku Elementary School *Fukuda Elementary School *Haki Elementary School *Hinashiro Elementary School *Kanagawa Elementary School *Mada Elementary School *Minagi Elementary School *Tateishi Elementary School

Transportation

Railway

25px

Amagi Railway The is a Japanese railway line connecting Kiyama Station (on the Kagoshima Main Line), Kiyama and Amagi Station, Asakura. This is the only railway operated by the third-sector railway company . The company, and sometimes the line, are al ...

Amagi Line * NNR logo

Nishi-Nippon Railroad The , also called or NNR, is one of Japan's "Big 16" private railroad companies. With headquarters in Fukuoka, it operates local and highway buses, supermarkets, real estate and travel agencies, as well as railways in Fukuoka Prefecture. It ...

Amagi Line * - -

Highway

Ōita Expressway is a Japanese expressway in Kyushu that travels from Tosu to Hiji, where it connects to the Higashikyushu Expressway. It runs through the southern half of Fukuoka Prefecture, and the northern half of Ōita Prefecture. The total length of Ōi ...

* * *

Local attractions

*Akizuki Historical Preservation District *Akizuki Castle Ruins *Eso Hachiman Shrine * Hagi Kōgoishi * Hiratsuka Kawazoe Site * Horikawa Canal and Asakura Water Wheels * Oda Chausutsuka Kofun

Festivals and events

*Dorouchi Festival *Oshiroi Festival

Notable people from Asakura

Michiko Kichise is a Japanese actress and model. She received the Elan d'or Award for Newcomer of the Year in 2011 for her work in ''Liar Game: Season 2'' (2009–10), ''Liar Game: The Final Stage'' (2010), and ''Bloody Monday (manga), Bloody Monday Season 2 ...

, actress and model *

Suu Minazuki is a Japanese manga artist from Asakura, Fukuoka Prefecture best known for his fantasy comedy manga series ''Heaven's Lost Property'', which has been adapted into an anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation ...

, manga artist

References

External links

*
Asakura City official website
{{Authority control Cities in Fukuoka Prefecture