is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

, and the

capital city A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, Department (country subdivision), department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city ...

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 S ...

, Japan. The city is built along the shores of

Hakata Bay is a bay in the northwestern part of Fukuoka city, on the Japanese island of Kyūshū. It faces the Tsushima Strait, and features beaches and a port, though parts of the bay have been reclaimed in the expansion of the city of Fukuoka. The bay ...

, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. The area has long been considered the gateway to the country, as it is the nearest point among Japan's main islands to the Asian mainland. Although humans occupied the area since the Jomon period, some of the earliest settlers of the

Yayoi period The started at the beginning of the Neolithic in Japan, continued through the Bronze Age, and towards its end crossed into the Iron Age. Since the 1980s, scholars have argued that a period previously classified as a transition from the Jōmon p ...

arrived in the Fukuoka area. The city rose to prominence during the

Yamato period The is the period of Japanese history when the Imperial court ruled from modern-day Nara Prefecture, then known as Yamato Province. While conventionally assigned to the period 250–710, including both the Kofun period (–538) and the Asuka ...

. Because of the cross-cultural exposure, and the relatively great distance from the social and political centers of

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

, and later, Edo (Tokyo), Fukuoka gained a distinctive local culture and dialect that has persisted to the present. Fukuoka is the most populous city on

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...

island, followed by

Kitakyushu is a Cities of Japan, city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, Kitakyushu has an estimated population of 940,978, making it the second-largest city in both Fukuoka Prefecture and the island of Kyushu after the city of Fuku ...

. It is the largest city and metropolitan area west of

Keihanshin is a metropolitan region in the Kansai region of Japan encompassing the metropolitan areas of the cities of Kyoto in Kyoto Prefecture, Osaka in Osaka Prefecture and Kobe in Hyōgo Prefecture. The entire region has a population () of 19,302,746 o ...

. The city was designated by government ordinance on April 1, 1972. Greater Fukuoka, with a population of 2.5 million people (2005 census), is part of the heavily industrialized

Fukuoka–Kitakyushu is the most common name given to the region comprising the metropolitan areas of the cities of Fukuoka and Kitakyushu in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan and in between. Alternate names are many, including Kitakyushu-Fukuoka Greater Metropolitan Regio ...

zone. , Fukuoka is Japan's sixth largest city, having passed the population of

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

. In July 2011, Fukuoka surpassed the population of

. Since the founding of Kyoto in 794, this marks the first time that a city west of the

Kansai region The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropolita ...

has a larger population than Kyoto.

History

Early history

Exchanges from the continent and the Northern Kyushu area date as far back as

Old Stone Age The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός '' palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...

. It has been thought that waves of immigrants arrived in Northern Kyushu from mainland Asia. Several

Kofun are megalithic tombs or tumuli in Northeast Asia. ''Kofun'' were mainly constructed in the Japanese archipelago between the middle of the 3rd century to the early 7th century CE.岡田裕之「前方後円墳」『日本古代史大辞典』� ...

exist. Fukuoka was sometimes called the Port of , a reference to the town of Dazaifu southeast of Fukuoka. Dazaifu was an administrative capital in 663 A.D., and it has been suggested that a prehistoric capital was in the area. Ancient texts, such as the

Kojiki The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperia ...

, Kanyen (found in Dazaifu) and archaeology confirm this was a critical place in the founding of Japan. Some scholarsThe Truth of Descent from Heaven
Yukio Yokota. Retrieved March 19, 2008. claim that it was the first place outsiders and the Imperial Family set foot, but like many early Japan origin theories, it remains contested. Central Fukuoka is sometimes still referred as Hakata which is the name of the central ward. The

Book of Song The ''Book of Song'' (''Sòng Shū'') is a historical text of the Liu Song Dynasty of the Southern Dynasties of China. It covers history from 420 to 479, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories, a traditional collection of historical records. I ...

records that King Bu, thought to be the

Emperor Yūryaku (418 - 8 September 479) was the 21st legendary Emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 雄略天皇 (21) retrieved 2013-8-28. according to the traditional order of succession. He is remembered as a patron of sericulture.Nippon ...

, sent a letter in 478 seeking the Chinese emperor's approval for the establishment of three ministries for administration of the kingdom similar to those in use in China; the remains of a ward office and temple in , south from Dazaifu, may be one of these ministries. In addition, remains of the

Kōrokan The were guest houses for foreign ambassadors, traveling monks, and merchants that existed in Japan during the Heian period and earlier. These guest houses existed in Kyoto, Osaka, and Fukuoka. Only the location of the ''kōrokan'' in Fukuoka i ...

(, Government Guest House) were found in Fukuoka underneath a part of the ruins of

Fukuoka Castle is a Japanese castle located in Chūō-ku, Fukuoka, Japan. It is also known as Maizuru Castle (舞鶴城 Maizuru-jō) or Seki Castle (石城 Seki-jō). Completed in the early Edo period for ''tozama daimyō'' Kuroda Nagamasa, it has been decreed ...

. In 923, the

Hakozaki Shrine is a Shintō shrine in Fukuoka .Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1962). ''Studies in Shinto and Shrines,'' p. 339. History Hakozaki Shrine was founded in 923, with the transfer of the spirit of the ''kami Hachiman'' from Daibu Hachiman Shrine in ...

in Fukuoka was established when the god

Hachiman In Japanese religion, ''Yahata'' (八幡神, ancient Shinto pronunciation) formerly in Shinto and later commonly known as Hachiman (八幡神, Japanese Buddhist pronunciation) is the syncretic divinity of archery and war, incorporating elements f ...

was transferred from the Daibu shrine in Honami. File:Hakozaki-miya090806a.jpg,

File:Site of middle gate of Former Dazaifu Headquarters 2.jpg, Dazaifu File:Fukuoka Kourokan 2010B.jpg, Korokan

Mongol invasions (1274–1281)

Kublai Khan Kublai ; Mongolian script: ; (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder of the Yuan dynasty of China and the fifth khagan-emperor of th ...

of the

Mongol Empire The Mongol Empire of the 13th and 14th centuries was the largest contiguous land empire in history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Europe, ...

turned his attention towards Japan starting in 1268, exerting a new external pressure on Japan with which it had no experience. Kublai Khan first sent an envoy to Japan to make the Shogunate acknowledge Khan's

suzerainty Suzerainty () is the rights and obligations of a person, state or other polity who controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy. While the subordinate party is cal ...

. The

Kamakura shogunate The was the feudal military government of Japan during the Kamakura period from 1185 to 1333. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Kamakura-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 459. The Kamakura shogunate was established by Minamoto no Y ...

refused.

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

repeatedly sent envoys thereafter, each time urging the Shogunate to accept their proposal, but to no avail. In 1274, Kublai Khan mounted an invasion of the northern part of Kyushu with a fleet of 900 ships and 33,000 troops, including troops from

Goryeo Goryeo (; ) was a Korean kingdom founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korean Peninsula until 1392. Goryeo achieved what has been called a "true national unificati ...

on the

Korean Peninsula Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

. This initial invasion was compromised by a combination of incompetence and severe storms. After the invasion attempt of 1274, Japanese

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

built a stone barrier in length bordering the coast of

in what is now the city of Fukuoka. The wall, 2–3 metres in height and having a base width of 3 metres, was constructed between 1276 and 1277, and was excavated in the 1930s. Kublai sent another envoy to Japan in 1279. At that time,

Hōjō Tokimune of the Hōjō clan was the eighth ''shikken'' (officially regent of the shōgun, but ''de facto'' ruler of Japan) of the Kamakura shogunate (reigned 1268–84), known for leading the Japanese forces against the invasion of the Mongols and fo ...

of the Hōjō clan (1251–1284) was the Eighth Regent. Not only did he decline the offer, but he beheaded the five Mongolian emissaries after summoning them to

Kamakura is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Kamakura has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 persons per km² over the total area of . Kamakura was designated as a city on 3 November 1939. Kamak ...

. Infuriated, Kublai organized another attack on Fukuoka Prefecture in 1281, mobilizing 140,000 soldiers and 4,000 ships. The Japanese defenders, numbering around 40,000, were no match for the Mongols and the invasion force made it as far as Dazaifu, south of the city of Fukuoka. However, the Japanese were again aided by severe weather, this time by a

typhoon A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...

that struck a crushing blow to the Mongolian troops, thwarting the invasion. It was this typhoon that came to be called the ''

Kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...

'' (''Divine Wind''), and was the origin of the term

used to indicate

suicide attacks A suicide attack is any violent Strike (attack), attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has suicide, accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have oc ...

by military aviators of the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...

against

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

naval vessels during World War II. File:Takezaki Suenaga.jpg,

Takezaki Suenaga was a retainer of the Higo Province, Japan who fought in both the Battle of Bun'ei and the Battle of Kōan during the Mongol invasions of Japan. Suenaga commissioned the ''Mōko Shūrai Ekotoba'', an illustrated handscroll, in order to provide ...

File:元寇防塁 (Genkou bourui) - panoramio.jpg, Genkō Bōrui

Formation of the modern city (1889)

Fukuoka was formerly the residence of the powerful ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and n ...

'' of

Chikuzen Province was an old province of Japan in the area that is today part of Fukuoka Prefecture in Kyūshū. It was sometimes called or , with Chikugo Province. Chikuzen bordered Buzen, Bungo, Chikugo, and Hizen Provinces. History The original provincial ...

, and played an important part in the medieval history of Japan. The renowned temple of

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fellow ...

in the district was destroyed by fire during the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...

of 1868. The modern city was formed on April 1, 1889, with the merger of the former cities of Hakata and Fukuoka. Historically, Hakata was the port and merchant district, and was more associated with the area's culture and remains the main commercial area today. On the other hand, the Fukuoka area was home to many samurai, and its name has been used since

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 His childhood name was Shojumaru (松寿丸). In 1577, when Nagamasa was a ...

, the first ''daimyō'' of Chikuzen Province, named it after his birthplace in

Okayama Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,906,464 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 7,114 Square kilometre, km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefectur ...

and the "old Fukuoka" is the main shopping area, now called Tenjin. When Hakata and Fukuoka decided to merge, a meeting was held to decide the name for the new city. Hakata was initially chosen, but a group of samurai crashed the meeting and forced those present to choose Fukuoka as the name for the merged city. However, Hakata is still used to refer to the Hakata area of the city and, most famously, to refer to the city's train station,

Hakata Station is a major railway station in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, Japan. It is the largest and busiest railway terminal in Kyushu, and is a gateway to other cities in Kyushu for travelers coming from Honshu by rail travel. The San'yō Shinkansen from Osaka end ...

, and

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...

, '' Hakata-ben''. File:Kuroda Nagamasa.jpg,

File:Fukuoka and Hakata.png, Fukuoka and Hakata, c.1640 File:59 Chikuzen.jpg,

（

Famous Views of the Sixty-odd Provinces ''Famous Views of the Sixty-odd Provinces'' (in Japanese 六十余州名所図会 ''Rokujūyoshū Meisho Zue'') is a series of ukiyo-e prints by the Japanese artist Hiroshige (1797–1858). The series consists of a print of a famous view from each ...

） File:Fukuoka Castle Simonohasi Otemon gate.JPG,

20th century

* 1903: Fukuoka Medical College, a campus associated with

Kyoto Imperial University , mottoeng = Freedom of academic culture , established = , type = Public (National) , endowment = ¥ 316 billion (2.4 billion USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to disting ...

, is founded. In 1911, the college is renamed

Kyushu Imperial University , abbreviated to , is a Japanese national university located in Fukuoka, on the island of Kyushu. It was the 4th Imperial University in Japan, ranked as 4th in 2020 Times Higher Education Japan University Rankings, one of the top 10 Desig ...

and established as a separate entity. * 1910: Fukuoka streetcar service begins. (The service ran until 1979.) * 1929: Flights commence along the Fukuoka-

-Tokyo route. * 1945: Fukuoka was firebombed on June 19, with the attack destroying 21.5 percent of the city's urban area. * 1947: First

Fukuoka Marathon The is an IAAF Gold Label international men's marathon race held in Fukuoka, Japan. It was previously known as the Fukuoka International Open Marathon Championship between 1947 and 2021, when it was announced the race would be discontinued on its ...

. * 1951: Fukuoka airport opens. * 1953: Fukuoka Zoo opens. * 1975: The city absorbed the town of Sawara. * 1975:

Sanyō Shinkansen , stylized as SANYO, is a Japanese electronics company and formerly a member of the ''Fortune'' Global 500 whose headquarters was located in Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo had over 230 subsidiaries and affiliates, and was founded b ...

high-speed railway reaches

Hakata station is a major railway station in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, Japan. It is the largest and busiest railway terminal in Kyushu, and is a gateway to other cities in Kyushu for travelers coming from Honshu by rail travel. The San'yō Shinkansen from Osaka end ...

. * 1981: Subway commences service. * 1988: Osaka's pro baseball team, the Nankai Hawks, was moved to Fukuoka and renamed the Fukuoka

Daiei , based in Kobe, is one of the largest supermarket chains in Japan. In 1957, Isao Nakauchi founded the chain in Osaka near Sembayashi Station on the Keihan train line. Daiei is now under a restructuring process supported by Marubeni Corporation ...

Hawks (renamed the

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture. They compete in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) as a member of the Pacific League. The team was formerly known as the Nankai Hawks and was based in Osaka. ...

in 2004). * 1989: Asian-Pacific Exposition is held. * 1997: The 30th annual meeting of the

Asian Development Bank The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank established on 19 December 1966, which is headquartered in the Ortigas Center located in the city of Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines. The bank also maintains 31 field office ...

was held in Fukuoka. File:School of Engineering.jpg,

Kyushu University , abbreviated to , is a Japanese national university located in Fukuoka, on the island of Kyushu. It was the 4th Imperial University in Japan, ranked as 4th in 2020 Times Higher Education Japan University Rankings, one of the top 10 Design ...

( Former Imperial University) File:Fukuoka war damage monument.jpg, Fukuoka war damage monument

21st century

* 2005: Fukuoka subway Nanakuma Line started operations. * 2014: Selected as the National Strategic Zone for "global startups & job creation" by

Japanese government The Government of Japan consists of legislative, executive and judiciary branches and is based on popular sovereignty. The Government runs under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan, adopted in 1947. It is a unitary state, c ...

Geography

Fukuoka is bordered on three sides by mountains, surrounds

and opens on the north to the

Genkai Sea The is a body of water that comprises the southwestern tip of the Sea of Japan and borders the northern coasts of Fukuoka and Saga is a series of science fantasy role-playing video games by Square Enix. The series originated on the Game B ...

. It is located from Tokyo. The nearest overseas region is

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...

Metropolitan City in Gyeongsang-do,

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, and the distance from

is about 180 km (112 miles). Fukuoka and Busan are sister cities.

Climate

Fukuoka has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(

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

: ''Cfa''), hot and humid summers, and relatively mild winters. The city also sees on average about of precipitation per year, with a stretch of more intense precipitation between the months of June and September. Along with much of the prefecture, Fukuoka City has a moderate climate with an annual average temperature of , average humidity of 70% and 1,811 annual sunshine hours. Roughly 40% of the year is cloudy. Winter temperatures rarely drop below and it rarely snows, though light rain does fall on most days if not as consistently as on the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it h ...

side of

Honshu , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separ ...

. Spring is warm and sunnier, with

cherry blossom A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of genus ''Prunus'' or ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especially in Japan. They generally ...

s appearing in late March or early April. The

rainy season The rainy season is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Rainy Season may also refer to: * ''Rainy Season'' (short story), a 1989 short horror story by Stephen King * "Rainy Season", a 2018 song by Monni * ''T ...

(''tsuyu'') lasts for approximately six weeks through June and July, during which time the humidity is very high and temperatures hover between and . Summers are humid and hot, with temperatures peaking around . Autumn, often considered to be Fukuoka's best season, is mild and dry, though the

season runs between August and September.

Disaster

Earthquakes

Fukuoka is not as seismically active as many other parts of Japan, but does experience occasional earthquakes. The most powerful recent earthquake registered a lower 6 of maximum 7 of the Japanese intensity scale and hit at 10:53 am local time on March 20, 2005, killing one person and injuring more than 400. The epicentre of the earthquake was in the Genkai Sea along a yet-undiscovered extension of the Kego fault that runs through the centre of Fukuoka. Genkai island, a part of Nishi-ku, was the most severely damaged by the earthquake and almost all island residents were forced to evacuate.

Aftershock In seismology, an aftershock is a smaller earthquake that follows a larger earthquake, in the same area of the main shock, caused as the displaced crust adjusts to the effects of the main shock. Large earthquakes can have hundreds to thousand ...

s continued intermittently throughout the following weeks as construction crews worked to rebuild damaged buildings throughout the city. Traditional Japanese houses, particularly in the areas of Daimyo and Imaizumi, were the most heavily damaged and many were marked for demolition, along with several apartment buildings. Insurance payments for damages were estimated at approximately 15.8 billion yen. A similar quake, with an intensity of 5+, also occurred one month later on April 20, 2005. Fukuoka's major Kego fault runs northwest to southeast, roughly parallel to Nishitetsu's Ōmuta train line, and was previously thought to be long. It is estimated to produce earthquakes as strong as

magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object *Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector *Order of ...

7 at the focus approximately once every 15,000 years. If the focus were located at a depth of , this would translate to an earthquake of a lower-6 magnitude (similar to the March 20, 2005 earthquake) in downtown Fukuoka if it were the epicenter. The

probability Probability is the branch of mathematics concerning numerical descriptions of how likely an Event (probability theory), event is to occur, or how likely it is that a proposition is true. The probability of an event is a number between 0 and ...

of an earthquake along the known length of the Kego fault occurring within 30 years was estimated at 0.4% prior to the March 20, 2005 earthquake, but this probability has been revised upwards since. Including the new extension out into the

, the Kego fault is now thought to be long. Following reports that the city has only prepared for earthquakes up to a magnitude of 6.5, several strong aftershocks renewed fears that the quakes might cause the portion of the Kego fault that lies under the city to become active again, leading to an earthquake as big as, or bigger than, the March 20 quake.

Wards

Fukuoka has 7

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...

(''ku'').

Cityscape

File:Fukuoka night view.jpg,

Skyline A skyline is the outline or shape viewed near the horizon. It can be created by a city’s overall structure, or by human intervention in a rural setting, or in nature that is formed where the sky meets buildings or the land. City skylines ...

of Fukuoka File:View from Fukuoka Tower at Blue Hour.jpg, View from Fukuoka Tower File:Fukuoka_Seaside_Momochi_Aerial_Shoot.jpg, Seaside Momochi aerial view File:Fukuoka City - Watanabe-dori Avenue - 01.JPG, Tenjin area File:Seaside-momochi.JPG,

Fukuoka Tower is a tall tower located in the Momochihama area of Fukuoka, Japan. It is the tallest seaside tower in Japan. The highest observation deck at 123m has a 360degree view of the surrounding area, the most popular time to visit is at sunset. Fukuoka ...

File:JR Hakata City 2011 Jan.jpg,

JR Kyushu The , also referred to as , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates intercity rail services within Kyushu, Japan and the JR Kyushu Jet Ferry Beetle hydrofoil service across the Tsushima Strait ...

File:Ukimido Hall of Ohori Park.JPG, Ōhori Park File:Tenjin Chikagai(Tenjin Underground City) - 01.JPG, Tenjin Underground City

Demographics

, the city had an estimated population of 1,581,527 and a population density of . The total area is . Fukuoka is Japan's youngest major city and has Japan's fastest growing population. Between December 2012 and December 2017, the proportion of foreign-born residents increased faster than any other major city in Japan, including Tokyo. There were 171 homeless residents counted in 2018's annual survey, down from a high of 969 in 2009.

Economy

Fukuoka Metropolitan Employment Area 2015

Fukuoka is the economic center of the Kyushu region, with an economy largely focused on the service sector. It is also the largest startup city in Japan, and is the only economic zone for startups. They have various services for startups like startup visa, tax reduction, and free business consultations. Fukuoka has the highest business-opening rate in Japan. Large companies headquartered in the city include

Iwataya is a Japanese department store chain in Fukuoka Prefecture and owned by , a group company of Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings, Ltd. Two stores are in Tenjin (est. 1936) and Kurume (est. 1972). One of Kyushu's oldest department stores, Iwataya has bee ...

and

Kyushu Electric Power (, OSE: 9508, ) is a Japanese energy company that provides power to 7 prefectures (Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Ōita, Saga, Miyazaki, Kumamoto, Kagoshima), and recently, to some parts of Hiroshima Prefecture. Its shortened name of is sometimes used ...

. Fukuoka is also the home of many small firms playing a supportive role in the logistics, IT, and high-tech manufacturing sectors. Most of the region's heavy manufacturing takes place in the nearby city of

. The GDP in Greater Fukuoka, Fukuoka

Metropolitan Employment Area is a definition of metropolitan areas used in Japan, defined by the Center for Spatial Information Service of the University of Tokyo. Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry defined 233 areas for the UEAs of Japan. It is different from ...

, was US$101.6 billion in 2010. Fukuoka is the primary economic center of the Fukuoka-Kitakyushu

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually com ...

, which is the 4th largest economy in Japan. As of 2014, the area's PPP-adjusted GDP is estimated to be larger than those of metropolitan areas such as

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Kuala Lumpur,

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

, Vienna,

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

and Rome. Several regional broadcasters are based in the city, including

Fukuoka Broadcasting Corporation is a Japanese TV station affiliated with Nippon News Network (NNN) and Nippon Television Network System (NNS) in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan. This station broadcasts programs throughout Fukuoka Prefecture as well as most of Saga ...

Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting is a broadcasting station in Fukuoka, Japan, and it is affiliated with National Radio Network (NRN) on radio and All-Nippon News Network (ANN) on TV. With its relay transmitters in Saga, KBC functions as the default ANN affiliate for the ...

, Love FM,

RKB Mainichi Broadcasting (stylized as ''rkb'') is a broadcasting station in Fukuoka, Japan, and it is affiliated with Japan Radio Network (JRN), Japan News Network (JNN) and TBS Network. It is owned by Mainichi Broadcasting System, Mainichi Shimbun and the Aso Grou ...

, and

Television Nishinippon Corporation is a Japanese TV station affiliated with Fuji News Network (FNN) and Fuji Network System (FNS) in Fukuoka. This station serves Fukuoka Prefecture and also acts as the default FNN affiliate for western portions of Yamaguchi Prefecture including ...

. The port of Hakata and

Fukuoka Airport , formerly known as Itazuke Air Base, is an international and domestic airport located east of Hakata Station in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, Japan. Fukuoka Airport is the principal airport on the island of Kyushu and is the fourth busiest passenger ...

also make the city a key regional transportation hub. Fukuoka houses the headquarters of

Kyushu Railway Company The , also referred to as , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates intercity rail services within Kyushu, Japan and the JR Kyushu Jet Ferry Beetle hydrofoil service across the Tsushima Strait ...

(JR Kyushu) and

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 ...

. Air Next, a subsidiary of

All Nippon Airways , also known as ANA (''Ē-enu-ē'') or is an airline in Japan. Its headquarters are located in Shiodome City Center in the Shiodome area of Minato ward of Tokyo. It operates services to both domestic and international destinations and had mo ...

, is headquartered in Hakata-ku; prior to its dissolution,

Harlequin Air was an airline with its headquarters on the grounds of Fukuoka Airport in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, Japan. It was owned by Japan Air System (later ''Japan Airlines Domestic'' in 2004), operating domestic passenger services. Scheduled flights were wh ...

was also headquartered in Hakata-ku. Fukuoka has its own

stock exchange A stock exchange, securities exchange, or bourse is an exchange where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as shares of stock, bonds and other financial instruments. Stock exchanges may also provide facilities for th ...

, founded in 1949. It is one of six in Japan. Fukuoka is one of the most affordable cities in Japan.

Culture

Fukuoka was selected as one of ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

''s 10 "Most Dynamic Cities" in its July 2006 issue. It was chosen for its central Asian location, increasing tourism and trade, and a large increase in volume at its sea and airport. Fukuoka has a diverse culture and a wide range of cultural attractions. In its July/August 2008 issue, ''

Monocle A monocle is a type of corrective lens used to correct or enhance the visual perception in only one eye. It consists of a circular lens, generally with a wire ring around the circumference that can be attached to a string or wire. The other ...

'' selected Fukuoka as number 17 of the "Top 25 liveable cities". It was chosen for excellent shopping, outstanding food, good transport links, good museums, "a feeling of openness in its sea air", green spaces and because it is friendly, safe, clean and close to the rest of East Asia. The same survey in 2018 ranked Fukuoka at number 22. ACROS (Asian Cross Road Over the Sea) is a cultural center located at the Tenjin Central Park. Part of it is the Fukuoka Symphony Hall and it hosts several other cultural events in a green building. The

Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize The is an award established by the city of Fukuoka and the Fukuoka City International Foundation (formerly The Yokatopia Foundation) to honor the outstanding work of individuals or organizations in preserving or creating Asian culture. There are ...

was established to honor the outstanding work of individuals or organizations in Asia.

Tourism

Fukuoka hosts more than 2 million foreign visitors annually, with the majority coming from neighboring South Korea, Taiwan and China. From the early 2010s Hakata became the beneficiary of significant growth in cruise ship tourism; particularly with visitors from China. After expansion and redevelopment of the Hakata Port international passenger ship terminal, the number of cruise ship port calls in 2016 was expected to exceed 400. Nearly ten thousand international students attend universities in or near the Fukuoka prefecture each year. Nearly 200 international conferences are held each year in Fukuoka.

Attractions

Fukuoka Castle, located adjacent to Ohori Park in Maizuru Park, features the remaining stone walls and ramparts left after a devastating fire during the upheaval of 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 practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

. It has now been preserved along with some reconstructed prefabricate concrete towers constructed during the 1950s and 1960s, when there was a trend across Japan to rebuild damaged castles as tourist attractions. Ōhori Park is also the location of one of Fukuoka City's major

art galleries An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The lon ...

. There are many temples with long histories including

Tōchō-ji is a Shingon temple in Hakata, Fukuoka, Japan. Its honorary '' sangō'' prefix is . It was founded by Kūkai in 806, making it the oldest Shingon temple on the island of Kyushu. History According to tradition, Kūkai or Kobo-daishi set up thi ...

, Kashii shrine, and Jōten-ji. The Buddhist Nanzoin temple is located in Sasaguri, just east of Fukuoka. It is claimed to be the largest statue of a

reclining Buddha A reclining Buddha is an image that represents Buddha lying down and is a major iconographic theme in Buddhist art. It represents the historical Buddha during his last illness, about to enter the parinirvana. He is lying on his right side, his he ...

in the world.

Sky Dream Fukuoka was a 120-metre-tall giant Ferris wheel in the city of Fukuoka, Japan, operating from December 2001 until September 2009. It was tall, making it the tallest Ferris wheel in Japan during its years of operation. It was located in the Evergreen Ma ...

, in Fukuoka's western ward, was a

Ferris wheel A Ferris wheel (also called a Giant Wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondolas, capsules ...

with a height of 120 meters and was closed in September 2009. The surrounding shopping center, Marinoa City Fukuoka, still attracts millions of visitors each year. Other shopping centers that attract tourists include Canal City, JR Hakata City, and Hakata Riverain. The Marine Park Uminonakamichi is located on a narrow cape on the northern side of the Bay of Hakata. The park has an amusement park, petting zoo, gardens, beaches, a hotel, and a large marine aquarium which opened in 1989. For tourists from other parts of Japan, local foods such as

mentaiko Pollock roe, also pollack roe (also known as ''myeongnan'' and ''tarako'') is the roe of Alaska pollock (''Gadus chalcogrammus'') which, despite its name, is a species of cod. Salted pollock roe is a popular culinary ingredient in Korean, Japanese ...

, Hakata (tonkotsu) ramen, and

motsunabe is a type of nabemono in Japanese cuisine, which is made from beef or pork tripe or other offal. It is a popular stew made with guts portions of various types of meat, prepared in a conventional kitchen cooking pot or a special Japanese nabe po ...

are associated with Fukuoka. Yatai (street stalls) serving ramen can be found in Tenjin and

Nakasu is the red-light district which exists between the sandbank of the and the in Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. It is named after a popular, but very short-lived, entertainment quarter of Edo, which existed in the late 18th century. T ...

most evenings.

is near the beach in Seaside Momochi, a development built for the 1989 Asia-Pacific Exhibition. The older symbol of the city,

Hakata Port Tower Hakata Port Tower is a 103 metre high lattice tower with an observation deck in a height of 73.5 metres in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situat ...

, is next to the international ferry terminal and is free to enter. Itoshima, to the west of Fukuoka city, has recently become a very popular tourist destination. There are many beaches along the coast, notably Futamigaura beach, where there is a famous Shinto shrine in the ocean, and Keya beach, which hosts the annual Sunset Live festival every September. Inland, there is the Shingon Buddhist temple called Raizan Sennyoji, where there are many Buddhist statues and stunning autumn foliage.

Museums

Fukuoka Art Museum is an art museum in Fukuoka, Japan. It contains a notable collection of Asian art and exhibits various temporary exhibitions. In November 2010 it hosted a large exhibition of Marc Chagall's work. ''The Madonna of Port Lligat'' by Salvador Dalí ...

– In Ohori Park; contains a wide selection of contemporary and other art from around the world, including works by

Mark Rothko Mark Rothko (), born Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz (russian: Ма́ркус Я́ковлевич Ротко́вич, link=no, lv, Markuss Rotkovičs, link=no; name not Anglicized until 1940; September 25, 1903 – February 25, 1970), was a Latv ...

Roy Lichtenstein Roy Fox Lichtenstein (; October 27, 1923 – September 29, 1997) was an American pop artist. During the 1960s, along with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and James Rosenquist among others, he became a leading figure in the new art movement. Hi ...

, and

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarr ...

. * Fukuoka Asian Art Museum – contains art from various countries of Asia. *

Fukuoka City Museum opened in Fukuoka, Japan, in 1990. The permanent exhibition, which tells the history of Fukuoka, is arranged in eleven sections, including those focussing upon the King of Na gold seal ( National Treasure), the Kuroda clan Kuroda (written: lit ...

– displays a broad range of items from the region's history, including a spectacular gold seal. * Fukuoka Oriental Ceramics Museum *

Fukuoka Prefectural Museum of Art opened in Fukuoka, Japan, in 1985. The collection focuses upon artists from Fukuoka Prefecture and Kyūshū more generally, and includes works by Harue Koga, Koga Harue. The Museum's precursor, the , which combined art museum with library, opene ...

* Genko Historical Museum (元寇史料館, Museum of the Mongol Invasion) – In Higashi Koen (Eastern Park); displays Japanese and Mongolian arms and armor from the 13th century as well as paintings on historical subjects. Open on weekends. * Hakata Machiya Folk Museum – Dedicated to displaying the traditional ways of life, speech, and culture of the Fukuoka region. *

Kyushu National Museum The opened on October 16, 2005 in Dazaifu near Fukuoka—the first new national museum in Japan in over 100 years, and the first to elevate the focus on history over art.Japan National Tourist Organization Museum "focuses on history."/ref> The ...

in nearby Dazaifu.

Festivals

Fukuoka is home to many festivals (

matsuri Japanese festivals are traditional festive occasions often celebrated with dance and music in Japan. Many festivals have their roots in Traditional Chinese holidays, traditional Chinese festivals, but have undergone extensive changes over time ...

) that are held throughout the year. Of these, the most famous are '' Hakata Dontaku'' and ''

Hakata Gion Yamakasa is a Japanese festival celebrated from the 1st until the 15th of July in Hakata, Fukuoka. The festivities are centered on the Kushida Jinja. The festival is famous for the Kakiyama, that weigh around one ton and are carried around the city as a ...

''.

Yamakasa

, held for two weeks each July,Hakata Gion Yamakasa Festival
. Japan National Tourist Organization. Retrieved March 19, 2008. is Fukuoka's oldest festival with a history of over 700 years. The festival dates back to 1241 when a priest called Shioichu Kokushi saved Hakata from a terrible plague by being carried around the city on a movable shrine and throwing water.The Yamakasa
Cogito Kyushu Networks. Retrieved March 19, 2008.
WebJapan. Retrieved March 19, 2008. Teams of men (no women, except small girls, are allowed), representing different districts in the city, commemorate the priest's route by racing against the clock around a set course carrying on their shoulders floats weighing several thousand pounds. Participants all wear ''shimekomi'' (called ''

fundoshi is a traditional Japanese undergarment for adult males and females, made from a length of cotton. Before World War II, the was the main form of underwear for Japanese men and women. However, it fell out of use quickly after the war with the ...

'' in other parts of Japan), which are traditional loincloths. Each day of the two-week festival is marked by special events and practice runs, culminating in the official race that takes place the last morning before dawn. Tens of thousands line the streets to cheer on the teams. During the festival, men can be seen walking around many parts of Fukuoka in long ''

happi A is a traditional tube-sleeved Japanese coat, usually worn only during festivals. typically feature symbols and/or text on the lapels, with a larger design on the back of the coat, typically the name or the festival or the participating ...

'' coats bearing the distinctive mark of their team affiliation and traditional ''

geta Geta may refer to: Places *Geta (woreda), a woreda in Ethiopia's Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region *Geta, Åland, a municipality in Finland *Geta, Nepal, a town in Attariya Municipality, Kailali District, Seti Zone, Nepal *Get� ...

'' sandals. The costumes are worn with pride and are considered appropriate wear for even formal occasions, such as weddings and cocktail parties, during the festival. File:Yamagasa uniform 1.png, The uniform used during the ceremonies and preparation File:Yamagasa uniform 2.png, The uniform used during the competition

Hakata Dontaku

is held in Fukuoka City on May 3 and 4. Boasting over 800 years of history, Dontaku is attended by more than 2 million people, making it the festival with the highest attendance during Japan's Golden Week holidays. During the festival, stages are erected throughout downtown for traditional performances and a parade of floats is held. The full name is ''Hakata Dontaku Minato Matsuri''.Hakata Dontaku Minato Matsuri
. Fukuoka Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Retrieved March 19, 2008. The festival was stopped for seven years during the

Meiji era The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization b ...

. Since it was restarted in the 12th year of the Meiji era it has been known as ''Hakata Dontaku''.

Music

Notable musical names in

J-pop J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1 ...

include

Ayumi Hamasaki is a Japanese singer, songwriter, record producer, actress, model, spokesperson, and entrepreneur. By 2002, Hamasaki had earned the nickname "Empress of J-pop" due to her popularity in Japan and throughout Asia. Due to her success and relevanc ...

(allegedly Japan's richest woman), hugely popular singer-songwriter duo Chage & Aska, singer-songwriter

Eri Nobuchika is a Japanese singer-songwriter, under the Fearless Records label on Sony Music Associated Records. She currently resides in Tokyo. Biography Early years Nobuchika'ss professional career began at an open Sony Music audition. She sent in her ...

Misia Misaki Itō, commonly known as and stylized as MISIA, is a Japanese singer and songwriter. Born in Nagasaki, Misia moved to Fukuoka at the age of 14 to pursue a recording career. There, she continued her secondary education and briefly attended ...

, and

Yui Yui may refer to: People * Yui (name), a Japanese name *Yui (singer) (born 1987), Japanese singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and actress * Yui people or Ibi, a Timucuan-speaking people in what now is Georgia, United States Places * Yui, Sh ...

. During the 1970s, local musicians prided themselves on their origins and dubbed their sound,

Mentai Rock is the name given to the collection of Japanese artists who gained national popularity during the late 1970s. Continuing through the early 1980s, the collective had little in common other than their origin - the Hakata ward of Fukuoka City. The ...

Morning Musume , formerly simply and colloquially referred to as , are a Japanese girl group, holding the second highest overall single sales (of a female group) on the Oricon charts as of February 2012, with the Oricon record of most top ten singles with an ...

6th generation member

Reina Tanaka is a Japanese singer and actress. She is the leader of the Japanese rock band Lovendor. From 2002 to 2013, she was one of the main vocalists of the girl group Morning Musume and participated in other music acts under the Hello! Project name. ...

was also born here in 1989 along with 9th generation member Erina Ikuta in 1997. Dominican songwriter and singer

Juan Luis Guerra Juan Luis Guerra Seijas (born June 7, 1957) is a Dominican musician, singer, composer, and record producer. He has sold 30 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling Latin music artists. Throughout his career, he has wo ...

pays homage to the city in his bachata song '' Bachata en Fukuoka'' (2010).

HKT 48 HKT48 (read "H.K.T. Forty-eight") is a Japanese idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto. HKT48 is named after the Hakata-ku, Fukuoka city of Fukuoka Prefecture, where Akimoto originally intended to base the group. The group currently performs at ...

have their own Theater at Nishitetsu Hall. Ezaki Hikaru of the

k-pop K-pop (), short for Korean popular music, is a form of popular music originating in South Korea as part of South Korean culture. It includes styles and genres from around the world, such as pop, hip hop, R&B, experimental, rock, jazz, gos ...

group

Kep1er Kep1er (; ) is a South Korean girl group formed through the Mnet reality survival competition show ''Girls Planet 999'' in 2021 and managed by Swing Entertainment and Wake One Entertainment. The group is composed of nine members: Kim Chae-hyun, ...

was born in Fukuoka.

Transport

Fukuoka is served by

, the

San'yō Shinkansen The is a line of the Japanese Shinkansen high-speed rail network, connecting Shin-Osaka in Osaka with Hakata Station in Fukuoka, the two largest cities in western Japan. Operated by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West), it is a westward cont ...

and the

Kyushu Shinkansen The is a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed railway network. It is an extension of the San'yō Shinkansen from Honshu connecting the city of Fukuoka (Hakata Station) in the north of Japan's Kyushu Island to the city of Kagoshima ( Kagoshima-Chuo St ...

high-speed rail line and other

trains at

and by ferry. JR Kyushu and a Korean company operate

hydrofoil A hydrofoil is a lifting surface, or foil, that operates in water. They are similar in appearance and purpose to aerofoils used by aeroplanes. Boats that use hydrofoil technology are also simply termed hydrofoils. As a hydrofoil craft gains sp ...

ferries (named ''

Beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

'' and ''

Kobee Kobee (Korean: 코비, Japanese: コビー) is a South Korean jet hydrofoil ferry line that operates services between Busan, South Korea and Fukuoka, Japan. Miraejet operates the ferry line. See also * Beetle - A ferry line between Fukuoka and Bu ...

'') between Hakata and

, South Korea. The city has three subway lines: the Kūkō Line, the

Hakozaki Line The is a subway line, which forms part of the Fukuoka City Subway system in the city of Fukuoka, Japan. It connects Nakasu-Kawabata in Hakata Ward with Kaizuka in Higashi Ward, all within Fukuoka. The line's color on maps is blue. Official ...

, and the newest one, Subway

Nanakuma Line The is a subway line, part of the Fukuoka City Subway system in Fukuoka, Japan. It runs from Hashimoto Station in Nishi Ward to Tenjin-Minami Station in Chūō Ward, all within Fukuoka. The line's color on maps is green. Officially, the line ...

, opened on February 2, 2005. A private railway line, run by

Nishitetsu 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 ...

is also heavily used and connects the downtown area of Tenjin to the city of Ōmuta.

Sports

Fukuoka is the home of the

, one of Japan's top professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

teams. Threatened with bankruptcy and forced by its creditors to restructure, former owner

sold the Hawks to

Softbank Capital SoftBank Capital is a venture capital group in the United States, focusing on technology and telecom early stage businesses. It was founded by SoftBank. Since 2015 it does not actively make investments, but it continues to oversee its prior portfo ...

in 2004. After the sale to Softbank, the Hawks have become the one of the most successful teams in

NPB or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

, winning 6

Japan Series The Japan Series ( , officially the Japan Championship Series, ), also the Nippon Series, :File:2014_JS_logo.png is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a best-of-seven series ...

title in 8 years. Their home stadium is the

Fukuoka PayPay Dome The is a baseball field, located in Chūō-ku, Fukuoka, Japan. Built in 1993, the stadium was originally named and has the capacity of 38,585 seats. With a diameter of 216 meters, the Fukuoka PayPay Dome is the world's largest geodesic dome. T ...

. Fukuoka is home to a professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team,

Avispa Fukuoka is a Japanese professional football club, currently competing in the J1 League. The team is located in Hakata, Fukuoka. "Avispa" means "wasp" in Spanish. They were originally called Fujieda Blux and based in Fujieda, Shizuoka before moving t ...

. Annual sporting events include: * The All Japan Judo Category Championships are held in early April. * The

Kyushu ekiden is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...

, beginning in

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...

and ending in Fukuoka, the world's longest

relay race A relay race is a racing competition where members of a team take turns completing parts of Race track, racecourse or performing a certain action. Relay races take the form of professional races and amateur games. Relay races are common in runni ...

, held in October. (Defunct) * The November

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

of professional

Sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by thr ...

is held at the

Fukuoka Kokusai Center in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, Japan is a collection of three separate buildings operated by the Fukuoka Convention Center Foundation. Fukuoka Kokusai Center The Fukuoka Kokusai Center opened in . A Sumo Tournament is held here every November. Man ...

. Fukuoka has hosted the following sporting events: *

from 1947 through 2021. * 1983 Asian Volleyball Championship for Women *

1995 Summer Universiade The 1995 Summer Universiade, also known as the XVIII Summer Universiade, took place in Fukuoka, Japan. Emblem The symbol mark is a motif of "U", expressing passion and energy in the flickering flames of a burning torch. In the flames one sees bot ...

1997 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships The seventh edition of the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, a long course (50 m) event, was held in Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefectu ...

* 1998 Women's Volleyball World Championship *

1999 Asian Basketball Championship The 1999 Asian Basketball Confederation Championship for Men was the qualifying tournament for the Basketball Tournament at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. It was played in Fukuoka, Japan. Qualification According to the ABC rul ...

2001 World Aquatics Championships right The 2001 World Aquatics Championships or the 9th FINA World Swimming Championships were held in Fukuoka, Japan between 16 July and 29 July 2001. The opening and closing ceremonies, as well as the swimming and synchronised swimming events, ...

. *

2006 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2006 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on April 1/2, 2006. The races were held at the Umi-no-nakamichi Seaside Park in Fukuoka, Japan, Japan's National Cross Country Course which is the permanent residence of the annual Fukuo ...

. * Fukuoka International Women's

Judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

Championships from 1983 to 2006. * 2013-14 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final

Sports teams and facilities

Education

Fukuoka City operates all public elementary and junior high schools, while the prefecture operates the high schools. ;National universities * ** – merged with Kyushu University in October 2003 ;Prefectural university * ;Private universities * * * * * * * ;Colleges * * Fukuoka Institute of Technology,

Junior college A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in su ...

(福岡工業大学短期大学部, Fukuoka Kōgyō Daigaku Tanki Daigakubu) * * * * * * ;Catholic schools *

Sophia Fukuoka Junior and Senior High School is located in Chūō-ku, Fukuoka. Founded by the Catholic diocese as a seminary school in 1932 and undergoing several name changes, it has been managed by the Jesuits since 1983. It took its present name in 2010 when it became affiliated with So ...

International relations

Fukuoka has ten

sister cities A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

. *

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, GA, United States (since February 2005) *

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand (since June 1986) *

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine (; oc, Nòva Aquitània or ; eu, Akitania Berria; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Novéle-Aguiéne'') is the largest administrative region in France, spanning the west and southwest of the mainland. The region was created by t ...

, France (since November 1982) *

, South Korea (since February 2007) *

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, TX, United States (since May 1965) *

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

, India (since November 2007, friendship city) *

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

, China (since February 1979) *

Ipoh , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Ipoh in Perak , pushpin_map = #Malaysia#Asia#Earth , pushpin_mapsize = 275px , pushpin_map_caption = Ipoh in Malaysia , coordinates ...

Perak Perak () is a state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, and Selangor to the south. Thailand's ...

, Malaysia (since March 1989) *

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

, CA, United States (since October 1962) *

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

Campania Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...

, Italy (since October 1983) *

Qingdao Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

, China (since February 2003) *

Yangon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

, Myanmar (since December 2016) The city established the Asian Pacific City Summit in 1994. It consists of 26 Asia-Pacific cities. The

Asian Pacific Children's Convention Asian Pacific Children's Convention (APCC ja, アジア太平洋こども会議・イン福岡) in Fukuoka, Japan, is a Nonprofit organization, non-profit making organization which promotes peace and co-existence throughout the world under the th ...

was established in Fukuoka in 1988.

Notable people

* Jirō Akagawa (novelist) *

Aska (singer) Aska, (born on February 24, 1958 in Ono, Onojō, Fukuoka) is a Japanese singer-songwriter. Aska is best known for work as part of the music duo Chage and Aska. As a composer, he wrote most of the duo's hit songs, including "Morning Moon", "Lo ...

(

Chage and Aska were a Japanese popular music duo composed of male singer-songwriters from Fukuoka Prefecture: and . To date they have sold over 31 million albums and singles in Japan. History They were formed in the late 1970s at the suggestion of the A&R ...

) *

Sonny Chiba , known internationally as Sonny Chiba, was a Japanese actor and martial artist. Chiba was one of the first actors to achieve stardom through his skills in martial arts, initially in Japan and later before an international audience. Born in Fuku ...

(actor, singer, film producer, film director, and

martial artist Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preserv ...

) *

Kaibara Ekken __NOTOC__ or Ekiken, also known as Atsunobu (篤信), was a Japanese Neo-Confucianist philosopher and botanist. Kaibara was born into a family of advisors to the ''daimyō'' of Fukuoka Domain in Chikuzen Province (modern-day Fukuoka Prefecture ...

(

Neo-Confucianist Neo-Confucianism (, often shortened to ''lǐxué'' 理學, literally "School of Principle") is a moral, ethical, and metaphysical Chinese philosophy influenced by Confucianism, and originated with Han Yu (768–824) and Li Ao (772–841) in th ...

philosopher) *

Chiya Fujino is a Japanese writer of literary fiction. She has published several novels and short stories, and has been awarded three major Japanese literary prizes. Fujino is a transgender woman who reflects the difficulties of her own life journey in the ...

(writer) * Noriko Fukuda (TV announcer) *

Kenji Hamada is a Japanese voice actor from Fukuoka, Japan who is an affiliate of Mausu Promotion. On adult works, he goes under the alias of . Personal life In 1996, Hamada enrolled at Ezaki Production school. Since 1998, he has been affiliated with Mausu ...

(voice actor) *

(J-pop singer) *

Angela Harry Angela Harry (born April 12, 1963) is an American model, actress and voice actress. Early life and career Angela Harry was born in 1963 while her father, a colonel in the US Air Force, was stationed in Japan. Her mother was born in Korea. She ...

(model and actress) *

Kanna Hashimoto is a Japanese actress and former singer. From 2011 to 2017, she was a member of the Fukuoka-based idol girl group Rev. from DVL. During her time with the group, in 2013, a fan-taken photo of her performing went viral on Twitter and 2channel, ...

(actress, singer and former idol) *

Riko Higashio is a Japanese professional golfer and former member of the LPGA Tour. Amateur career Higashio was born in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As a teenager, she won the 1993 Japan Amateur Championship and the 1994 Japan Junior Championship. Higashio ...

(

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

) *

Kiyoshi Hikawa is a Japanese enka singer who was born on September 6, 1977 in Minami-ku, Fukuoka, Japan.Hikawa Kiyoshi: Pro ...

(enka singer) *

Kōki Hirota was a Japanese diplomat and politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1936 to 1937. Originally his name was . He was executed for war crimes committed during the Second Sino-Japanese War at the Tokyo Trials. Early life Hirota was ...

(politician: 32nd

Prime Minister of Japan The prime minister of Japan (Japanese: 内閣総理大臣, Hepburn: ''Naikaku Sōri-Daijin'') is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its Ministers of Stat ...

) *

HKT48 HKT48 (read "H.K.T. Forty-eight") is a Japanese idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto. HKT48 is named after the Hakata-ku, Fukuoka city of Fukuoka Prefecture, where Akimoto originally intended to base the group. The group currently performs at ...

(idol group) * Yōsuke Ideguchi (Footballer for

Celtic F.C The Celtic Football Club, commonly known as Celtic (), is a Scottish professional football club based in Glasgow, which plays in the Scottish Premiership. The club was founded in 1887 with the purpose of alleviating poverty in the immigran ...

) *

Hiroe Igeta Hiroe Igeta (井桁弘恵 ''Igeta Hiroe''; born 3 February 1997) is a Japanese actress and model. Early life and education Igeta obtained her bachelor's in humanities from Waseda University , mottoeng = Independence of scholarship , estab ...

(model, actress and tarento) *

Elaiza Ikeda is a Philippine-born Japanese actress, fashion model and singer. She began modeling in 2009 after winning the "Grand Priz Nicola Model Audition 2009". Her mother is of Spanish Filipino Chinese descent and her father is Japanese. Filmography ...

(model and actress) *

Erina Ikuta is a Japanese pop singer, dancer, actress and former model. She is a ninth generation member of J-pop group Morning Musume. She joined Morning Musume in 2011 along with Riho Sayashi, Kanon Suzuki and Mizuki Fukumura. On 26 November 2014, she b ...

(J-pop singer and member of

) *

Mio Imada is a Japanese actress and model from Fukuoka. Imada began her acting and modelling career in 2015 after being labelled “Prettiest Girl in Fukuoka” by a local advertising agency. Her acting big break was in 2018 when she was cast as Airi Maya ...

(actress and model) * Tomo Inouye (medical doctor) *

Ryo Ishibashi is a Japanese people, Japanese actor and lead singer of the Japanese rock band ARB (band), ARB. He is known around the world for his roles in the Japanese horror films ''Suicide Club (film), Suicide Club'' and ''Audition (1999 film), Audition.'' ...

(actor, musician) *

Sui Ishida is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for his dark fantasy manga series ''Tokyo Ghoul'' and '' Choujin X''. Career history Sui Ishida is best known for his dark fantasy series ''Tokyo Ghoul'', a story about a young man named Ken Kaneki w ...

(manga artist) *

Gakuryū Ishii , formerly known as , is a Japanese filmmaker known for his stylistic punk films, which helped spark the cyberpunk movement in Japan. A number of contemporary filmmakers including Quentin Tarantino have cited Ishii's films as an influence. Earl ...

(film director) * Kanikapila (rock band) *

Ai Kawashima is a Japanese pop singer-songwriter and pianist. After overcoming her tragic childhood, she released her debut single ''Asueno tobira'' (Door to Tomorrow) as the duo I Wish in 2003. She is well known for her numerous street performances. She is ...

(singer-songwriter) *

Yoshinori Kobayashi is a Japanese manga artist known for his controversial political commentary manga '' Gōmanism Sengen''. Life A student of French literature from Fukuoka University, Kobayashi published his first manga, ''Tōdai Itchokusen'' (東大一直 ...

(manga artist) * Masamune Kusano (vocalist of

Spitz Spitz (derived from the German word ''spitz'' 'pointed') is a type of domestic dog characterized by long, thick, and often white fur, and pointed ears and muzzles. The tail often curls over the dog's back or droops. While all of the breeds rese ...

) * Yumeno Kyūsaku (novelist) *

(J-pop singer) *

Kento Miyahara is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is the current six time Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion. He was trained by Kensuke Sasaki and started his career in his Kensuke Office promotion ...

(professional wrestler) *

Yume Miyamoto is a Japanese actress, voice actress and tarento. She is affiliated with Himawari Theatre Group. Debuting as an actress during her early childhood, she would then begin acting in television dramas, live-action films, and dubs of foreign movies. ...

(actress and voice actress) *

Ryutaro Nakahara , better known by his stage name Ryu, is a Japanese record producer, DJ, musician and arranger. In 2000, Ryu, along with kors k won a contest started by Konami, in which composers were to make music such that the winners would get their songs i ...

(DJ, musician, composer, arranger) *

Kenzo Nakamura is a retired judoka who won a gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics. He is the younger brother of 1993 World Judo Championships gold medalist Yoshio Nakamura and 1996 Olympic silver medalist Yukimasa Nakamura. Biography Nakamura was born i ...

(Judo athlete) *

Katsuhiko Nakajima is a Japanese professional wrestler, signed to Pro Wrestling Noah. He started his career in Riki Choshu's Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling (WJ) promotion before heading to Kensuke Sasaki's Kensuke Office/Diamond Ring dojo and promotion. He ...

(professional wrestler) *

Ai Nonaka is a Japanese voice actress and singer. She works for Aoni Production and was formerly a member of the voice actor unit Drops, which included fellow voice actor Akemi Kanda, Tomoko Kaneda, Mariko Kōda, and Ryōko Shiraishi. In high school in Fu ...

(voice actor) *

Yukari Oshima is a Japanese former actress and martial artist. She gained prominence in Hong Kong and became popular in the Philippines as Cynthia Luster. Due to Filipinos' interest in Jackie Chan, she became Chan's pseudo female equivalent. Biography Born ...

(actress) *

Victoria Principal Vicki Ree Principal (born January 3, 1950),Noriko Sakai is a Japanese given name for females. Possible writings * 徳子, "benevolence child" * 法子, "method, law child" * 則子, "rule child" * 紀子, "chronicle child" * 教子, "teach child" * 範子, "pattern child" * 典子, "rule, precedent, c ...

(singer and actress) *

Nao Sakuma Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) is one of the five major ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside The Royal Ballet, the English National Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish Ballet. Founded as the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet, the company ...

(

principal dancer A principal dancer (often shortened to principal) is a dancer at the highest rank within a professional dance company, particularly a ballet company. A principal may be male or female. The position is similar to that of '' soloist''; however, p ...

with

Birmingham Royal Ballet Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) is one of the five major ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside The Royal Ballet, the English National Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish Ballet. Founded as the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet, the company ...

) *

Kensuke Sasaki is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, and founder of the now-defunct wrestling promotion Diamond Ring. Sasaki is the first of four men ever to hold all three of '' puroresus major heavyweight titles (the IWGP Heav ...

(professional wrestler) * Kohei Uchimura (Artistic gymnast) * Sayuri (singer-songwriter) *

Kōji Seto is a Japanese actor and singer. His major works include lead roles as Wataru Kurenai in ''Kamen Rider Kiva''; and supporting roles as Satoru Okura in Atashinchi no Danshi, Ariake Yamato in Otomen, and Eiji Kikumaru in Tenimyu. He stars as Mori ...

(actor) *

Eihi Shiina is a Japanese fashion model and actress from Fukuoka, Japan. She got her first big break in 1995, working for Benetton, after which she represented Japan at the global Elite Model Look '95. More magazine work followed. Shiina made her film ...

(model and actress) *

Ringo Shiina , known by her stage name , is a Japanese singer, songwriter and musician. She is also the founder and lead vocalist of the band Tokyo Jihen. She describes herself as "". She was ranked number 36 in a list of Japan's top 100 musicians compiled ...

(J-pop singer born in

Saitama Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (1 January 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 km2 (1,466 sq mi). Saitama Prefecture borders Tochigi Prefecture ...

and raised in Fukuoka) *

Polkadot Stingray is a Japanese rock band from Fukuoka, Japan signed under Universal Sigma. The band's members consist of Shizuku (guitar and vocals), Harushi Ejima (guitar), Yuki Uemura (bass), and Kazuma Mitsuyasu (drums). History 2014–2016: Indies era, ...

(rock band) *

Keita Tachibana , also known monomously as Keita (stylized KEITA), is a Japanese singer and actor. Since 2000, he rose to fame as the lead vocalist from the boy band W-inds. During that time, he launched a solo career, and in 2012, has revitalized it again und ...

(J-pop singer and member of

W-inds is a Japanese pop boy band managed by Vision Factory and signed to the Pony Canyon label since 2000. The group consists of Ryohei Chiba and Keita Tachibana; Ryuichi Ogata left the group in 2020. Tachibana is the lead singer of the group, while ...

) *

Takehiro Tomiyasu is a Japanese professional association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back or Full back (association football), full-back for Premier League club Arsenal F.C., Arsenal and the Japan national football team, Japan national team. Begi ...

(footballer for Arsenal F.C.) *

Akitomo Takeno , nicknamed AT, is a current professional basketball assistant coach for Osaka Evessa in Japan. He was selected by the Niigata Albirex BB Niigata Albirex BB, formally Niigata Albirex Basketball, is a Japanese basketball club. It is base ...

(basketball player) *

Dan Takuma was a Japanese businessman who was Director-General of Mitsui, one of the leading Japanese zaibatsu (family conglomerates). He was a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was married to the younger sister of statesman Kaneko Ken ...

(businessman) *

Tamori , known by his stage name (an anagram of his surname), is a Japanese television celebrity. Known for his trademark dark sunglasses, Tamori is one of the "big three" television comedians in Japan along with Takeshi Kitano (a.k.a. Beat Takeshi ...

(TV presenter) *

Kane Tanaka was a Japanese supercentenarian who, until her death at the age of , was the world's oldest verified living person following the death of Chiyo Miyako on 22 July 2018. She is the oldest verified Japanese person and the second-oldest verified ...

(oldest verified Japanese person ever and second oldest verified person ever) *

(J-pop singer and a member of

and

Lovendor is a Japanese all-female band. History The band was formed in 2012 around Morning Musume member Reina Tanaka. Originally there were four members: Reina Tanaka (vocals), Marina Okada (vocals), Yuki Uozumi (guitar), Marin Miyazawa (guitar). In ...

) *

Ryoko Tani is a retired Japanese female judoka and a politician. Competing in the extra-lightweight (48 kg) class, she won a record seven world titles and five Olympic medals including two golds at Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004. After her retirement ...

(judo athlete) * Rintaro Tokunaga (basketball player) * Misa Uehara (1937–2003), actress * Ren Kawashiri (J-pop singer/dancer, member of

JO1 is a Japanese boy band formed through the reality competition show '' Produce 101 Japan''. The group is composed of eleven members: Issei Mamehara, Ren Kawashiri, Takumi Kawanishi, Shosei Ohira, Shion Tsurubo, Ruki Shiroiwa, Keigo Sato, Syoya Ki ...

) *

Ryutaro Umeno is a Nippon Professional Baseball catcher for the Hanshin Tigers in Japan's Central League. Since joining the Tigers, he was given the nickname "Ume-chan", and his accurate throws and strong throwing arm earned his throw the nickname "Ume-chan ba ...

(baseball player for the

Hanshin Tigers The Hanshin Tigers (Japanese: 阪神タイガース ''Hanshin Taigāsu'') are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the Central League. The team is based in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and is owned by Hanshin Electric Railwa ...

) *

Masaaki Yuasa is a Japanese director, screenwriter, and animator affiliated with Science SARU, a Japanese animation studio which he co-founded with producer Eunyoung Choi in 2013. Yuasa previously served as president of Science SARU, but stepped down from th ...

(director) *

(singer) *

Takumi Iroha is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to Marvelous That's Women Pro Wrestling. She also competes in Seadlinnng, where she is a former Beyond the Sea Champion. Iroha was trained by Fuka Kakimoto and made her debut in April 2013 fo ...

( Japanese professional wrestler) *

Sosuke Ikematsu (born July 9, 1990) is a Japanese actor, television, and theatre actor best known for his role as Higen, the young nephew of samurai leader Katsumoto, in the 2003 film ''The Last Samurai''. Life and career Born in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefectur ...

(

movie actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

television actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lite ...

, and

theatre actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

) * Haruto Watanabe (K-pop Idol, boy group

Treasure (band) Treasure (; Japanese: トレジャー; stylized in all caps) is a South Korean boy band formed in 2019 by YG Entertainment through the reality-survival program ''YG Treasure Box'' (2018–2019). The band consists of 10 members: Choi Hyun-suk, ...

)

References

External links

Fukuoka City official website

Fukuoka Convention & Visitors Bureau

Official Tourism Site of Fukuoka City

Fukuoka Now
{{Authority control Cities in Fukuoka Prefecture Port settlements in Japan Populated coastal places in Japan Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan Populated places with period of establishment missing