Location of Kokura-kita ward Kita-Kyushu city Fukuoka prefecture Japan

is a

ward 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 pris ...

Kitakyūshū is a 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 Fukuoka. It is one of ...

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, 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 ancie ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. It is the north part of what used to be

Kokura is an ancient castle town and the center of Kitakyushu, Japan, guarding the Straits of Shimonoseki between Honshu and Kyushu with its suburb Moji. Kokura is also the name of the penultimate station on the southbound San'yō Shinkansen lin ...

City before the merger of five cities to create the new city of

in 1963. JR Kyūshū's

Kokura Station in Kokurakita-ku is the main railway station in Kitakyushu, Japan. It is part of the JR Kyushu network and the San'yō Shinkansen stops here. It is the second largest station in Kyushu with 120,000 users daily. In the late 1990s, the Kokura st ...

is the main rail hub of Kitakyūshū, and the

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 ...

stops there. It has a population of 184,545 persons as of the 2000 national census and an area of 39.27 km².

Industry & Commerce

The largest commercial and shopping areas of Kitakyūshū, mainly in Uomachi (魚町 "fish town"), are clustered around

. The two main department stores are Colet (next to Kokura Station) and Izutsuya (next to the Murasaki River and opposite

Riverwalk Kitakyūshū is a prestigious shopping centre near the Murasaki river and Kokura Castle in Kokura Kita ward, Kitakyushu, Japan. It was opened as part of the Kitakyushu Renaissance policy on April 19, 2003. It includes theatres, restaurants, a multiplex cinem ...

). The Tanga Market is a traditional open-air market where fresh fish, meat and vegetables are the main produce for sale. Shin Kokura Building

Headquarters of companies include * TOTO Ltd. - south of Riverwalk *

Zenrin is a Japanese map publisher. Founded in 1948, the company is known as a maker of residential maps and software used in personal computers and Automotive navigation systems. It is a leading Japanese company in the production of mapping software. ...

- in Riverwalk *

Asahi Shimbun is one of the four largest newspapers in Japan. Founded in 1879, it is also one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. Its circulation, which was 4.57 million for its morning edition and ...

(West area) - in Riverwalk * The head office of StarFlyer Inc. was in the Shin Kokura Building in Kome-machi.Company Profile
" StarFlyer. Retrieved on May 26, 2009. "Location Shin-Kokura Bldg.,2-2-1 Komemachi Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyusyu-shi Fukuoka 802-0003 JPN" In 2010 the airline announced that the headquarters will move to Kitakyushu Airport.

Tourism

Kokura Castle is a castle in Kitakyushu, Japan. It was built by Hosokawa Tadaoki starting in 1602, with construction completed in 1608. History Construction of Kokura Castle began in 1602 and was completed in 1608. It was the property of the Ogasawara clan ...

(built by the Hosokawa family in 1602) and the Riverwalk Kitakyūshū shopping complex (completed in 2003) are about a ten-minute walk from JR Kokura Station. So also is the house once inhabited by

Mori Ōgai Lieutenant-General , known by his pen name , was a Japanese Army Surgeon general officer, translator, novelist, poet and father of famed author Mari Mori. He obtained his medical license at a very young age and introduced translated German lan ...

when he was a doctor to the Kokura garrison and wrote '' Kokura Nikki'' ("Kokura Diary"). The

Kitakyūshū Monorail The is a monorail system in the city of Kitakyushu in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, operated by . The is the only line. It runs the 8.8 km (5.5 mi) between Kokura station and Kikugaoka station in Kokura Minami ward in about 18 minutes. It ...

terminus is in Kokura Station and serves the commuters and residents living in Kokurakita and Kokuraminami Wards.

Crime and safety

The

Kudo-kai The is a yakuza group headquartered in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka on the Kyushu island of Japan, with an estimated 220 active members.yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ...

syndicate is headquartered in Kokurakita. A designated yakuza group, the Kudo-kai is the largest yakuza syndicate in the Kitakyushu area.

Education

The ward has a North Korean kindergarten, Kokura Korean Kindergarten (小倉朝鮮幼稚園).ウリハッキョ一覧
"

.

Chongryon The General Association of Korean Residents in Japan,
" ''

. Retrieved on October 14, 2015.

Photo gallery

File:Riverwalk Kitakyushu.jpg,

and

moat File:Tokiwa bashi.JPG, Tokiwabashi File:Kokura station.jpg,

File:Isetan department store Kokura.jpg, COLET(former Kokura Isetan) File:Kokura castle sakura.JPG, Cherry blossoms (

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

) and the keep of Kokura Castle, March 2002 File:140721 Matsumoto Seicho Memorial Museum Kitakyushu Japan01bs3.jpg,

Matsumoto Seicho Memorial Museum The is a literature museum in Kitakyushu, Japan. It is dedicated to Seichō Matsumoto, who spent the first half of his life in Kitakyusyu. The museum is located next to Kokura Castle. Features of the Museum The museum displays exhibits and ...

File:Mori Ogai house Kokura.jpg,

house File:Zenrin-Asahi building.JPG, Zenrin head office File:Kokura Gion daiko.jpg, Kokura Gion Daiko statue at Kokura Station File:Fukuju-ji - Buddha Hall.jpg, Fukuju-ji, an

Ōbaku The is one of several schools of Zen in Japanese Buddhism, in addition to Sōtō and Rinzai. History Often termed the third sect of Zen Buddhism in Japan, Ōbaku-shū was established in 1661 by a small faction of masters from China and their ...

Zen Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

temple File:Tanga Ichiba.JPG, Tanga Market

References

External links

Kokura Kita Ward Office
- official site in Japanese
Matsumoto Seicho Memorial Museum
- near Kokura castle

(Japanese)
Uomachi Shopping Arcade
(Japanese, some English) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu Wards of Kitakyushu