Location of Moji ward Kita-Kyushu city Fukuoka prefecture Japan

is a Japanese ward of the city of

Kitakyushu 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 o ...

Fukuoka Prefecture is a 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 km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders Saga Prefecture to the southwest, K ...

. It is the former city of Moji which was one of five merged to create Kitakyūshū in 1963. It faces the city of

Shimonoseki is a city located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. With a population of 265,684, it is the largest city in Yamaguchi Prefecture and the fifth-largest city in the Chūgoku region. It is located at the southwestern tip of Honshu facing the Tsush ...

across the

Kanmon Straits The or the Straits of Shimonoseki is the stretch of water separating Honshu and Kyushu, two of Japan's four main islands. On the Honshu side of the strait is Shimonoseki (, which contributed "Kan" () to the name of the strait) and on the Kyushu ...

between Honshū and

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 ...

. The ward's area is 73.37 km². It had a population of 114,754 as of 2000.

History

Moji was first made into a

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

by Suematsu Kenchō with the financial backing of

Shibusawa Eiichi was a Japanese industrialist widely known today as the "father of Japanese capitalism". He spearheaded the introduction of Western capitalism to Japan after the Meiji Restoration. He introduced many economic reforms including use of double- ...

in 1889. It was chiefly used for the transportation of coal, though there is a traditional song about the sale of bananas imported into Moji from Southeast Asia which survives to this day (''Banana no tataki-uri''). An imperial decree in July 1899 established Moji as an open port for trading with the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

.US Department of State. (1906)
''A digest of international law as embodied in diplomatic discussions, treaties and other international agreements'' (John Bassett Moore, ed.), Vol. 5, p. 759
In 1905, Moji was the departure point for many troops in the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

who were ferried to Korea.

Tourism

The Mojiko Retro District

140721 Former Moji Customs Kitakyushu Japan04n

Mojiko Retro, which officially opened under this name as a tourist site in 1995, is a historical area centered on

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 Str ...

's Mojiko Station, which is a replica of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

's Termini Station and is designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan. The area boasts many interesting historic buildings. For instance, the former Moji Mitsui Club once hosted Dr.

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theor ...

and his wife when they visited Japan in the 1920s. Recent developments along the waterfront, such as the renovated customs building, a striking new hotel and the a unique pedestrian Blue Wing drawbridge add to the charm of Mojiko and make it a pleasant place to stroll.

Shiranoe Gardens

The Shiranoe

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

s face the Seto Inland Sea.

Transport

Large ferries for

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

and

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 ...

leave from Shin-Moji port on the Seto Inland Sea. Moji is served by the

Kagoshima Main Line The is a major railway line operated by the Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu) between Mojikō in Kitakyushu, and Kagoshima Station in Kagoshima City, at the southern end of Kyushu. Until March 13, 2004, it extended 393 km between its t ...

, operated by

, and the

Mojikō Retro Scenic Line The is a 2.1 km heritage railway line owned by Kitakyushu City and operated by Heisei Chikuhō Railway. The line runs on a former freight route in Moji-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. One passenger train named the runs on the ...

, operated by Heichiku. Rail tunnels connect Kyushu and Honshu via Moji Station.

References

External links

Moji and ShimonosekiMoji ward office
official page (Japanese)

https://web.archive.org/web/20070311153452/http://eefoof.com/image/12764] Two large pictures of Mojiko train station. {{DEFAULTSORT:Moji-ku, Kitakyushu Wards of Kitakyushu