Location of Tobata 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 o ...

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

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

. It is the smallest ward of

city at 16.66 km². The population was 64,330 as of the national census in 2000.

History and Geography

In 1899 Tobata-cho (Tobata town) was created, and in 1924 Tobata-shi (Tobata city). The city was merged into

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 Fuk ...

in 1963. Officially Tobata became a ward of Kitakyushu on April 1, 1963. Part of Tobata ward faces the sea inlet or

firth Firth is a word in the English and Scots languages used to denote various coastal waters in the United Kingdom, predominantly within Scotland. In the Northern Isles, it more often refers to a smaller inlet. It is linguistically cognate to Scan ...

(Scottish English) called Dokai wan, and the surrounding outer sea is called Hibiki nada. The red-painted bridge between Tobata and Wakamatsu wards is called the Waka-To Ohashi (Great Bridge of Waka-To) and was the first suspension bridge in Asia, completed in 1963. On September 30, 2005 it passed into the control of Kitakyushu city. A new tunnel was constructed in 2005-8 between Tobata and Wakamatsu wards to link the Hibiki container terminal with

Kokura is an ancient Jōkamachi, castle town and the center of modern Kitakyushu, Japan. Kokura is also the name of the Kokura Station, penultimate station on the southbound San'yō Shinkansen line, which is owned by JR West. Ferries connect Kokura ...

. Much of this ward, especially the part facing the open sea, is taken up by the

Nippon Steel (previously known as Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal until 2019) is Japan's largest steelmaker, headquartered in Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company has four business segments, which are steelmaking, engineering, chemicals, and systems solu ...

(Shin Nihon Seitetsu) foundries, blast furnaces, and coaling docks. However the numbers employed there are greatly reduced since the heyday of steelmaking in the 1960s, from about 25,000 to 8,000 employees. The Congregation of Notre Dame has a community in Tobata.

Cultural Tobata

The West Japan Industrial Club (Matsumoto-tei, a house originally built for and owned by Mr. Matsumoto), a large house and garden adjoining Yomiya park, was designed by

Tatsuno Kingo was a Japanese architect born in Karatsu, Saga Prefecture, Kyushu. He was a Doctor of Engineering; conferred as Jusanmi (従三位, Junior Third Rank) and Kunsanto (勲三等, Order of Third Class); and served as dean of Architecture Departm ...

who also designed

Tokyo Station Tōkyō Station (, ) is a major railway station in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The original station is located in Chiyoda's Marunouchi business district near the Tokyo Imperial Palace, Imperial Palace grounds. The newer Eastern extension is not far ...

as a monument to Japan's victory in the Russo-Japanese War. A scene from the 2003 movie "Spy Sorge" (director Masahiro Shinoda) about

Richard Sorge Richard Gustavovich Sorge (; 4 October 1895 – 7 November 1944) was a German-Russian journalist and GRU (Soviet Union), Soviet military intelligence officer who was active before and during World War II and worked undercover as a German journa ...

was shot in the garden, Nearby

Kyushu Institute of Technology The is one of the 87 national universities in Japan. Located in Fukuoka Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, it is dedicated to education and research in the fields of science and technology. It is earlier abbreviated to KIT and is now official ...

(founded by Mr. Matsumoto in 1907) has its oldest campus (the faculty of engineering) in Tobata. The most important annual folk-cultural event is the Tobata Gion festival designated a national intangible cultural asset, and the Kitakyushu city art museum is also here. There are standing exhibits of Western and Japanese art and regularly changing art exhibitions. Sayagatani field and athletic stadium was built by Yahata steel workers and is still used for ball sports (rugby, soccer etc.) and athletics.

Education

was founded in Tobata in 1907.

Economy

Zenrin, a mapping and navigation software company, has its headquarters in the ward.Corporate Info
" Zenrin. Retrieved on March 6, 2019.

Notable people

The notable rugby player Takuro Miuchi is from Tobata. There is a rugby ground at Astem no Mori, and another at Sayagatani. Miuchi first learned to play rugby a
Sayagatani rugby school
and later at Yahata High School.

Transport & Facilities

There are two

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. It formerly operated the Beetle hydrofoil service across the Tsushima Strait be ...

rail stations on the

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

(Kagoshima honsen): Tobata Station and Kyushu Koudaimae Station, named after

which is seven minutes walk from there. Buses are run by the Nishitetsu company. A small shopping mall, Tobata Aeon, is located next to JR Tobata station. It is a kind of local and down-market department store, as compared with Isetan and Izutsuya in nearby Kokura Kita ward. Wakato ferry is for passengers with bicycles. It is one of the shortest and cheapest ferries in Japan (three minutes, 100 yen one way).

References

External links

Tobata Gion festival

Tobata ward office
(official page)
Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art

Kitakyushu Techno Center

Wel Tobata
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tobata-ku, Kitakyushu Wards of Kitakyushu