Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyūshū

Kokurakita-ku (小倉北区) is a ward of Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka, Japan. It is the north part of what used to be Kokura City before the merger of five cities to create the new city of Kitakyūshū in 1963. JR Kyūshū's Kokura Station is the main rail hub of Kitakyūshū, and the Sanyo Shinkansen stops there.

Population: 184,545 persons (2000 - national census)
Area: 39.27 km²

Industry & Commerce

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

The two main department stores are Colet (next to Kokura Station) and Izutsuya (next to the Murasaki River and opposite Riverwalk Kitakyūshū). The Tanga Market is a traditional open-air market where fresh fish, meat and vegetables are the main produce for sale.

Headquarters of companies include

Kokura

Kokura (小倉市, Kokura-shi) is an ancient castle town and the center of Kitakyushu, Japan, guarding, via its suburb Moji, the Straits of Shimonoseki between Honshu and Kyushu. Kokura is also the name of the penultimate station on the southbound Sanyo Shinkansen line, which is owned by JR West. Ferries connect Kokura with Matsuyama on Shikoku, and Busan in Korea.

History

Edo period

The Ogasawara and Hosokawa clans were Daimyos at Kokura Castle during the Edo period (1603–1868). Miyamoto Musashi, samurai swordsman, author of The Book of Five Rings and founder of the Hyoho Niten Ichi-ryū, famous for its use of two swords, lived in the Kokura castle under the patronage of the Ogasawara and Hosokawa clans briefly during 1634.

Meiji period

After the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate, Kokura was the seat of government for Kokura Prefecture. When the municipal system of cities, towns and villages was introduced, Kokura Town was one of 25 towns in the prefecture, which later merged with Fukuoka Prefecture. Kokura was upgraded to city status in 1900.