Kokura Prefecture

The short-lived Kokura Prefecture (小倉県 Kokura-ken) of Japan was founded separately from Fukuoka Prefecture in December 1871 after the clan system was abolished earlier that year. It was made up of three separate han territories (Buzen, Kokura and Nakatsu) which were, each for a short while in 1871 themselves, called 'prefectures'.

Kokura prefecture included Moji, Kokura and other areas to the south and was formerly called Buzen Province. In 1876 Kokura prefecture was absorbed by Fukuoka prefecture. The city of Kokura was founded in 1900.

Kokura prefectural office (kencho)

The old wooden-built Kokura prefectural office (小倉県庁）is still standing in Kokura Kita ward, Kitakyushu though in a dilapidated condition. Used as a medical clinic and previously as a law court and a police station, it is opposite the ultra-modern Riverwalk Kitakyushu and is in stark contrast to it.

See also

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.