Fukuoka

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Fukuoka-shi
福岡 市
Fukuoka
Geographical location in Japan
Fukuoka (Japan)
Red pog.svg
Region : Kyushu
Prefecture : Fukuoka
Coordinates : 33 ° 35 '  N , 130 ° 24'  E Coordinates: 33 ° 35 '25 "  N , 130 ° 24' 6"  E
Basic data
Surface: 343.39 km²
Residents : 1,592,657
(October 1, 2019)
Population density : 4638 inhabitants per km²
Community key : 40130-7
Symbols
Flag / coat of arms:
Flag / coat of arms of Fukuoka
Tree : Ilex rotunda
Summer flower: Almond
Winter flower: Camellia sasanqua
Landvogel: Meadow bunting
Sea bird : Black-headed gull
town hall
Address : Fukuoka City Hall
1 - 8 - 1 , Tenjin
Chuo-ku , Fukuoka -shi
Fukuoka  810-8620
Website URL: http://www.city.fukuoka.lg.jp/
Location of Fukuoka in Fukuoka Prefecture
Location of Fukuoka in the prefecture

Fukuoka ( Japanese 福岡 市 , Fukuoka ? / I - shi , "[independent] city of Fukuoka") is the largest city on Kyushu , the southernmost of the Japanese main islands, and the eighth largest city in Japan and the administrative seat of the prefecture of the same name, Fukuoka . Audio file / audio sample

geography

Fukuoka is located on Hakata Bay in the north of the third largest main island in the Japanese archipelago at the 33rd latitude north and 130th longitude east and thus roughly the same latitude as Shanghai , Casablanca or Los Angeles . The city extends with 343.4 square kilometers in a semi-oval shape over the so-called Fukuoka plain. With around 1.59 million people, it is slightly larger than Munich .

The municipality also includes the island of Nokonoshima in Hakata Bay, Shikanoshima north of the bay, Genkai-jima northwest of the bay, and the island of Oronoshima, 25 km northwest of it in the Sea of ​​Japan .

Map of boroughs

City structure

On April 1, 1972, Fukuoka was declared a "government-designated city" ( Seirei shitei toshi , 政令 指定 都市 ). At the same time there was a division into five city districts ( ku , 区 ). On May 10, 1982, two other districts were spun off from the Nishi district: Jōnan and Sawara. Another three districts have names of cardinal points : Nishi ( 西 , west), Minami ( 南 , south) and Higashi ( 東 , east). The municipality Chūō ( 中央 , "Middle") is regarded as the center, it houses the city administration.

Fukuoka is currently divided into the following boroughs:

code Surname Area (in km²) population Population
density (inh / km²)
Rōmaji Kanji 10/01/2017 October 01, 2018 10/01/2015
40131 Higashi-ku 東区 69.36 315,525 306.015 4,411.98
40132 Hakata-ku 博 多 区 31.63 239.905 228.441 7,222.29
40133 Chūō-ku 中央 区 15.40 198,563 192,688 12,512.21
40134 Minami-ku 南 区 30.98 262.113 255.797 8,256.84
40135 Nishi-ku 西区 84.17 212.106 206,868 2,457.74
40136 Jōnan-ku 城南 区 15.99 132.133 130.995 8,192.31
40137 Sawara-ku 早 良 区 95.87 219.105 217,877 2,272.63
Fukuoka-shi 福岡 市 343.39 1,579,450 1,538,681 4,480.86

Neighboring cities and communities

climate

Fukuoka has a humid monsoon climate with humid summers and relatively mild winters. The highest temperature measured so far was 37.7 ° C (August 15, 2004), the lowest - 8.2 ° C (February 5, 1919). The annual mean temperature is 16.8 ° C. The annual amount of precipitation reaches 1500–2000 mm in normal years. The longest hot period so far was in the summer of 1978 with a total of 79 days of over 30 ° C.


Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Fukuoka
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Max. Temperature ( ° C ) 9.3 10.1 13.8 19.0 23.2 26.2 30.6 31.8 27.8 22.8 17.4 12.1 O 20.4
Min. Temperature (° C) 2.5 2.9 5.3 10.3 14.6 18.9 23.7 24.2 20.1 14.0 8.8 4.6 O 12.5
Precipitation ( mm ) 74 70 98 127 144 256 258 166 175 96 80 61 Σ 1,605
Hours of sunshine ( h / d ) 3.0 3.7 5.0 5.5 6.1 4.9 5.7 6.7 5.3 5.6 4.4 3.4 O 5
Water temperature (° C) 14th 13 13 16 18th 21st 24 27 25th 22nd 19th 17th O 19.1
Humidity ( % ) 65 66 66 69 71 77 76 75 75 71 69 66 O 70.5
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
9.3
2.5
10.1
2.9
13.8
5.3
19.0
10.3
23.2
14.6
26.2
18.9
30.6
23.7
31.8
24.2
27.8
20.1
22.8
14.0
17.4
8.8
12.1
4.6
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
N
i
e
d
e
r
s
c
h
l
a
g 		74
70
98
127
144
256
258
166
175
96
80
61
  Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Source: wetterkontor.de

history

Three Mongols shoot the samurai Takezaki Suenaga; Mongolian grenades explode in the background
Wall remnants at Imazu in the west of Hakata Bay

As a number of archaeological finds show, Nordkyushu was inhabited since the Paleolithic. Due to its geographical location, the region has functioned as a hub for traffic with the Asian mainland since ancient times. In the 4th century BC Rice was first grown here on Japanese soil . A Chinese gold seal found in 1784 with the inscription "King of the land of Na of Wa of Han " indicates the existence of a small state of Na . A tribute embassy from this state from the year 57 AD is also mentioned in the book of the Later Han ( Hou Han Shu ), but there are still many interpretations regarding the correlation with archaeological finds etc. There is evidence of a hall ( Tsukushi no murotsumi ) for the 7th century , which indicates an increase in traffic with the mainland. In the 9th century, an official guest hall ( Kōrōkan ) was used to receive foreign delegations, to pass embassies to China and to manage and control foreign trade. The city was then called Hakata ( 博 多 ) and was mostly inhabited by traders and fishermen. Since the end of the 11th century, Chinese traders have also settled, which is still recognizable today in the place name Tōjin-machi (Chinese quarter). In 1161, an artificial harbor was created here for the first time in Japanese history through landfilling. The first Zen temple in Japan, the Shōfuku-ji , was built in Hakata in 1195 and is still used as a meditation center today.

In the second half of the 13th century, the region became the scene of two invasion attempts initiated under Kublai Khan by Mongolian troops . After the first exploratory battles in 1274, a 20 kilometer long stone wall was built, the remains of which can be seen in many parts of the bay. In 1281 the Mongols reappeared with a huge fleet. The typhoon that decimated this fleet and saved the country went down in Japanese history as the kamikaze (god wind). At the end of the 16th century, the region experienced a further boom after the general Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537–1598) had brought the island of Kyūshū under his control.

With the establishment of the Tokugawa dynasty under the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616), the situation on Kyushu was reorganized. For support in the Battle of Sekigahara (1600) the House of Kuroda received a new fief. Since the Najima Castle (Najima-jō) in the east of the bay did not offer enough surrounding land for urban development, Kuroda Nagamasa (1568–1623), the first prince of this fief, had a castle built in the west of Hakata from 1601 to 1607 he called Fukuoka . The name also included the settlement around the castle, where the samurai involved in the administration lived.

For a long time, the two settlements of Fukuoka and Hakata existed separately. In the course of the reorganization of the administrative districts after the Meiji Restoration , the merchant town of Hakata (25,677 inhabitants) and the samurai town of Fukuoka (20,410 inhabitants) were united under the name Fukuoka in 1889. The main station ( Japan Railways ) of Fukuoka built in the area of ​​the former Hakata is called Hakata-Bahnhof ( 博 多 駅 Hakata-eki ), while the station of a regional private railway in the area of ​​the former Fukuoka is called Fukuoka-Bahnhof ( 福岡 駅 Fukuoka-eki ) .

During the First World War , the former governor of the German colony Tsingtau and his staff were interned as prisoners in Fukuoka. Because of its geographical location and economic importance, an imperial university, the Kyūshū University, was built in the east of the city in 1911 . Today there are a large number of private universities and colleges in the city's catchment area.

On July 16, 1927, the Roman Catholic diocese of Fukuoka was established in Fukuoka .

In World War II, large parts of the city fell firebombs victim. Fukuoka recovered rapidly in the post-war period. Although the neighboring city of Kitakyūshū with its steelworks and various processing plants also plays an important role in the industrial sector, Fukuoka is still the most important trading city on Kyūshū .

The northern part of Kyūshū is one of the seismically calmer regions of the Japanese archipelago, but here too there are occasional stronger earthquakes . On March 20, 2005, the "earthquake in the western coastal region of Fukuoka Prefecture" ( Fukuoka-ken seihō-oki-jishin ) with a magnitude of 7.0 destroyed numerous buildings. One person died and over 400 were injured.

politics

Fukuoka City Hall
Factions in the city parliament
(as of 2019)
18th
12
10
6th
6th
4th
2
4th
18th 12 10 6th 6th 4th 2 4th 
A total of 62 seats
  • LDP : 18
  • Kōmeitō : 12
  • Fukuoka shimin club (“ Fukuoka (City) Citizen Club ”): 10
  • KPY : 6
  • Fukuoka Reiwakai : 6
  • Jimintō Shin-Fukuoka ("LDP New Fukuoka"): 4
  • Midori to shimin network no kai ("Association of Green and Citizens' Network"): 2
  • Non-attached: 4

Mayor of Fukuoka (Fukuoka-shichō) has been Sōichirō Takashima since 2010 . In November 2018 he was re-elected for a third term with LDP support against only one, CPY-supported challenger with a three-quarters majority.

The city parliament of Fukuoka (Fukuoka-shigikai) has 62 regular members: twelve from the East District, eleven from the South District, nine each from the Sawara and Hakata Districts, eight from the West District, seven from the Central District and six from Jōnan . It was re-elected in the unified elections in April 2019 , the LDP remained the strongest party with 21 seats.

In the 86-member prefectural parliament of Fukuoka (Fukuoka-kengikai) the capital is represented by a total of 22 members. Here, too, the districts function as electoral districts: the east and south districts as four-mandate constituencies, the Jōnan-ku elects two members, the other four districts are three-mandate constituencies. Of the prefectural parliamentarians from the city of Fukuoka, eight members of the (main) LDP parliamentary group after the (also unified) election in 2019, seven belong to the former DPJ parliamentary group, four belong to the Kōmeito , one of the CPJ , and two members constitute one-man Fractions (as of May 2019).

For the House of Representatives , the lower house of the national parliament , the city of Fukuoka lies in constituencies 1 to 3 of the prefecture, constituency 3 also includes the neighboring city of Itoshima to the west . All three constituencies have been represented by Liberal Democrats since 2012 , namely Takahiro Inoue ( 49.2% in the 2017 election ), Makoto Oniki (47.9% in 2017) and Atsushi Koga (59.0% in 2017).

Economy and Transport

According to a study from 2014, the Fukuoka metropolitan area has a gross domestic product of 193.3 billion US dollars (KKB). In the ranking of the economically strongest metropolitan regions worldwide, he was 58th and 4th in Japan behind Tokyo, Osaka-Kobe and Nagoya. The GDP per capita was $ 34,822.

Fukuoka is connected to the JR railway network with the San'yō-Shinkansen ( Hakata station ), in addition there are numerous other JR lines in local and long-distance traffic. The only private railway in Fukuoka is Nishi-Nippon Tetsudō (West Japan Railway, Nishitetsu for short ), which operates two lines. The Kyushu Highway connects Fukuoka with other regions in Japan. There is a toll city motorway within the city. The Fukuoka airport is very close to the city center, only two subway stops from Hakata Train Station. The port offers u. a. a connection with the hydrofoil and a large ferry (Camellia Liner) to Busan in South Korea and various ferry connections to smaller Japanese islands.

After the tram was shut down in the late 1970s, the city of Fukuoka pushed ahead with the construction of the Fukuoka subway . There are also numerous bus routes in the city, most of which are operated by the Nishi-Nippon Tetsudō company.

Attractions

Shrines, temples, ruins, monuments

Sumiyoshi shrine
Kushida shrine
Gogoku shrine
Shofuku Temple
Tōchō-ji
  • The remains of the great Fukuoka Castle built in the early 17th century can be seen in Maizuru Park .
  • The Sumiyoshi Shrine ( Sumiyoshi-jinsha ), one of the oldest Shinto shrines on Kyūshū, is dedicated to the protective deities of the seafarers. The main hall was restored in 1623, it shows a very old, pure architectural style.
  • The Shōfuku Temple ( Shōfuku-ji ) is the oldest Zen temple in Japan. According to tradition, it was founded by the monk Eisai in 1195 after his return from China. Eisai brought tea to Japan in addition to the Zen teaching. The temple belongs to the Rinzai denomination. It has a Korean- style bronze bell .
  • The Sōfuku Temple ( Sōfuku-ji ) is a temple of the Rinzai denomination founded by fir in 1240 . In the Edo period it served as a family temple for the Kuroda ruling house.
  • The Hakozaki Shrine ( Hakozaki-gū ) founded in 923 serves to worship the god of war Hachiman . It is located near the Kyushu University Medical Faculty in the eastern Hakozaki district (once a village outside the city).
  • The road leading to the Kashii Shrine ( Kashii-gū ) on the eastern edge of the city is still lined with Castanopis trees ( 香 椎 kashii literally means "Scented Castanopis"). According to legend, it was founded in 199/200 by Jingū -kōgō, the wife of Tennō Chūai , who is said to have ruled Japan for almost seven decades after the death of her husband.
  • There are also twenty larger and numerous smaller shrines in the city area.
  • On the site of the "Gold Dragon Temple" ( Kinryū-ji ), a Zen temple in the western part of the city center, there is the grave of the Confucian scholar Kaibara Ekiken (1630–1714), whose writings were large into the 19th century and marked with a bronze statue Exercising influence.
  • The Myōkō Temple ( 明 光寺 Myōkō-ji ) is a temple run by the Sōtō - Zen school near Hakata Station. Once a week it is possible to take part in a meditation lasting about two hours.
  • The Atago Shrine ( Atago-jinja ), which is supposed to protect Fukuoka from fire, stands on a hill in the west of the city .
  • Three female deities with shrines on the mainland and on two uninhabited islands have their place of worship in the Munakata shrines . A museum nearby displays finds from early historical times.
  • The Ōhori-kōen (literally “Great Ditch Park”) and other parks enclose the area of ​​the “Castle of the Dancing Cranes” ( Maizuru-jō ) of the ruling house of Kuroda, which was built from 1601 to 1607 and largely destroyed in World War II . Only the ramparts, a gate and an outer tower are preserved or reconstructed today.
  • In several places in the west of the city and the bay you can find remains of the stone walls built against the Mongol invasion of the 13th century ( Mōkō-bōrui , "Mongolian walls ").
  • In the 32 hectare Higashi-kōen (lit. "East Park") there is a memorial to the memory of the two Mongol invasions as well as statues of the Buddhist monk Nichiren (1222-1282) and Tennō Kameyama (1249-1305).
  • The Nishi-kōen (lit. "West Park") extends over a hill in the coastal area with a shrine, remains of an old defensive wall and around four thousand cherry trees.

More Attractions

Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome
  • At 234 meters high, the Fukuoka Tower, built in 1989, is Japan's tallest coastal tower . At 123 meters above sea level, you can enjoy a view of the Genkai Sea and the city skyline.
  • The centrally located Ōhori Park includes a large pond 2 km in circumference and is one of the most famous parks in Japan. Here you can jog or go boating.
  • The Fukuoka castle ruins are right next to Ōhori Park. Here you can get information about the founder of the castle, Nagamasa Kuroda, and the way of life at that time.
  • Marine World is the name of a scientific museum built in the shape of a sea shell , which shows 7000 underwater creatures of 230 species. In addition to an underwater tunnel and the largest cylindrical aquarium in Japan, visitors can also watch a dolphin show .
  • The Tenjin Nishi-dori , a main street in the central district of Tenjin, offers restaurants, bars and boutiques. In the northern extension, also known as Oyafuko-dōri , young people meet in numerous discos , nightclubs and restaurants.
  • A famous handicraft product from Fukuoka are the Hakata dolls ( Hakata ningyō ), a popular souvenir ( omiyage ) for tourists.
  • Nokonoshima is an island in Hakata Bay, which is ideal for short hikes and a visit to a beautiful garden.
  • The Fukuoka Dome is a baseball stadium of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks with an attached shopping and entertainment center ( Hawks Town ).
  • The Canal City near the Hakata Station is an architecturally interesting building complex with shops, cinemas, restaurants and a hotel.

Festivals

Hakata Gion -Yamakasa

During the Hakata-dontaku festival (from the Dutch Zondag , Sunday) held on May 3rd and 4th , originally a New Year's custom , there is a procession of costumed groups as well as dance and song performances by the population on a number of stages set up in the city center.

The over 760 year old Hakata Gion-yamakasa festival of the Kushida Shrine ( Kushida-jinja ) takes place in the first half of July. In the districts of the former trading town of Hakata, "jewelry mountains" ( kazari-yama ) decorated with historical dolls are set up. Seven lower, almost one tonne heavy “carrying mountains” are moved through the respective district on certain dates. The high point and end of the festival begins at 4:49 am on July 15, when hundreds of men compete with the "carrying mountain" of their neighborhood over a distance of around 5 kilometers for the shortest possible time.

Tamaseseri (lit. "ball competition") is a custom performed on January 3rd in the Hakozaki shrine. Men wrapped in loincloths fight over a wooden ball. According to tradition, touching this sphere protects against disease and other evils. The most important festival of this shrine is a harvest festival called Hōjōya in autumn ( 12-18 September).

The annual festival of the Sumiyoshi Shrine is celebrated with sumo wrestling , among other things .

education

Fukuoka is one of the most important cities for secondary schools and universities in Kyushu.

One of the oldest and most renowned universities in Japan is the University of Kyūshū , which emerged in 1911 from a medical college founded in 1903 as an offshoot of the Imperial University of Kyoto and, as one of the seven imperial universities, played an important role in the modernization of the country. In 1916, American Baptists founded a middle school that over the decades developed into Seinan Gakuin University . Fukuoka University, founded in 1934, is the largest private university in Western Japan.

Sports

Twin cities

Personalities

Web links

Commons : Fukuoka  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Area data of the nationwide area survey of all prefectures and municipalities 2017 by the Kokudo Chiriin (GSI - Geospatial Information Authority of Japan ), 平 成 29 年 全国 都 道 府 県 市区 町 村 別 面積 調 , p. 86: 40 Fukuoka-ken ( Memento of the original from December 21, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Japanese). Retrieved December 16, 2018 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.gsi.go.jp
  2. ↑ Estimated population 2018 according to 簡 単 検 索 ・ 詳細 検 索 ・ 検 索 サ ン プ ル , accessed December 16, 2018 (Japanese)
  3. ↑ Results of the 2015 census according to e-stat (English), accessed on December 16, 2018
  4. ↑ Fukuoka City Parliament: Members by parliamentary group , accessed on May 17, 2019.
  5. ↑ 福岡 市長 選 . In: NHK Senkyo Web. November 18, 2018. Retrieved May 17, 2019 (Japanese).
  6. ↑ Fukuoka City Parliament: MPs
  7. ↑ 福岡 市 議 選 各 党 議席 . In: NHK Senkyo Web. April 8, 2019, Retrieved May 17, 2019 (Japanese).
  8. ↑ Fukuoka Prefectural Parliament , MP , MP from Fukuoka-shi
  9. ^ Alan Berube, Jesus Leal Trujillo, Tao Ran, and Joseph Parilla: Global Metro Monitor . In: Brookings . January 22, 2015 ( brookings.edu [accessed July 19, 2018]).