Fukuoka
(2002 est. pop. 5 million). Fukuoka Prefecture is situated in the north of Japan's island of Kyushu. Once a conduit for the transmission of culture from ancient China by way of Korea, it occupies an area of 4,963 square kilometers. Its main geographical features are the central Tsukushi Mountains, the river Chikugogawa surrounded by broad plains in the south, and the northwestern Fukuoka Plain. Fukuoka is bordered by Oita, Kumamoto, and Saga Prefectures, and by the Inland, Ariake, Genkai, and Hibiki Seas. The prefecture assumed its present name and borders in 1876; it subsumed the former provinces of Chikuzen, Chikugo, and Buzen.
The capital of the prefecture is Fukuoka city, situated on Hakata Bay. It is Kyushu Island's largest city as well as its cultural, commercial, and political center. Fukuoka city began as the seventh-century port of Hakata; close by was Dazaifu, the administrative center for all Kyushu. In the thirteenth century the Mongols tried to invade Japan along the Fukuoka coast. Hakata flourished through trade with Ming China (1368–1644). In 1601, a castle was erected in Hakata and named Fukuoka. The city of Fukuoka resulted from the merger of the new castle town and Hakata in 1889. Following destruction in World War II, Fukuoka was rebuilt on a grid plan.
Today its cultural institutions range from Kyushu University to numerous shrines and temples, notably the Shofuku Buddhist temple, founded in 1195 by Eisai (1141–1215), the monk who established the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism in Japan. Kyushu's oldest Shinto shrine, Sumiyoshi Jinja (1623), is also located in Fukuoka. Among the city's traditional crafts are silk weaving and dyeing and the manufacture of dolls. It is noted for one of the largest fish catches in Japan, and its modern industries include chemicals, textiles, electrical equipment, machinery, printing, and food processing. The other important cities of Fukuoka Prefecture are Kita, Kyushu, Kurume, and Omuta.
The prefecture's rich coal deposits fueled Japan's industrialization around the beginning of the twentieth century, although the coal output declined after World War II. Today the prefecture's larger industries include steel, glass, and ceramics. The agriculture of rice, vegetables, fruit, tea, and livestock remains productive. Visitors are drawn to scenic Inland Sea National Park and to the area's quasi-national parks, as well as to the Kofun tombs around the capital.
Further Reading
"Fukuoka Prefecture." (1993) Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Tokyo: Kodansha.
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