Country Japan Population 976,846 (2010) Area 486.81 km2 | Region Kyushu Mayor Kenji Kitahashi | |
Points of interest Space World, Kanmon Straits, Riverwalk Kitakyushu, Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art, Wakato Bridge Colleges and Universities University of Kitakyushu, Kyushu Institute of Technology, University of Occupational and Environmental Health Japan, Kyushu Dental University, Nishinippon Institute of Technology | ||
Kitakyushu (, Kitakyushu-shi, lit. "North Kyushu") is a city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan.
Contents
- Map of Kitakyushu
- Japans hidden treasures sarakurayama in kitakyushu japan as it truly is
- Kokura kitakyushu amazing travel video hd
- History
- Culture
- Economy
- Festivals
- Moji Minato Festival May
- Wakamatsu Minato Festival July
- Wasshoi Hyakuman Festival August
- Cuisine
- References
Map of Kitakyushu
Japans hidden treasures sarakurayama in kitakyushu japan as it truly is
Kokura kitakyushu amazing travel video hd
History
Kokura Prefecture was founded separately from Fukuoka Prefecture in 1871 when the clan system was abolished. The old wooden-built Kokura Prefectural Office is still standing, and is being restored. It is opposite Riverwalk Kitakyushu. In 1876, Kokura Prefecture was absorbed by Fukuoka Prefecture. The city of Kokura was founded in 1900.
Culture
The 1986 family movie Koneko Monogatari was filmed here. The English version of the film, which is the story of the friendship of a kitten and a pug dog, was released in America in 1989 as The Adventures of Milo and Otis.
The 1958 comedy Rickshaw Man is based on a local folk hero of Kokura called Muhomatsu or "Wild Pine" and has been called the Japanese Desperado. He is celebrated in the Kokura Gion Yamagasa festival. Toshiro Mifune plays the taiko drum in this movie.
Economy
Nippon Steel Corporation is still a major employer but the Yahata and Tobata plants are much reduced from the heyday of the 1960s. The Zenrin company known for its mapping and navigation software is based here, and so is Toto and Yaskawa Electric. StarFlyer, an airline, is headquartered on the grounds of Kitakyushu Airport in Kokuraminami-ku, Kitakyushu. Previously the airlines headquarters were in the Shin Kokura Building (, Shin-Kokura Biru) in Kokura Kita-ku, Kitakyushu.
Festivals
There are several local festivals (matsuri) held in the summer in various parts of the city, including the Tobata Gion Yamagasa festival in Tobata ward.
Moji Minato Festival (May)
This port-city festival involves colorfully costumed people pulling floats through the streets.
Wakamatsu Minato Festival (July)
This port-city festival celebrates fire, drums, and kappa (mythical amphibious creatures who love cucumbers).
Wasshoi Hyakuman Festival (August)
The Wasshoi Hyakuman Natsumatsuri brings all the festivals together for a grand parade and finale near the City Hall in Kokura Kita ward. Kitakyushu was formed by the merging of Kokura, Yahata, Wakamatsu, Moji, and Tobata. As a result, the city began, on its tenth anniversary, to combine these local festivals into one. On the 25th anniversary, it was renamed Wasshoi Hyakuman because the city population had then reached one million.
Cuisine
A cuisine (/kw??zin/ kwi-ZEEN , from French cuisine, "cooking; culinary art; kitchen"; ultimately from Latin coquere, "to cook") is a style of cooking characterized by distinctive ingredients, techniques and dishes, and usually associated with a specific culture or geographic region. A cuisine is primarily influenced by the ingredients that are available locally or through trade. Religious food laws, such as Islamic and Jewish dietary laws, can also exercise a strong influence on cuisine. Regional food preparation traditions, customs and ingredients often combine to create dishes unique to a particular region.
Some of the elements that have an influence on a regions cuisine include the areas climate, which in large measure determines the native foods that are available, the economic conditions, which affect trade and can affect food distribution, imports and exports, and religiousness or sumptuary laws, under which certain foods and food preparations are required or proscribed.
Climate also affects the supply of fuel for cooking; a common Chinese food preparation method was cutting food into small pieces to cook foods quickly and conserve scarce firewood and charcoal. Foods preserved for winter consumption by smoking, curing, and pickling have remained significant in world cuisines for their altered gustatory properties even when these preserving techniques are no longer strictly necessary to the maintenance of an adequate food supply.