Kokura Kita-ku, Kitakyūshū

nihongo|Kokura Kita ward|小倉北区|Kokura Kita-ku is a ward of Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan. It is the north part of what used to be Kokura City before the merger of five cities to create Kitakyushu City in 1963. JR Kyushu's Kokura Station is the main rail hub of Kitakyushu, 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 Kitakyushu, 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). The Tanga Market is a traditional open-air market where fresh fish, meat and vegetables are the main produce for sale.

Tourism

Kokura Castle (built by the Hosokawa family in 1602) and the Riverwalk shopping complex (completed in 2003) are about a ten-minute walk from JR Kokura Station. So also is the house once inhabited by Mori Ōgai when he was a doctor to the Kokura garrison and wrote "Kokura Nikki" ("Kokura Diary").

The Kitakyushu Monorail terminus is in Kokura Station and serves the commuters and residents living in Kokura Kita and Kokura Minami Wards.

Head Offices

*TOTO Ltd. - south of Riverwalk
*Zenrin - in Riverwalk
*Asahi Shinbun (West area) - in Riverwalk
* The head office of StarFlyer Inc. is in Kome-machi near [http://www.chachatown.com/ Cha Cha Town] .

ee also

*Kokura Prefecture

Other wards of Kitakyushu:
*Kokura Minami
*Moji
*Tobata
*Yahata Higashi
*Yahata Nishi
*Wakamatsu

External links

* [http://www.city.kitakyushu.jp/~kokura-kita/ Kokura Kita Ward Office] - official site in Japanese
* [http://www.kid.ne.jp/seicho/html/ Matsumoto Seicho Memorial Museum] - near Kokura castle
* [http://www.riverwalk.co.jp/home.html Riverwalk Kitakyushu] (Japanese)
* [http://www.uomachi.com/ Uomachi Shopping Arcade] (Japanese, some English)