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Fukuoka, Fukuoka''Masanobu Fukuoka, author of 'The One Straw Revolution', is the pioneer of 'No Till' grain growing (see also permaculture)''
''Fukuoka is also the name of two towns in Japan, Fukuoka, Toyama (in Toyama Prefecture) and Fukuoka, Gifu (in Gifu Prefecture)''
Fukuoka (福岡市; -shi) is the capital city of Fukuoka prefecture and is situated on the northern shore of the island of Kyushu in Japan, across the Korea Strait from South Korea's Busan. It is the most populous city in Kyūshū, followed by Kitakyushu, together with which it forms the Fukuoka-Kitakyushu metropolitan area. The city was designated on April 1, 1972 by government ordinance. Fukuoka is served by Fukuoka Airport, the Sanyo Shinkansen high speed rail line at Hakata Station and by ferry. JR Kyushu operates a hydrofoil between Hakata Port and Busan, South Korea. The subway opened a new line, the Nanakuma line, in February 2, 2005. History The Mongols attempted two unsuccessful invasions of Japan. The first invasion fleet was utterly destroyed by a typhoon (kamikaze) in 1281. The Mongolian fleets survived the typhoon the second time but the landed troops, starved because their provisions had been lost in the typhoon, were annihilated by Japanese infantry and samurai. Fukuoka's Hakata bay is Japan's gateway to Korea and China. Gateways, of course, attract interest and after having conquered and terrorised the continent the great Mongol Kublai Khan of the Mongol Empire having founding the Yuan Dynasty, Emperor of China, turned his attention to Zipangu. In 1268, Japan had to face an external pressure it had never experienced before. Few knew it might change the fate of the Hojos and the Kamakura Shogunate. Kublai Khan of Mongol, grandson of Genghis Khan, sent an envoy to Japan to make the Shogunate acknowledge Khan's suzerainty. The Kamakura Shogunate refused. Mongolia repeatedly sent envoys thereafter, each time urging the Shogunate accept their proposal but to no avail. In 1274, Mongol fleets with 900 ships and 33,000-strong troops, which included troops from Kogryo(current Korean peninsula), invaded northern part of Kyushu island. His first invasion was compromised by a combination of incompetence and storms but it was the second invasion, in 1281, destroyed by the famous "kamikaze" (or "wind of god") that marked the end of his Japanese ambitions. Fortunately, a typhoon hit the area in the middle of the battle and most of the ships were destroyed, forcing them to retreat. Kublai sent another envoy in 1279. Back at the time, Hojo Tokimune of the Hojo clan (1251-1284) was the Eighth Regent. Not only did he decline the offer, but executed (beheaded) the five Mongolian emissaries after summoning them to Kamakura. After the first invasion of 1274, the Japanese samurai built a stone barrier of 20 kilometers long (Height about 2-3 metres; width at base about 3 metres. Built in 1276-1277; excavated in the 1930s.) bordering the coast of Hakata Bay of today's Fukuoka city. This stone barrier, on which the Japanese soldiers forcefully fought in resistance, effectively prevented the landing of the Yuan (Mongol) army on the shore of Hakata (now in Fukuoka city) during the second invasion of 1281. - Take the small, cheap municipal ferry across the bay to Shikanoshima, climb the hill to the tiny, slightly ramshackle temple and look back across Hakata Bay. Although the city has numerous reminders of this most significant of events in Japanese history, including bits of the Mongol Invasion wall, it makes less of it than it might.
Getting infuriated, Kublai made another attack on Fukuoka Prefecture in 1281 reinforcing the troops to 140,000 soldiers with 4,000 ships. The Japanese warriors were no match for Mongolians, and the Kublai fleets invaded up to Dazaifu (太宰府市; -shi), 15 kilometers south of Fukuoka city. By sheer luck, another typhoon struck the area again, and it gave a crushing blow to the Mongolian troops. (Hence the Japanese called the typhoon Kamikaze or Divine Winds, and many believed even in the Pacific War that Japan would win by the mercy of Kamikaze.) Under pressure from his Mongolian advisors Kublai attempted to conquer Japan, Myanmar, and Vietnam. All those attempts failed and the cost of these expeditions and the paper currency he created caused inflation. First Invasion, November 1274 Mainly land battles fought on the coastal strip of today's Fukuoka city. - Yuan army: 40,000; with 900 ships
- Japanese army: 10,000
- Yuan army used small exploding bombs: probably the first appearance of bombs and gunpowder in Japan. 10th Century China first saw bombs in the battlefields
The Interlude - 1276-1277: Stone barrier built around Hakata Bay.
- 1275 and 1279: Yuan envoys sent to Japan, but were executed.
Second Invasion, June:August 1281 Mainly sea battles fought on the coastal waters of northern Kyushu. - Yuan army: 140,000; with 4,400 ships
- Japanese army: 40,000
Chikuzen Fukuoka was formerly the residence of the powerful daimyo of Chikuzen, and played a conspicuous part in the medieval history of Japan; the renowned temple of Ieiyasu in the district was destroyed by fire during the revolution of 1868. (from 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica) The modern city was formed on April 1, 1889 with the merger of the former cities of Hakata and Fukuoka. Historically, Hakata was the port and merchant district, and as such was more associated with the area's culture: it remains the main commercial area. On the other hand, the Fukuoka area was home to many samurai, and its name has been used since Kuroda Nagamasa, the first daimyo of Chikuzen, named it after his birthplace in Okayama Prefecture. Today, the old Fukuoka is the main shopping area called Tenjin. When Hakata and Fukuoka decided to merge, a meeting was held to decide the name for the new city. Hakata was initially chosen, but a group of samurai crashed the meeting and forced those present to choose Fukuoka as the name for the merged cities. However, Hakata is still used to refer to the Hakata area of the city, and most famously to refer to the city's train station (Hakata Station). Because of its history in relation to mainland Asia, the multipurpose convention center built in the city center in 1995 with ecologically sound features included a library and other facilities for peaceful relations with other Asian cultures. It is known as ACROS, for "Asian Crossroads Over the Sea." Geography Earthquakes Fukuoka is not as seismically active as many other parts of Japan, but does experience occasional earthquakes. The most powerful recent earthquake registered a lower 6 on the Japanese intensity scale (magnitude 6.4 on the Richter scale, according to the USGS) and hit at 10:53 am local time on March 20th, 2005, killing one person and injuring more than 400. Genkai-jima (Genkai island), a part of Nishi-ku, was most severely damaged by this earthquake, and almost all island residents were forced to evacuate. Aftershocks continued intermittently throughout the following weeks as construction crews worked to rebuild damaged buildings throughout the city. Traditional Japanese houses, particularly in the areas of Daimyo and Imaizumi, were the most heavily damaged and many were marked for demolition. Insurance payments for damages were estimated at approximately 15.8 billion yen Wards Fukuoka has 7 wards (ku): Demographics As of March 2005, the city had an estimated population of 1,391,146 and a density of 4,084.40 persons per km². The total area is 340.60 km². With an average age of 38.6 years, Fukuoka is Japan's second youngest major city and with a growth rate of 4.4%, is also Japan's second-fastest growing city (based on 2000 census data). Popular attractions Sky Dream Fukuoka, located in Fukuoka City's western ward, is one of the world's largest ferris wheels at a height of 120 metres(about 400 feet). Universities Sports Fukuoka is the home of the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks, one of Japan's top professional baseball teams. Threatened with bankruptcy and forced by its creditors to restructure, in 2004 former owner Daiei sold the Hawks to Masayoshi Son of Softbank Capital. The team name was changed to Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks from the 2005 season. Fukuoka is also home to a professional soccer team, Avispa Fukuoka, which is currently playing in Japan's second-tier league J2. Sports facilities Sister Cities Fukuoka has several sister cities: External links
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