Hakata-ku, Fukuoka

Hakata 博多区
Ward
Hakata Ward
JR Hakata Station
Location of Hakata-ku in Fukuoka
Hakata
Coordinates:
Country	Japan
Region	Kyushu
Prefecture	Fukuoka
City	Fukuoka
Area
• Total	31.47 km2 (12.15 sq mi)
Population (March 1, 2012)
• Total	216,728
• Density	6,886.81/km2 (17,836.8/sq mi)
Time zone	Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
Phone number	092-441-2131
Address	2-9-3 Hakata Ekimae, Hakata-ku Fukuoka-shi, Fukuoka-ken 812-8512

Hakata-ku (博多区) is a Japanese ward of the city of Fukuoka in Fukuoka Prefecture. It is best known as the location of Fukuoka's main train station, Hakata Station.

Geography

Hakata-ku is a ward of Fukuoka City located on its eastern edge. It is 31.47 km² with a population of 206,629 (current January 1, 2009). Most of the ward is plains where the Mikasa River (御笠川, Mikasagawa) flows. The northwestern end of the ward faces Hakata Bay, which includes the ferry terminal Hakata Harbor (博多港, Hakata kō). The northeast end of the ward is slightly elevated, and is named Higashihirao (東平尾), with nearby Fukuoka Airport. Around Hakata Station is downtown; Nakasu (中洲) is the red-light district in the ward along the Naka River (那珂川, Nakagawa). Hakata-ku also houses the Fukuoka Prefectural office.

Economy

Many Japanese companies have established branch offices in Fukuoka City, particularly in Hakata-ku cause of its easy access to Hakata Station and Fukuoka Airport. Therefore, people on business trips often visit and stay in Hakata-ku. The headquarters of JR Kyūshū, Best Denki, and many other companies are in the ward.

Air Next, a subsidiary of All Nippon Airways, is headquartered on the grounds of Fukuoka Airport in Hakata-ku. Link Airs has its headquarters in the Fukuoka Gion Daiichi Seimei Building (福岡祇園第一生命ビル Fukuoka Gion Daiichi Seimei Biru) in Hakata-ku. Cisco has an Asia-Pacific sales office on the 12th floor of the Fukuoka Gion Daiichi Seimei Building.

Prior to its dissolution, Harlequin Air was headquartered on the grounds of the airport in Hakata-ku.

History

Hakata is one of the oldest cities in Japan. In the Middle Ages Hakata, which faces onto the Genkai-Nada Channel (玄界灘) dividing Japan from Korea, was a base for merchants who traded with China and Korea, and the city housed Japan's first Chinatown. Taira no Kiyomori is said to have built the artificial harbor Sode-no-minato (袖の湊) to increase commerce. Hakata was burned down by many wars, including the Mongol invasions.

Fukuoka and Hakata, c.1640

In the early Edo period, Kuroda Nagamasa, appointed the lord of Chikuzen Province, and most of his samurai vassals lived in Fukusaki, on the opposite shore of the Naka River from Hakata. Kuroda Nagamasa changed the name of the area to Fukuoka after his home town; Fukuoka in Okayama Prefecture. He ordered Tachibana Castle and Najima Castle dismantled, and had Fukuoka Castle built using the stones from those older castles. At that time Hakata was no larger than one square kilometer, demarcated by defensive lines along the Naka River, the Boshu-bori (or Boshu Canal), and the Ishido or Mikasa River.

In 1876, Hakata, then also known as Dai-Ni-Dai-ku, and Fukuoka, or Dai-Ichi-Dai-ku, were merged. and in 1878 the settlement was renamed Fukuoka-ku (福岡区) by the Fukuoka prefectural government, though the population of Hakata was 25,677 and that of Fukuoka was 20,410. At that time, the name Hakata vanished from the administration. In 1889, after a local referendum in which half the voters chose the name Fukuoka and half chose Hakata, the city was officially renamed Fukuoka-shi, but at the same time a new train station then being built was named Hakata Station.

An imperial decree issued in July 1899 established Hakata as an open port for trade with the United States and the United Kingdom.

In 1972, when Fukuoka City was granted designated status by government ordinance, a ward including the old Hakata area was given the name Hakata-ku.

Culture

Hakata ningyō

Hakata Dontaku.

Hakata was the traditional center for the manufacture of Hakata ningyō, which are traditional Japanese dolls that are famous throughout Japan. Today, almost all Hakata ningyō makers (Hakata ningyō shi) have their factories out of the Old Hakata Area, a part of modern Hakata-ku.

Hakata ori is a textile used for obis of kimonos.

It is also the home of Mentai Rock, named after the popular mentaiko dish served in the region, that spawned numerous J-pop idols during the early 1980s. Neo Mentai Rock is the name given to a recent renewal in activity from local musicians.

Hakata-ben is the local Japanese dialect spoken in the Old Hakata Area.

Hakata is also the location of the pop group HKT48.

Famous foods

• Mentaiko
• Tonkotsu (pork bone) ramen, also called simply Hakata ramen
• Motsunabe
• Mizutaki - Nabemono of chicken
• Hakata Tourimon - a type of cake
• Hakata no Hito - a type of cake

Food Yatai in Nakasu area

• Tsukemen (dipping noodles)

Festivals

• Hakata Dontaku Minato Matsuri - May 3 and 4
• Hakata Gion Yamakasa - from July 1 to 15

Transportation

Rail

• JR West
  • Sanyō Shinkansen
    • Hakata Station
• JR Kyūshū
  • Kyūshū Shinkansen
    • Hakata Station
  • Kagoshima Main Line
    • Yoshizuka Station - Hakata Station - Takeshita Station - Minami-Fukuoka Station
  • Sasaguri Line
    • Yoshizuka Station
• Nishi-Nippon Railroad
  • Tenjin Ōmuta Line
    • Zasshonokuma Station
• Fukuoka City Subway
  • Kūkō Line
    • Nakasu-Kawabata Station - Gion Station - Hakata Station - Higashi-Hie Station - Fukuokakūkō Station(Fukuoka Airport)
  • Hakozaki Line
    • Nakasu-Kawabata Station - Gofukumachi Station - Chiyo-Kenchōguchi Station

Bus

• Hakata bus terminus (see Nishitetsu)

Airport

• Fukuoka Airport

Harbor

• Bayside place Hakata Futoh (Hakata Pier)
• Chūō Wharf (Central Wharf) - international ferry Beetle and Kobee and New Camellia

Facilities

Commerce

• Canal City Hakata
  • Grand Hyatt Fukuoka
• Hakata Riverain
  • Hakata-za
  • Hotel Ōkura Fukuoka

Culture

• Level-5 stadium (Hakata no mori Stadium)
• Fukuoka Convention Center - Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka International Congress Center, Fukuoka Kokusai Center
• Hakata Civic Center, Hakata Library
• Hakata South Library
• Nakasu
• Rakusui-en

Religion

• Shinto
  • Kushida Shrine
  • Sumiyoshi Shrine
  • Tōka Ebisu Shrine
• Buddhism
  • Shōfuku Temple
  • Tōchō Temple
  • Jōten Temple
  • Sōfuku Temple
• Christianity
  • Fukuoka Korean Christian Church, Chiyo
  • Hakata New Life Church,
  • Hikarigaoka (Hill of light) Catholic Church [1]
  • Minoshima Catholic Church
  • Japan Evangelical Lutheran church, Sasaki machi
  • Japan Baptist Church, Aoki
  • North Kyushu Japanese Orthodox Church, Higashi-hirao