Kitakyushu City

Land readjustment found a stone trunk.

Yomiya Giant Petrified Tree

Photo by Kugel (Public domain)

01 ／ Iwamatsu Sukezaemon and Shirasu Lighthouse

The man who paid for a lighthouse with donationsand his own money died the year before it was done.

Iwamatsu Sukezaemon (岩松助左衛門) took a post in the Kokura domain rescuing wrecked ships, and submitted a petition to build a lighthouse, which was granted. He raised the funds through donations and his own money, but died in 1872 aged 68; the Meiji government took over, and it was completed in 1873.

Funds raised through donations and his own money
Died in 1872 aged 68
Completed in 1873

02 ／ Minami-Kawachi Bridge

Arcs of steel above and belowjoin two fish shapes.

Minami-Kawachi Bridge (南河内橋) is a road bridge over Kawachi Reservoir, built to secure industrial water for the Yawata Works, and was completed in 1926. A lenticular truss 132.97 m long, with a 66 m span and 3.6 m width, it is nicknamed the "fish-shaped bridge" (魚形橋) and the "spectacles bridge" (めがね橋).

132.97 m long, 66 m span
Completed in 1926 (Taisho 15)
Important Cultural Property (designated 2006)

03 ／ Haruyoshi Spectacles Bridge

A bridge that was only planksbecame stone with donations from 58 people.

This two-arch stone bridge crosses the upper Murasaki River in Haruyoshi, Kokuraminami Ward; its old name was Watariage Bridge (渡上橋). Where there had only been a bridge of planks, the people of Haruyoshi pooled donations and finished it in 1919. A stone monument by the bridge is inscribed with the names and amounts of 58 donors.

Two-arch stone bridge
Completed in March 1919 (Taisho 8)
Monument inscribed with 58 Haruyoshi donors' names and amounts

Living here

34 km east to west, 33 km north to south.

about 940,000 people
Shinkansen stops here

Kitakyushu lies at the northern tip of Kyushu, facing Honshu across the Kanmon Strait. The city measures 34 km east to west and 33 km north to south, with an area of about 488 km², roughly 10% of Fukuoka Prefecture. Most of its land is taken up by the Kiku mountain mass in the east and the Fukuchi mountain mass running south from the centre.

People living here: 939,029people
Area: 492.5km²
Households: 436,245households
Rent (average for rentals): 45,470yen
Healthcare: 90 hospitals ／ 941 clinics

Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103

Children waiting for childcare: —156 nurseries and similar
Home purchase subsidy: —
Average annual temperature: —

These 3 items are waiting on a nationwide data source. We do not fill them with estimates.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Kitakyushu City in Japan33.883°N 130.875°E

to TokyoTokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen275min
to NagoyaTokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen180min
to OsakaSanyo Shinkansen128min

Travel times follow JR西日本「JRおでかけネット」区間時刻表『東海道･山陽･九州新幹線(東京～博多～鹿児島中央) 下り』（ページの日付は2026年9月30日のダイヤ）。のぞみ1号（東京6:00発・名古屋7:35発・新大阪8:24発→小倉10:35着）、みずほ615号（新大阪19:54発→小倉22:02着）。どれも『運転日注意』が空で毎日運転。乗り換えなしで市内の小倉駅に着く (checked 2026-09-30). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 10 municipalities.

Territory of Kitakyushu City

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

33.4km

直方市, 中間市, 水巻町, 香春町, 芦屋町, みやこ町, 福智町, 行橋市, 苅田町, 鞍手町

Kitakyushu City isthis kind of town.

01The Giant Petrified Tree of Yomiya (夜宮の大珪化木) in Yomiya 2-chome, Tobata Ward, is a petrified tree found 6 m underground in October 1940 (Showa 15) during land readjustment. It is up to about 2.2 m wide and an estimated 40 m long, and was designated a National Natural Monument in 1957 (Showa 32).
02The Tobata Gion Oyamagasa festival is a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, and the Kokura Gion Taiko drumming is a national intangible folk cultural property. The Wakato Bridge, linking Tobata and Wakamatsu, is a national Important Cultural Property, and Hiraodai in Kokuraminami Ward is a National Natural Monument.
03On Aino-shima (藍島) in Kokurakita Ward stands the flagpole base of a lookout post, built in 1721 (Kyoho 6) and prefecturally designated as a historic site. Inside the grounds of Kokura Castle stands a memorial turret honouring Iwamatsu Sukezaemon, and his grave is at a temple in Kokurakita Ward.

See the town as it is now.

Source: Wikidata (P2002, P2003, P2013, P2397)

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Kitakyushu City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗