Fukuoka (福岡市 Fukuoka-shi) is the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture and is situated on the northern shore of the island of Kyūshū in Japan.
Voted number 16 in 2009's poll of the World's Most Livable Cities, Fukuoka is praised for its green spaces in a metropolitan setting.[1] It is the most populous city in Kyūshū, followed by Kitakyūshū. It is the largest city and metropolitan area west of Osaka. The city was designated on April 1, 1972 by government ordinance. Greater Fukuoka (福岡都市圏), with 2.5 million people (2005 census), is part of the heavily industrialized Fukuoka-Kitakyūshū zone, as well as Northern Kyushu.
Culture
Fukuoka was selected as one of Newsweek's 10 "Most Dynamic Cities" in its July 2006 issue.[10] It was chosen for its central Asian location, increasing tourism and trade, and a large increase in volume at its sea and airport. Fukuoka has a diverse culture and a wide range of cultural attractions.In its July/August 2008 issue, Monocle selected Fukuoka as number 17 of the "Top 25 liveable cities".[11] It was chosen for excellent shopping, outstanding food, good transport links, good museums, "a feeling of openness in its sea air", green spaces and because it's friendly, safe, clean and close to East Asia.[12]
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I live in Kurume, which is about half an hour from Fukuoka city by train. It has around 300,000 people, and is really cool. I went to the top of the city hall building where I was able to look out on the city. I love this city. Here is what wikipedia has to say about Kurume:
Kurume (久留米市 Kurume-shi) is a city located in Fukuoka, Japan.
The city has an estimated population of 303,277 and the density of 1,319.51 persons per km². The total area is 229.84 km².
The city was founded on April 1, 1889.
Famous people from Kurume include: the family of the Bridgestone Tire Corporation (Shojiro Ishibashi), George Shima (the "Potato King" of California), the pop group Checkers, the singer and actress Seiko Matsuda, anime creator Leiji Matsumoto, the television celebrity, Rena Tanaka, actor Ryo Ishibashi and the late Izumi Sakai of Zard. The Bridgestone Tire Corporation has its origins in Kurume as traditional footwear manufacturers, producing the sock-like shoe (tabi), used by farmers. They found that by coating the bottom of tabi with rubber, farmers could be protected from the invasion of parasitic worms that live in rice paddies.
Famous traditional products of Kurume are the kasuri(絣), roughly woven indigo dyed cloth; pork soup (tonkotsu) ramen noodles; and trays and bowls made from rantai shikki(籃胎漆器), a composite made from lacquered bamboo.
In 2010 Kurume is planning to host the International Camellia Conference.
