Northern Kyūshū

Northern Kyūshū, industrial region of southwestern Japan, centring on the city and port of Kita-Kyūshū and bounded by the Gen Sea to the northwest and the Inland Sea to the east. The region is drained by the Onga, Chikugo, and Yamakuni rivers and is composed of portions of Fukuoka, Saga, Ōita, and Nagasaki ken (prefectures). The Northern Kyūshū region specializes in chemical and heavy industries, particularly iron and steel. Transport equipment, machinery, electrical appliances, and textiles are manufactured as well. Agricultural products include mandarin oranges, fish, and rice. The city of Kita-Kyūshū was created in 1963 from the former cities of Wakamatsu, Yamata, Tobata, Kokura, and Moji.

During the Tokugawa period (1603–1867), the region began to evolve as an industrial centre through limestone quarrying (for fertilizer and cement) and small-scale bituminous-coal mining. Coal production increased during the Meiji period (1868–1912), and government ironworks and related chemical factories were established in Yahata in 1901. Located on Japan’s southwestern island of Kyūshū, the region maintained a strategic position for trade in iron ore with China and for national defense during the Russo-Japanese War (1904–05). Chemical industries in Minamata and heavy industries in Ōmuta and Ōita cities expanded early in the Shōwa period (1926–45). In 1932 the Yahata ironworks were converted for steel production. Military demands during the Sino-Japanese War (1937–45) and World War II were followed by economic stagnation. As land and coal-mine subsidence and the conversion of Japanese industry to oil as an energy source accelerated the region’s decline, a number of industries relocated to the Keihin (Tokyo-Yokohama) and Keihanshin (Kyōto-Ōsaka-Kōbe) industrial zones. In an attempt to remedy the situation, factories for consumer goods were built in Fukuoka city and a petrochemical complex was constructed on reclaimed land in the city of Ōita. Air and train routes, established during the 1970s between Tokyo and Kita-Kyūshū, facilitate future development of the region.