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39-512: The Kudo-kai is the largest yakuza group in the Kitakyushu area, and like other yakuza groups based in the northern Kyushu region, it is noted for its extremely militant stance, by using the likes of machine guns and hand grenades in their activities. The Kudo-kai is regarded as the best example of Kyushu yakuza who strongly oppose the police, get angry easily, and "fight with pride". The National Police Agency 's official report refers to

78-652: A Kudo-kai insider after the NHK television network made a nationwide broadcast about the series of gun attacks on the office buildings of the Saibu Gas allegedly done by the Kudo-kai. The Kudo-kai maintains its headquarters office in Kokura Kita , Kitakyushu and its known offices in two other prefectures . The Kudo-kai's notable "territories" outside of Kitakyushu allegedly include Harajuku , Tokyo , more specifically

117-762: A grand parade and finale near City Hall in Kokura Kita ward . Kitakyushu was formed by the merging of Kokura, Yahata, Wakamatsu, Moji, and Tobata. As a result, the city began, on its tenth anniversary, to combine these local festivals into one. On the 25th anniversary, it was renamed Wasshoi Hyakuman because the city population had reached one million. There are over 200 shops. The Center for Contemporary Art opened in May 1997 by former Japan Foundation chief curator Nobuo Nakamura and Akiko Miyake. The centre has shown works of internationally renowned artists such as Maurizio Cattelan and Anri Sala , and runs an internationally acclaimed studio programme for emerging artists. Kitakyushu

156-654: A plant in Kitakyushu to produce large and ultralarge off-the-road radial tires for construction and mining vehicles. The GDP in Greater Kitakyushu, Kitakyushu Metropolitan Employment Area was US$ 55.7 billion in 2010. Located at a strategic position on the south side of the Kanmon Straits , Kitakyushu is an important transport hub for traffic between Honshu and Kyushu and has a large port. The Kitakyushu Airport opened on March 16, 2006. It

195-456: A total area of 491.95 km (189.94 sq mi). The average population density is 1,922 persons /km (4,980/sq mi). It is now the country's 15th most populated city. It has a much larger total area than that of Fukuoka which is only 343.39 km (132.58 sq mi). Kitakyushu has seven wards ( ku ): The city of Nakama, Fukuoka was to become the eighth ward of Kitakyushu in 2005 (to be called Nakama-ku). However,

234-659: A volcanic eruption, and parts of the city are completely covered in lava. There are festivals (matsuri) held in the summer in the city, including the Tobata Gion Yamagasa festival in Tobata-ku, Kitakyūshū . It has been designated as an intangible cultural asset of Fukuoka Prefecture. People spin highly decorated "battle floats" as they pull them through the streets. People carry yamagasa (tiered floats decorated with flags by day and lanterns by night) on their shoulders. People pull yamagasa parade floats along

273-489: Is a city located in Fukuoka Prefecture , Japan . As of June 1, 2019, Kitakyushu has an estimated population of 940,978, making it the second-largest city in both Fukuoka Prefecture and the island of Kyushu after the city of Fukuoka . It is one of Japan's 20 designated cities , one of three on Kyushu, and is divided into seven wards . Kitakyushu was formed in 1963 from a merger of municipalities centered on

312-558: Is based on a local folk hero of Kokura called Muhomatsu or "Wild Pine" and has been called the Japanese "Desperado". He is celebrated in the Kokura Gion Yamagasa festival. Toshiro Mifune plays the taiko drum in this movie. Kitakyushu is featured in the late 2012 Call of Duty: Black Ops II game developed by Treyarch and published by Activision as a DLC map called Magma . In the map the city has been abandoned due to

351-553: Is covered by the Kitakyushu Expressway , which has five routes serving the city, totaling 53 kilometers of four-lane expressways. Some of these expressways are elevated, especially around the city center. Route 1 serves the city center, while route 2 serves the port area. Route 3 is a short connector between routes 1 and 2, and route 4 is the longest of the Kitakyushu Expressway network, serving most of

390-828: Is headquartered on the grounds of Kitakyushu Airport in Kokuraminami-ku, Kitakyūshū . Previously the airline's headquarters were in the Shin Kokura Building ( 新小倉ビル , Shin-Kokura Biru ) in Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyūshū . A smaller scale shopping center known as Cha Cha Town, next to the Sunatsu bus depot in Kokura Kita ward, was created by the Nishi-Nippon Railroad and bus company. In 2009 Bridgestone Corporation opened

429-660: Is known to have sold high-quality, brand-name MDMA drugs made in the likes of the Benelux region, Israel, or Indonesia, not gang-made impure ones. The Kudo-kai is a designated yakuza group under the Organized Crime Countermeasures Law, and has been referred to as a "grossly vicious group" in the National Police Agency 's official report. Kitakyushu Kitakyushu ( Japanese : 北九州市 , Hepburn : Kitakyūshū-shi )

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468-466: Is larger than the previous Kokura Airport and supports 24-hour operations thanks to its location on an artificial island in the Seto Inland Sea . It will eventually be connected with Kokura Station by a new fast rail link. A new airline based in the city called StarFlyer began operations when the airport opened. Kokura Station , the city's central train station, is the penultimate stop on

507-435: Is only 7 km (4.3 mi) west of Kokura and had air raids on the previous day, preventing him from identifying the target clearly. Additionally, a smoke screen was created by industrial workers burning barrels of coal tar and/or electric plant workers releasing steam. The bomb was ultimately dropped on the city of Nagasaki , the secondary target, at 11:02 JST. The city of Kitakyushu was founded on February 10, 1963, and

546-618: Is sometimes used. In 2011 the company was criticised for attempting to manipulate public opinion in favor of reactivating two reactors at the Genkai Nuclear Power Plant . Kyushu Electric Power was founded on 1 May 1951. The company began supplying electricity to Hiroshima in November 2005 - the first provider in Japan to supply energy outside its area. This article about a company or corporation involved in

585-437: Is twinned with Kitakyushu; Kyushu Electric Power Kyūshū Electric Power Company ( 九州電力株式会社 , Kyūshū Denryoku Kabushiki Gaisha ) ( TYO : 9508 , OSE : 9508, FWB :  2CJ ) is a Japanese energy company that provides power to 7 prefectures ( Fukuoka , Nagasaki , Ōita , Saga , Miyazaki , Kumamoto , Kagoshima ), and recently, to some parts of Hiroshima Prefecture . Its shortened name of 九電 ( Kyuu den )

624-614: The Fukuoka-Kitakyushu Greater Metropolitan Region , which, with a population of 5,738,977 (2005-2006), is the largest metropolitan area in Japan west of the Keihanshin region. Kokura Prefecture was founded separately from Fukuoka Prefecture in 1871 when the clan system was abolished. The old wooden-built Kokura Prefectural Office is still standing and is being restored. It is opposite Riverwalk Kitakyūshū . In 1876, Kokura Prefecture

663-857: The JR West Sanyō Shinkansen before the Fukuoka terminus and all Shinkansen services stop here. It is served by local and express trains on JR Kyushu 's Kagoshima and Nippō Main Lines. In the city, transport is provided the Kitakyushu Monorail and buses. Mojikō Station in Moji-ku is the northern terminus of the Kagoshima Main Line, the most important line in the JR Kyushu network. A tram network operated by

702-541: The Nishi-Nippon Railroad known as the Kitakyushu Line once operated in the city; after dwindling passenger numbers in the 1970s the line was shut down in stages between 1980 and 2000. A railway using tram cars, the Chikuhō Electric Railroad , runs between Kurosaki-Ekimae and Chikuhō-Nōgata stations, serving Yahatanishi-ku and the neighboring city of Nōgata . The metropolitan area of Kitakyushu

741-476: The Saibu Gas chairman's house located in Fukuoka with grenades (alleged cases), a bar managed by an anti-organized crime campaign leader with a hand grenade, future Prime Minister Shinzo Abe 's Shimonoseki house and office with molotov cocktails on several occasions, among many others with grenades or firearms. The NHK Broadcasting Center received a threatening phone call from a man claiming himself to be

780-524: The Kudo-kai annexed the Kusano-ikka, a Kitakyushu-based yakuza clan which had frequent violent conflicts with the Kudo-kai until then. The Kudo-kai was registered as a designated yakuza group under the Organized Crime Countermeasures Law in 1992. Hideo Mizoshita became the third president in January 2000, and he died on July 1, 2008, at the age of 61. His funeral was held on July 6 of that year, where

819-607: The Kudo-kai as a "particularly nefarious group". One notable incident happened in March 1988, while feuding with a Chinese mafia syndicate attempting to enter the Kitakyushu area, the Kudo-kai attacked the Consulate General Fukuoka office of the People's Republic of China, which had nothing to do with the mafia, with shotguns and a dump truck . The Kudo-kai is a member of an anti-Yamaguchi fraternal federation,

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858-625: The Kudokai even maintains its own public headquarters, the Kudokai Hall — a four-story, fortress-like white building surrounded by tall walls, barbed wire and security cameras — that sits in the center of Kitakyushu, a city of one million residents." The Kudo-kai is notorious for not hesitating to attack katagi civilians, or ordinary civilians, notably, the Kudo-kai has attacked; the Kyushu Electric Power president's house and

897-719: The Ura-Harajuku area known as "Ura-Hara". The origin of this "ownership" allegedly traces back to the early 1980s, when the Sumiyoshi-kai , the original "owner" of this area, yielded to the Dojin-kai in a conflict in which many of the Sumiyoshi-kai's traditional "territories" were seized by the Dojin-kai. The Kudo-kai was allegedly given this "territory" by the Dojin-kai, and that is the alleged key reason why it

936-611: The Yogun Plain. Some of the limestone caverns are open to the public. The area contains the Sugao and Nanae Waterfalls. Sugao is about 20 meters. Nanae means "seven stages". The 1986 family movie Koneko Monogatari was filmed here. The English version of the film, which is the story of the friendship of a kitten and a pug dog, was released in America in 1989 as The Adventures of Milo and Otis . The 1958 comedy Rickshaw Man

975-645: The Yonsha-kai, with three other northern-Kyushu based organizations, the Taishu-kai , Dojin-kai , and Kumamoto-kai. The Yonsha-kai had been known as the "Sansha-kai" until 2005 when the Kumamoto-kai joined it. The Kudo-kai is the principal member of this federation. The Kudo-kai was founded before WWII as a bakuto organization named the "Kudo-gumi" in Kokura by the first president Genji Kudo. In 1987,

1014-554: The attendees included many yakuza magnates from all over the country, such as those from the Sumiyoshi-kai , Inagawa-kai , Soai-kai , Matsuba-kai , Kyokuto-kai , Aizukotetsu-kai , Sakaume-gumi , Azuma-gumi , Asano-gumi , Kyodo-kai , Goda-ikka , Shinwa-kai , Kyosei-kai , Kozakura-ikka , Kyokuryu-kai , Okinawa Kyokuryu-kai , and even Kiyoshi Takayama of the Yamaguchi-gumi , and possibly some Russian or Italian or Mexican yakuza magnates. In June 2011, following

1053-619: The city from north to south. Route 5 is a short link serving the inner port area. In addition, Kitakyushu is bypassed by the Kyushu Expressway , the main north–south route on the island of Kyushu. The new Higashikyushu Expressway begins in Kitakyushu and runs along the eastern coast of Kyushu. North of Kitakyushu, the Kyushu Expressway crosses the six-lane Kanmonkyo Bridge and turns into the Chūgoku Expressway ,

1092-726: The city limits. The main ferry port is at Shin-Moji, and there are ferries at Moji and near Kokura Station . In the Kanmon-Kitakyushu area, there are three commuter lines: the Wakato Ferry, the Kanmon Straits Ferry, and the Kanmon Straits Liner. The limestone outcroppings on Hiraodai are said to resemble grazing sheep, so the plateau, the highest in Kyushu at 400–600 meters, is also known as

1131-707: The city. On September 30, 2005, ownership of the Wakato Bridge was transferred from Japan Highway Public Corporation to Kitakyushu; on April 1, 2006, the bridge was transferred to the control of the Kitakyushu City Road Public Corporation . Kitakyushu is the largest ferry port in Kyushu , Chūgoku , and Shikoku . Ferry services operate between Kitakyushu and Shimonoseki , Matsuyama , Tokushima , Kōbe , Ōsaka , Tokyo , Ulsan (Korea), Busan (Korea) and isolated islands in

1170-563: The fourth president Satoru Nomura 's promotion to the Grand President ( sosai ), the fourth number-two ( rijicho ), Fumio Tanoue, became the president. In 2012, an RPG-26 was recovered by police in a warehouse owned by a Kudo-kai member. In September 2014, Nomura and Tanoue were arrested. Convicted of ordering four attacks on civilians, one of whom was killed, in 2021 Nomura became the first "designated yakuza" ( 指定暴力団 , Shitei Bōryokudan ) boss to be sentenced to death , which

1209-585: The historic city of Kokura , and its name literally means "North Kyushu City" in Japanese. It is located at the northernmost point of Kyushu on the Kanmon Straits , separating the island from Honshu , across from the city of Shimonoseki . Kitakyushu and Shimonoseki are connected by numerous transport links including the Kanmon Bridge and the Kanmon Tunnels ( Roadway , Railway , and Shin-Kanmon ). Kitakyushu's Urban Employment Area forms part of

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1248-471: The merger was rejected on December 24, 2004 by Nakama's city council, despite having been initiated by Nakama City. Nippon Steel Corporation is a major employer, but the Yahata and Tobata plants are much reduced from their heyday of the 1960s. The Zenrin company known for its mapping and navigation software is based here and so is Toto Ltd. and Yaskawa Electric Corporation . StarFlyer , an airline,

1287-599: The second longest in Japan, serving western Honshu. There are several bridges in Kitakyushu and between the city and other places. The largest ones are the Kanmonkyo Bridge linking Kitakyushu and Shimonoseki (on Kyushu and Honshū respectively) via the Kanmon Straits and the Wakato Bridge linking the wards of Tobata and Wakamatsu. There are smaller bridges over the Onga River on the western border of

1326-464: The street. All the Gion festivals date back about 400 years. They were instituted to celebrate surviving an epidemic. This port-city festival involves colorfully costumed people pulling floats through the streets. This port-city festival celebrates fire, drums, and kappa (mythical amphibious creatures who love cucumbers). The Wasshoi Hyakuman Natsumatsuri brings all the festivals together for

1365-530: Was absorbed by Fukuoka Prefecture. The city of Kokura was founded in 1900. Yahata in Kitakyushu was the target for the beginning of the US bombing raids on the home islands on June 16, 1944, when 75 Boeing B-29 Superfortresses flew out from mainland China. Kokura was the primary target of the nuclear weapon " Fat Man " on August 9, 1945. Major Charles Sweeney had orders to drop the bomb visually. All three attempts failed due to clouds and smoke from Yahata , which

1404-452: Was designated on April 1, 1963, by government ordinance . The city was born from the merger of five municipalities (Moji, Kokura, Tobata, Yahata and Wakamatsu) centered around the ancient feudal city of Kokura. The city's symbol mark is a flower with the character "north" ( 北 , kita ) in the middle and five petals representing the towns that merged. As of 1 October 2018 , the city had an estimated population of 945,595 and

1443-504: Was in Kitakyushu where the leading Ura-Hara brand Good Enough ' s first flag shop opened, and why many leading figures in the 1980s-1990s "Ura-Hara" movement frequently visited Kitakyushu and many of them were actually from Kitakyushu (Toru Iwai, a co-founder of Good Enough , for one), and why the volume of distribution of drugs especially methamphetamines and relatively new drugs such as MDMA in Tokyo has rapidly increased since then. Kudo-kai

1482-445: Was later overturned, with Tanoue sentenced to life imprisonment. The Kudo-kai's illegal activities have allegedly included protection racketeering , drug trafficking , unlawful involvement in public works such as public construction projects, and in legitimate businesses such as commerce and trade, including in nuclear power in Japan . According to a Wall Street Journal article appearing February 2, 2012: "Like many Japanese gangs,

1521-673: Was selected as the host of the 2021 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships and the 2021 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships , both of which will take place in October 2021. The artistic gymnastics championship will take place in Kitakyushu City General Gymnasium , while the rhythmic competition will be contested in the West Japan Exhibition Centre. Kitakyushu is twinned with the following cities outside Japan. One city in Japan

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