Hakata-ku, Fukuoka

Hakata-ku(博多区)is awardof the city ofFukuokainFukuoka Prefecture, Japan.
Many of Fukuoka Prefecture and Fukuoka City's principal government, commercial, retail and entertainment establishments are located in the district. Hakata-ku is also the location of Fukuoka's main train station,Hakata Station,Fukuoka Airportand the Hakata Port international passenger ship terminal.
Hakata-ku is a ward of Fukuoka City located on its eastern edge. It is 31.47 kmwith a population of 206,629 (as of January 1, 2009). Much of the ward consists of low-lying plains beside the Mikasa River(御笠川,Mikasagawa). The northwestern end of the ward facesHakata Bay, which includes bothferryand international cruise ship terminals Hakata Harbor(博多港,Hakata kō). The northeast end of the ward is slightly elevated, and is named Higashihirao(東平尾), with nearbyFukuoka Airport. AroundHakata Stationisdowntown;Nakasu(中洲)is the main dining and entertainment district of the ward along the Naka River(那珂川,Nakagawa). Hakata-ku also houses the Fukuoka Prefectural office.
Many Japanese companies have established branch offices in Hakata-ku due to its ease of access to local government offices as well transportation hubs such as Hakata Station and Fukuoka Airport. The headquarters ofJR Kyūshū,Best Denki,and many other companies are in the ward.
Air Next, a subsidiary ofAll Nippon Airways, is headquartered on the grounds ofFukuoka Airportin Hakata-ku.Link Airshas 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.Ciscohas an Asia-Pacific sales office on the 12th floor of the Fukuoka Gion Daiichi Seimei Building.
Prior to its dissolution,Harlequin Airwas headquartered on the grounds of the airport in Hakata-ku.
Hakata's economy was significantly transformed in 1996 with the opening ofCanal City Hakata, an award-winning destination shopping and entertainment center.
From the early 2010s Hakata became the beneficiary of significant growth in cruise ship tourism; particularly with visitors from China.
In 2014, 91 cruise ships travelled from China called at Hakata.In 2015, 245 cruise ship calls were made at Hakata Port. After expansion and redevelopment of the port facilities, the number of cruise ship port calls in 2016 is expected to exceed 400.As of 2015, the largest passenger vessel making regular port calls at Hakata isRoyal Caribbean International'sMS Quantum of the Seas.
Partly as a result of growing international tourism, in 2015 Fukuoka reported the fastest rising tax revenues and population in Japan.
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 Kiyomoriis said to have built the artificial harbor Sode-no-minato (袖の湊) to increase commerce. Hakata was burned down by many wars, including theMongol invasions.
In the earlyEdo period,Kuroda Nagamasa, appointed the lord ofChikuzen Province, and most of hissamuraivassals 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 hadFukuoka Castlebuilt 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. 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 theUnited Statesand theUnited Kingdom.
In 1972, when Fukuoka City was granteddesignated status by government ordinance, a ward including the old Hakata area was given the name Hakata-ku.
In 2016 a largesinkholeappeared in the city center just west of Hakata station.The sinkhole was filled and the affected roads were completely repaired within a few days. However, the hasty repair seems to have been problematic as less than a month later the road began showing signs of imminent implosion.
Hakata was the traditional center for the manufacture ofHakata ningyō, which aretraditional Japanese dollsthat are famous throughout Japan. Today, almost all Hakata ningyō makers (Hakata ningyō shi) have their factories in the Old Hakata Area, a part of modern Hakata-ku.
Hakata-oriis atextileused forobiofkimono.
It is also the home ofMentai Rock, named after the popularmentaikodish 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-benis the local Japanesedialectspoken in the Old Hakata Area.
Hakata is also the location of the pop groupHKT48.
Other popular groups from Hakata areKanikapilaandNUMBER GIRL.
Parts of the famous crime novel 'Points and lines' ('Ten to Sen' in Japanese) by the award-winning Japanese writerSeichō Matsumotooccur in Hakata and its train station.
The South Korean government maintains the Korea Education Institution (Korean:후쿠오카 한국교육원;Japanese:福岡韓国教育院) in Hakata-ku.