Kitakyushu

Kitakyushu (kētä`kysh), city (1990 pop. 1,026,455), Fukuoka prefecture, N Kyushu, Japan, on the Shimonoseki Strait between the Inland Sea and the Korea Strait. It was formed in 1963 by the union of the cities of Kokura, Moji, Tobata, Wakamatsu, and Yawata (or Yahata), which are now wards. Kitakyushu is one of Japan's most important manufacturing regions and one of its chief ports and railroad centers. In addition to its traditional industries, which produce iron and steel, textiles, chemicals, machinery, ships, porcelain, and glass, the city has developed industries such as industrial robotics, semiconductors, and environmental technology. Its ports (especially in Moji and Wakamatsu wards) receive raw materials and export manufactured goods. Kokura ward is the city's commercial and financial center. During World War II, Kokura was the site of a large arms factory and was the original target of the atomic bomb that was detonated over Nagasaki. Tobata ward has a major coal-handling facility; a deep-sea fishing fleet is based there. There are several institutions of higher learning in Kitakyushu. The city is connected by tunnel and bridge with Shimonoseki on Honshu.

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Kitakyushu

City (pop., 2006 est.: 990,585), northern Kyushu, Japan. It was created in 1963 by the amalgamation of several cities. Part of its long coastline is included in the Inland Sea National Park. It is one of Japan's leading manufacturing centres. Undersea tunnels and a bridge link the city with Shimonoseki, Honshu.

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Kitakyushu

a port in Japan, on N Kyushu: formed in 1963 by the amalgamation of the cities of Wakamatsu, Yahata, Tobata, Kokura, and Moji; one of Japan's largest industrial centres. Pop.: 999 806 (2002 est.)

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Kitakyushu 

a city and port in Japan. Located in Fukuoka Prefecture at the northern tip of Kyushu Island, on Shimonoseki Strait. It was established in 1963 through the amalgamation of the industrial cities of Yahata, Tobata, and Kokura and the international ports of Wakamatsu and Moji. Population, 1,042,000 (1970). The working population is 455,000, of which 28 percent is employed in processing industries, 23 percent in commerce, 10 percent in construction, and 16 percent in services.

Kitakyushu is a major transportation hub and one of the largest industrial centers of Japan, with much light and heavy industry. The predominant types of heavy industry are ferrous metallurgy, the coke and coke oven by-products industry, the chemical industry, machine building, and military production (artillery pieces and shells). In Kokura there is a coal and power complex. The Yahata Seitetsu metallurgical combine, one of the largest in the world, is located there. Kitakyushu also has food-processing and textile industries. The city is connected with Honshu Island by a multilevel undersea tunnel from Moji to Shimonoseki.

N. A. SMIRNOV