Higashida
Birth place of Steel Making Industry in Japan
Located at the food of Mt. Sarakura and facing to Dokai Bay, which is used as a shipping port
for the steel industry.
The area has various Industrial Heritages and Museums.
First Head Office of the Steel Works World Cultural Heritage
Built in 1899, ahead of production facilities.
It is an architectural fusion of Japanese and European design, a two story red brick building
with bilateral symmetry and a central dome set in a Japanese tile roof.
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World leading rails producing in the Steel Works |
First Head Office building registered on the World Heritage |
Observation deck of the World Heritage |
The Blast Furnace used to make the pig iron and was where Japan’s steel industry began in 1901.
It contributed greatly to the development of the Japanese steel industry and was used until 1972,
and has been preserved just as it was.
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Indication of the year of Steel Works operation commencement |
Proper of Blast furnace, Hot Stoves and Stack |
Cast house floor, the pig iron is being discharged |
The World’s most Dynamic Night view !
Mount Sarakura is the best scenic spot in Kitakyushu-city
Almost all the industrial, comercial and residential areas in Kitakyushu-city can be seen
from the top of the mountain.
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At the summit, 622 meter from the sea level |
The magnificent and spectacular view of all over Kitakyushu-city |
The World’s most Dynamic Night view |
Japan’s Modern Steel Works history started here.
Yawata was a rural village with a small population of agriculture and fishing industry.
And this place was decided in Parliament as the Japan’s Modern Steel Works
construction site in 1897.
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Dedicated railway for Yawata Steel Works connected between Yawata and Tobata.
Construction work took three years, and completed in 1930. The most difficult and hard work
was making Miyatayama tunnel with a total length of 1180 m due to suffering from floods.
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The rail way crossing the road |
Miyatayama tunnel Yahata side |
Miyatayama tunnel Tobata side |
Kitakyushu Innovation Gallery Studio
In April 2007, based on this theme of “innovation,” the Kitakyushu Innovation
Gallery & Studio (KIGS) opened in Yahata, Higashida, the first site of steel manufacturing
in Japan’s modern age.
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General information
| Address | Higasida, Yahata-higasiku, Kitakyushu-city, Fukuoka-prefecture |
| Access |
20 minutes by a vehicle from JR Kokura Station 70 minutes by a vehicle from Fukuoka-city 110 minutes by a vehicle from Beppu |