First Head office of the Steel Works

 

The the building for the Head office of the Imperial Steel Works was constructed in 1899,

two years before commencement of Japan’s Steel Industry.

The design of the building is a harmony of European and Japanese architectural styles.

The construction of the structure below the roof is a European style and uses red bricks

for the outside walls.

 

Aiming to symbolize a Good future for Japan, the roof was designed with a traditional

Japanese triangular shape and Japanese tiles were used to complete the roof. 

The building was initially used as a Head office until 1922, however with the expansion

of production facilities, the Head Office was moved to another place due to lack of space.

After that, the building was used for various purposes such as a Research and Developing

Center for Steel Products.

 

World leading rail produced in the Steel Works

First Head Office registered on the World Heritage

Observation deck of the World Heritage

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Kokura Castle

 

Kokura was the transportation hub from Honshu and all areas of Kyushu during Edo

period from 17th to 19th century. The Castle town was constructed in the Kokura and

Kokura Castle was build in 1602 and spent 7 years construction at the north side of

Kokura facing to Kanmon strait and next to Murasaki river.

The height of Castle tower is 6th tallest in Japan after Himeji Castle.

The castle had a fivefold and six layered donjon and it was built in the architectural 

style called “Kara-zukuri”.

You can take many photos of traditional Japanese scenery that you have never

seen before.

 

Castle tower​​

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Moat around Castle tower​

 

 

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Around Castle 

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Higashida No.1 Blast Furnace

 

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Japanese Cultural experiences in Kitakyushu

 

Time to enjoy dressing in kimono tea ceremony experience, and Rickshaw riding experience 

at Kokura Castle Garden and Kokura Castle.

You can also take beautiful photographs in this location to provide you with wonderful

memories and recollection of your visit to Kokura Castle.

 

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Tea ceremony

The Tea ceremony follow a traditional ceremony of serving tea to guests.
The original form of tea ceremony was introduced to Japan from China by Buddhist monks,

and perfected by Master Sen-no-Rikyu based on the spirit of Zen in the 16th century.

 

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Experience riding in the Rickshaw  

invented in Japan in the beginning of the 20th century.

 

 

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Mojiko Retro

 

Moji is the beautiful port town and facing to Kanmon Strait where one of the most

beautiful Strait in the World. On the other side of the Kanmon Strait is Shimonoseki.

Moji Port designated as a Japan’s special trading port in 1889.

 

Mitsui Club

It was built by the Mitsui Co., Ltd in 1921 as a reception centre and to provide accommodation for

VIP’s.   Albert Einstein (1879-1955), one of the world’s most famous theoretical physicists, stayed

here during his visit to Japan with his wife in 1922. 

What Dr. Einstein acclaimed Moji. Dr. Albert Einstein awarded Nobel Prize in Physic

visited Moji in 1922, and he acclaimed that everything could see were ARTS.

 

 

Kaikyo Plaza

The shopping area in the Mojiko Retro district located by the sea. “Full of a romance market which

stir up forgetting contentment” is the direct translation of the concept Kaikyo Plaza is based on. 

The area has a very romantic ambience and evokes feeling of nostalgia and contentment that will 

never be forgotten. 

 

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Mojiko Station

It is the only Station building that is designated as an Important National Cultural Property 

together with Tokyo Station. Mojiko Station is a beautiful station built in the Renaissance 

style and modeled on the Termini Station in Italy. 

 

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Mojiko Retro Observatory       

Situated on the 31st floor of the high-rise apartment building “Retro Hi-Mart”.  The 103 metre-high

observatory offers magnificent views of the Mojiko Retro district, the Kanmon-kyo Bridge over the 

Kanmon Strait, as well as the Shimonoseki area.

 

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Blue Wing Moji

This bridge, made in 2003, is the only pedestrian draw bridge in Japan, and is one the

most popular photo spot in Mojiko Retro. The length of the bridge is 108 meters and 

it is opened 6 times a day at 10h, 11h, 13h, 14h, 15h and 16h.​

 

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Kyushu Railway Museum

It is a railway theme park organized by JR Kyushu, showing the history of Kyushu Railways.

The display of steam locomotives and old trains used by Kyushu Railway is fascinating and 

always evokes feelings of nostalgia among visitors.​

 

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Kanmonkyo bridge 

The suspended bridge crossing the Kanmon Straits, a stretch of water separating two of Japan’s

four main islands. On the Honshu Island side of the bridge is Shimonoseki and on the Kyushu

Island side is Kitakyushu.

 

From Mekari Observatory

Kitakyushu, Kyushu Island

Shimonoseki, Honshu Island

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Konamon Pedestrian tunnel

Only the place in the world .   You can cross the strait on foot. The Kanmon Strait, separating

Honshu and Kyushu, is a very beautiful and busy waterway with as many as 700 small and large

ships a day passing through it. 

 

Moji, Kyushu Island side

Cross the strait on foot

Shimonoseki, Honshu Island

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Local Cuisines

 

Kawara Sobe

Kawara soba is a local cuisine which Soba noodles and meat are cooked together on a Kawara

(stone roof tile) and dipped into a special sauce when eating it. It is said that the hints were

obtained from the time when during the Seinan civil war in 1877, soldiers of Satsuma who

surrounded the Kumamoto castle used kawara (stone roof tiles) to cook wild plants and meat.

 

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Yaki curry

Yaki curry latterly means baked curry and is local cuisine in Moji which is curry with rice

topped with cheese and/or egg heated in oven. The melted cheese and soft-boiled egg

combine with the spicy curry to enhance its flavor even more.

 

 

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Manga Museum and Aru Aru City

 

The Kitakyushu Manga Museum is located next to JR Kokura station. The museum is located

on the 6th floor of Aru Aru City, a multi-floored shopping mall devoted to products and

services for anime, manga, idol culture, and cosplay fans, a kind of Harajuku in miniature.

 

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The permanent exhibition area on the 6th floor concentrates on manga writers and artists who

have a connection with Kitakyushu; and while more than thirty are listed, the best known is Reiji

Matsumoto, who is also the honorary director of the museum.

 

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The rest of the Aru Aru City shopping mall is devoted to shops and services for Japan’s pop youth

culture. There are lots of shops selling manga, anime DVDs, J-Pop CDs, computer games, trading

cards, as well as related paraphernalia such posters and figurines. There are games arcades, an

internet cafe, model car racetrack, a karaoke bar, and several cafes and bars serving alcohol, as

well as a full maid cafe.

 

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There are numerous establishments offering services for otaku, including a rehearsal space with

a recording studio for budding musicians, an event space with a stage and lighting that can be rented,

and a cosplay studio where cosplayers can be photographed professionally in a variety of settings.

 

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 General information   

Address	2-14-5 Asano Kokura-kita, Kitakyushu-city, Fukuoka-prefecture
Access	a short walk from JR Kokura Station 70 minutes by a vehicle from Fukuoka-city 100 minutes by a vehicle from Beppu 100 minutes by a vehicle from Yufuin

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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.

 

Higashida No.1 Blast Furnace

Only the Blast  Furnace in the world which preserved as it was. The birth place 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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First Head Office of the Steel Works  / UNESCO World 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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Mount Sarakura

 

Yahata port

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.At that time, there were no

construction machineries, the Steel Works was constructed with human power in just 4 years.

 

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Kurogane Railway         

Dedicated Railway for Yawata Steel Works. The railway 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. The gates of 

the Miyatayama tunnel are decorated with stately designs.

 

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Kanmon Pedestrian tunnel

 

Only the place in the world !   You can cross the strait on foot. The Kanmon Strait, separating

Honshu and Kyushu, is a very beautiful and busy waterway with as many as 700 small and 

large ships a day passing through it.

 

How to cross the strait on foot

780m length tunnel start   from Moji

The boundary of Moji and   Shimonoseki

to Shimonoseki

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Moji, Kyushu Island side  

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Shimonoseki, Honshu Island side  

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 General information  

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Kokura Castle Garden

 

Kokua Castle Garden made at the former site of Shitayashiki (lord’s guest house) located

next to Kokura Castle. This garden consists of a Japanese garden and a daimyo yashiki 

(a lord’s house), a building of the Shoin-zukuri type (a style of Japanese domestic architecture).

In this garden, not only can you see Japanese traditional architecture, but also enjoy the Tea

Ceremony at the Experience Zone.

 

Japanese Garden

 

Japanese Cultural Experience 

Time to enjoy dressing in Kimono, tea ceremony experience, and Rickshaw riding experience 

Kokura Castle Garden and Kokura Castle. You can also take beautiful photographs in this location

to provide you with wonderful memories and recollection of your visit to Kokura.

 

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Mitsui Club

 

Dr. Albert Einstein who awarded Nobel Prize in Physics stayed here. It was built by the

Mitsui Co., Ltd in 1921 as a reception centre and to provide accommodation for VIP’s. 

It is now designated as an important cultural property.

 

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Albert Einstein (1879-1955), one of the world’s most famous theoretical physicists, stayed here

during his visit to Japan with his wife in 1922, and his room is displayed exactly as it was at that time.

 

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