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The City of Kitakyushu has a population of one million and was formed in 1963 through the merging of five cities. The equal merging of five cities is a rare international achievement. In the year following the merger, a delegation from the United Nations visited Kitakyushu on a survey mission.
The city is bound by sea to north and southeast, while to the south lie densely forested mountains. It is Japan's 11th largest city in terms of its population, even extending into the surrounding hills and mountainsides. And at the center of this vast city is the old castle-town of Kokura, formerly a prosperous crossroads for hundreds of years. Kokura Station is serviced by three rail lines linking the municipalities of Kyushu, and the Sanyo Shinkansen bullet-train line. It was reborn in the form of a new, chalk-white station building in 1998 and, with the addition of a monorail, has become even more convenient. The Kitakyushu airport is 30 minutes from the station by car, and access to Fukuoka airport is facilitated by the Kyushu Expressway and an expressway that passes through the city. The 1,068 meter Kanmon Bridge and an undersea tunnel link Kitakyushu to the main island of Honshu. It is a gateway, not only to the island of Kyushu, but also to East Asia as well. As an international convention center, Kitakyushu's infrastructure also includes the Kitakyushu International Conference Center, located between the north entrance of Kokura Station and the ocean, and the West Japan General Exhibition Center, with 15,000 square meters of exhibition space. It also boasts the Asia-Pacific Import Mart and several large full-accommodation hotels. |
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Buses, taxis, a monorail, the bullet train,
and the three other train lines serve Kokura Station.
As the focal point for so many forms of transit, the station symbolizes Kitakyushu, itself a transport hub. |
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