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 Kiyomori is said to have built the artificial harbor Sode-no-minato (袖の湊) to increase commerce. Hakata was burned down by many wars, including the
Mongol invasions. In the early
Edo period,
Kuroda Nagamasa was appointed the lord of
Chikuzen Province, and most of his
samurai vassals 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 hometown, Fukuoka in Okayama Prefecture. He ordered Tachibana Castle and Najima Castle dismantled, and had
Fukuoka Castle built 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 (
:ja:博多), 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 the
United States and the
United Kingdom. In 1972, when Fukuoka City was granted
designated status by government ordinance, a ward including the old Hakata area was given the name Hakata-ku. In 2016, a large
sinkhole appeared 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. == Culture ==