Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyūshū

The largest commercial and shopping areas of Kitakyūshū, mainly in Uomachi (魚町 "fish town"), are clustered around Kokura Station. The two main department stores are Colet (next to Kokura Station) and Izutsuya (next to the Murasaki River and opposite Riverwalk Kitakyūshū). The Tanga Market is a traditional open-air market where fresh fish, meat and vegetables are the main produce for sale. headquarters Headquarters of companies include • TOTO Ltd. - south of Riverwalk • Zenrin - in Riverwalk • Asahi Shimbun (West area) - in Riverwalk • The head office of StarFlyer Inc. was in the Shin Kokura Building in Kome-machi. In 2010 the airline announced that the headquarters will move to Kitakyushu Airport. ==Tourism==

Kokura Castle (built by the Hosokawa family in 1602) and the Riverwalk Kitakyūshū shopping complex (completed in 2003) are about a ten-minute walk from JR Kokura Station. So also is the house once inhabited by Mori Ōgai when he was a doctor to the Kokura garrison and wrote Kokura Nikki ("Kokura Diary"). The Kitakyūshū Monorail terminus is in Kokura Station and serves the commuters and residents living in Kokurakita and Kokuraminami Wards. ==Crime and safety==

The Kudo-kai yakuza syndicate is headquartered in Kokurakita. A designated yakuza group, the Kudo-kai is the largest yakuza syndicate in the Kitakyushu area. ==Education==

The ward has a North Korean kindergarten, Kokura Korean Kindergarten (小倉朝鮮幼稚園). ==Photo gallery==

File:Riverwalk Kitakyushu.jpg|Riverwalk Kitakyūshū and Kokura Castle moat File:Tokiwa bashi.JPG|Tokiwabashi File:Kokura station.jpg|Kokura Station File:Kokurakita Police Ofice.JPG|Kokura-kita Police Station File:Isetan department store Kokura.jpg|COLET(former Kokura Isetan) File:Kokura castle sakura.JPG|Cherry blossoms (sakura) and the keep of Kokura Castle, March 2002 File:140721 Matsumoto Seicho Memorial Museum Kitakyushu Japan01bs3.jpg|Matsumoto Seicho Memorial Museum File:Mori Ogai house Kokura.jpg|Mori Ōgai house File:Zenrin-Asahi building.JPG|Zenrin head office File:Kokura Gion daiko.jpg|Kokura Gion Daiko statue at Kokura Station File:Fukuju-ji - Buddha Hall.jpg|Fukuju-ji, an Ōbaku Zen temple File:Tanga Ichiba.JPG|Tanga Market ==See also==