 Kyūshū
(九州, きゅうしゅう, Nine Provinces) or Kyushu - The third-largest
island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main
islands. Its alternate ancient names include Kyūkoku (九国
Nine States), Chinzei (鎮西 West of the Pacified Area), and
Tsukushi-no-shima (筑紫島 Island of Tsukushi). The historical
regional name Saikaidō (西海道 West Sea Circuit) referred to
Kyūshū and its surrounding islands.
Kyūshū has a population of 14,779,000 (2003) and covers
35,640 km².
The island is mountainous, and Japan's most active volcano,
Mt Aso at 1,591 m, is on Kyūshū. There are many other signs
of tectonic activity, including numerous areas of hot
springs. The most famous of these are in Beppu, on the east
shore, and around Mt. Aso, in central Kyūshū.
The name Kyūshū comes from the nine ancient provinces of
Saikaidō situated on the island: Chikuzen, Chikugo, Hizen,
Higo, Buzen, Bungo, Hyūga, Osumi, and Satsuma.
Today’s Kyūshū Region (九州地方 kyūshū-chihō) is a politically
defined region that consists of seven prefectures on Kyūshū
and Okinawa Prefecture to the south:
Fukuoka Prefecture
Kagoshima Prefecture
Kumamoto Prefecture
Miyazaki Prefecture
Nagasaki Prefecture
Ōita Prefecture
Saga Prefecture
The world’s 37th largest island by area, Kyūshū is smaller
than Spitsbergen but larger than New Britain and Taiwan. By
population, it ranks 13th, having fewer inhabitants than
Borneo or Sulawesi, but more than Salsette or Cuba.
By population, the largest city on the island is Fukuoka
with its 1.4 million inhabitants; Fukuoka is a major
business center with a large international airport as well
as one of the five stock exchanges in Japan. Kitakyushu is a
designated city and major center for heavy industries,
populated by slightly less than a million. Kumamoto and
Kagoshima are the island’s third and fourth largest cities
with over half a million people each. Nagasaki has one of
Japan’s oldest international ports, which was the only
gateway to the outside world during the Edo period, from the
mid 16th to the mid 18th centuries. Nagasaki is also famous
for being hit by one of the atom bombs at the end of WWII.
Parts of Kyūshū have a subtropical climate, particularly
Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures. Major agricultural
products are rice, tea, tobacco, sweet potatoes, and soy;
silk is also widely produced. The island is noted for
various types of porcelain, including Arita, Imari, Satsuma,
and Karatsu. Heavy industry is concentrated in the north
around Kitakyushu, Nagasaki, and Oita and includes chemicals
and metal processing.
Information source: “Kyūshū.” wikipedia.org. Article date:
31 Jan. 2008. Retrieved: Wikipedia. 4 Feb. 2008 <Kyūshū>.
Video - The following videos show some
pretty good scenes of Kyushu. The first video is a JAL commercial
and the second video is a JR commercial. |
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