Tobata

This area is located in the central north of Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture. It was incorporated as a city in 1924 (Taisho 13). When five cities merged to form Kitakyushu City in 1963 (Showa 38), the area was organized as a ward and became Tobata Ward. In the past, it was a small farming and fishing village, also written as "Tobihata" or "Torihata," but when the government-run Yahata Steel Works began operations in 1901 (Meiji 34), related companies moved in, and industrialization progressed with the construction of Tobata Port and the opening of the Kyushu Railway (later the Kagoshima Main Line). The port rapidly developed as a shipping port for Chikuho coal, second only to Wakamatsu Port, and with the relocation of Nippon Suisan from Shimonoseki in 1929 (Showa 4), it also developed into one of Japan's leading deep-sea trawl fishing bases. The northern half of the area is reclaimed land on Hibikinada and Dokai Bay, and is home to large factories such as the current Nippon Steel Sumitomo Metal Yawata Steel Works, Nippon Suisan Kaisha, Toyo Seikan, and Asahi Glass.As the core of the Kitakyushu industrial zone, it is characterized by its metal and food industries, and the Kitakyushu Techno Park, an industrial support complex, has been built north of Kyushu Institute of Technology Station.

The downtown area is around Tobata Station, but since it is sandwiched between the two major commercial centers of Kokura and Kurosaki, commercial activity has not been very strong, and new commercial and public facilities (Well Tobata) have been opened as a result of redevelopment in front of the station. The southern part of the town is made up of gently rolling Tertiary hills, and most of the area has been converted into residential areas, so agriculture is hardly practiced, and coastal fishing has disappeared due to the reclamation of the coast. Wakato Ohashi Bridge, completed in 1962, is a large suspension bridge with a total length of 2,068 meters that was built over a period of four years to connect Wakamatsu and Tobata across Dokai Bay. It has become a tourist attraction, but a municipal ferry remains. Konpira Park and Yomiya Park in the southern part are the few places for residents to relax. Near Yomiya Park are the largest petrified wood in Japan, a national natural monument, and the former Matsumoto family residence, a national important cultural property, while at the southern end of the city are Art Forest Park and the Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art. The Tobata Gion festival, held at the end of July, is famous for its giant Yamagasa float, made up of 309 stacked lanterns, and is designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan.

[Masaaki Ishiguro]

"History of Tobata City" (1961, Tobata City)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

福岡県北九州市中北部に位置する地区。1924年（大正13）市制施行。1963年（昭和38）5市合併による北九州市の設置により区制を施行、戸畑区となる。古くは「飛幡」「鳥旗」とも書かれた小農漁村であったが、官営八幡製鉄所(やはたせいてつじょ)の1901年（明治34）操業開始により関連企業が進出、戸畑港の築港、九州鉄道（のち鹿児島本線）の開通などで工業化が進行した。港は若松(わかまつ)港に次ぐ筑豊炭(ちくほうたん)の積出し港として急速に発達、1929年（昭和4）日本水産の下関(しものせき)からの移転に伴い、日本有数の遠洋トロール漁業の基地としても発展を遂げた。区域の北半分は響灘(ひびきなだ)と洞海(どうかい)湾の埋立地で、現在の新日鉄住金八幡製鉄所をはじめ、日本水産、東洋製缶、旭硝子(あさひガラス)などの大工場が進出、北九州工業地帯の中核として金属工業と食品工業に特徴があり、九州工大前駅北側には、産業支援団地である北九州テクノパークが建設されている。

　中心街は戸畑駅周辺に広がっているが、小倉(こくら)、黒崎(くろさき)の二大商業中心に挟まれているため商業活動はあまり振るわず、駅前再開発により、新しい複合商業施設や複合公共施設（ウェルとばた）が開設された。南部は第三紀層の小丘陵が緩やかに起伏し、ほとんどが住宅地化されているため農業はほとんど行われず、沿岸漁業も海岸部の埋立てで消滅した。1962年に完成した若戸大橋(わかとおおはし)は洞海湾を隔てた若松と戸畑を結ぶために4年余の年月をかけて建設された総延長2068メートルの大吊橋(つりばし)で、観光名所となっているが、市営の渡し船も残されている。南部の金比羅(こんぴら)公園や夜宮(よみや)公園は数少ない住民の憩いの場である。夜宮公園の近くに国の天然記念物でわが国最大の珪化木(けいかぼく)と国の重要文化財の旧松本家住宅があり、また市の南端には美術の森公園と北九州市立美術館がある。7月末に行われる戸畑祇園(ぎおん)は提灯(ちょうちん)309個を積み重ねた大山笠(やまがさ)で有名で、国の重要無形民俗文化財に指定されている。

［石黒正紀］

『『戸畑市史』（1961・戸畑市）』

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