Moji - Letter

This ward is located in the northeastern part of Kitakyushu City, in the northern part of Fukuoka Prefecture. It was the first ward in the Kitakyushu City area to be incorporated as a city in 1899 (Meiji 32), and in 1963 (Showa 38) Moji Ward was established when the five cities of Moji, Kokura, Wakamatsu, Yahata, and Tobata merged to form Kitakyushu City. It occupies a large part of the Kikuhan Peninsula, the northeastern tip of Kyushu, and is an important transportation location facing Honshu across the Kanmon Strait. Moji Barrier was established in 645 (Taika 1) and it has developed since ancient times, but from the Middle Ages to the early Meiji period, it lost its prosperity to Akamagaseki (now Shimonoseki City) on the opposite shore and was nothing more than a fishing village. When the Port Construction Company was established in 1889, Moji Port was designated as a special export port for coal, rice, etc., and when the Kyushu Railway (now the JR Kagoshima Main Line) opened in 1891, it began to develop as Kyushu's land and sea gateway. After that, as a shipping port for Chikuho coal and a base for continental trade, it boasted a position as the fourth largest trading port in the country after Kobe, Yokohama, and Osaka before World War II. However, with the opening of the Kanmon Railway Tunnel in 1942 (Showa 17) and the national highway tunnel in 1958, and the decline of continental trade after the war, its function as a transportation hub has declined and it has been in a state of decline. The area is divided into Omote Moji (Kanmon Strait side) and Ura Moji (Shin Moji) by the Kikyu Mountains. In Omote Moji, port facilities such as the Moji Port Joint Government Building, the 7th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters, shipping companies, and warehouses are located near the coastal road, and in the waterfront area up to Osato, metal, machinery, cement, and food industries such as Kanmon Sugar are located, with the port function as a backdrop. In recent years, it has become the center of the Moji Port Retro Project, which preserves the scenery of the Meiji period. It is unique in the Kitakyushu industrial zone, which is biased towards heavy chemical industry. Shin Moji, which faces the Suo Nada Sea, was a farming and fishing village area that was lagging behind in development, but in order to revive the stagnant Kitakyushu industrial zone, industrial land was developed in the waterfront, and ferries have been put into service in the direction of Osaka, and it is developing into a new industrial zone. Mekari Park, which offers a panoramic view of Hayatomo Strait, Dannoura, Ganryu Island (Funajima), and more, is a scenic spot that is part of the Setonaikai National Park along with Hesaki, home to Kyushu's oldest lighthouse, Hesaki Lighthouse (an Important Cultural Property). Nearby are Mekari Shrine and the remains of Moji (Moji) Barrier, and the Kanmon Bridge, which opened in 1973, is also of great tourist value. Mojiko Station, the gateway to Kyushu, was built in the Taisho era and is designated as an Important Cultural Property by the nation. The Kyushu Railway Memorial Museum is nearby.

[Masaaki Ishiguro]

"Moji City History Volume 2" (1963, Moji City)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

福岡県北部、北九州市北東端にある区。1899年（明治32）北九州市地区で最初に市制施行、1963年（昭和38）門司、小倉(こくら)、若松(わかまつ)、八幡(やはた)、戸畑(とばた)の5市合併による北九州市設置により区制施行、同市門司区となる。九州の北東端である企救半島(きくはんとう)の大部分を占め、関門海峡(かんもんかいきょう)を隔てて本州と対峙(たいじ)する交通上の要地で、645年（大化1）に文字の関(もじのせき)が置かれ古代より発展したが、中世から明治初年にかけては繁栄を対岸の赤間関(あかまがせき)（現、下関(しものせき)市）に奪われて一漁村にすぎなかった。1889年築港会社が設立されて門司港は石炭、米などの特別輸出港の指定を受け、1891年九州鉄道（現、JR鹿児島本線）が開通すると九州の陸海の玄関口として発展を開始した。その後、筑豊炭(ちくほうたん)の積出し港、大陸貿易の基地として、第二次世界大戦前は神戸、横浜、大阪に次ぐ全国第4位の貿易港の地位を誇った。1942年（昭和17）の関門鉄道トンネル、1958年国道トンネルの開通や、戦後の大陸貿易の衰退などにより交通拠点としての機能低下を示し、低迷傾向にある。区域は企救山地により表門司（関門海峡側）と裏門司（新門司）に分けられるが、表門司の門司港は、海岸通り付近に門司港湾合同庁舎、第七管区海上保安本部、船舶会社、倉庫などの港湾施設が立地、大里(だいり)にかけての臨海部には金属、機械、セメント工業などの工場とともに関門製糖などの食品工業の工場が港湾機能を背景に立地し、近年では明治期の景観を保存する門司港レトロ事業の中心地域になっている。重化学工業に偏った北九州工業地帯にあっては特徴的である。周防灘(すおうなだ)に面した新門司は開発が遅れた農漁村地域であったが、低迷する北九州工業地帯の復興のために臨海工業用地が造成されて、フェリーも大阪方面へ就航し、新しい工業地帯として発展しつつある。早鞆(はやとも)ノ瀬戸や壇之浦(だんのうら)、巌流(がんりゅう)島（船島）などを一望できる和布刈(めかり)公園は、九州最古の灯台である部埼(へさき)灯台（重要文化財）がある部埼とともに瀬戸内海国立公園に含まれる景勝地で、近くに和布刈神社、文字（門司）の関跡などがあり、1973年開通の関門橋は観光的価値も高い。九州の玄関口となる門司港駅は大正時代に建築されたもので、国の重要文化財に指定されている。近くに九州鉄道記念館がある。

［石黒正紀］

『『門司市史　第二篇』（1963・門司市）』

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