Ukiha, Fukuoka

City in Kyushu, Japan

Ukiha Flag Seal
Location of Ukiha in Fukuoka Prefecture


Symbols

Bird	Common kingfisher^[1]
Flower	Lycoris radiata^[1]
Tree	Diospyros kaki^[1]

Shirokabe street in the historic Chikugo Yoshii district

Ukiha (うきは市, Ukiha-shi) is a city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of 31 January 2024^[update], the city had an estimated population of 27,723 in 11449 households, and a population density of 240 persons per km².^[2] The total area of the city is 117.46 km² (45.35 sq mi).

Geography

Ukiha is located in southern Fukuoka Prefecture, adjacent to Hita City in Oita Prefecture. It borders Asakura City across the Chikugo River Tanushimaru-cho, Kurume City to the west, and Hoshino-mura, Yame City to the south.

Neighboring municipalities

Fukuoka Prefecture

Kurume
Asakura
Yame

Ōita Prefecture

Hita

Climate

Ukiha has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Ukiha is 13.9 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1875 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.0 °C, and lowest in January, at around 2.7 °C.^[3]

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Ikiha is as shown below

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1950	43,085	—
1960	40,428	−6.2%
1970	37,301	−7.7%
1980	36,762	−1.4%
1990	35,910	−2.3%
2000	34,045	−5.2%
2010	31,653	−7.0%
2020	27,981	−11.6%

History

The area of Ukiha was part of ancient Chikugo Province. During the Edo Period the area was under the control of Kurume Domain. After the Meiji restoration, the village of Ukiha was established on May 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. Ukima merged with the village of Tsubago on April 1, 1929 to form the village of Miyuki, which was raised to town status on January 1, 1951. Three months later, Miyuki merged with the villages of Oishi, Himeji and Yamaharu to form the town of Ukiha. Ukiha absorbed the town of Yoshii and was raised to city status on March 20, 2005.

Government

Ukiha has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 14 members. Ukiha, collectively with the city of Kurume, contributes five members to the Fukuoka Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of the Fukuoka 6th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy

The economic of Ukiha is overwhelmingly based on agriculture (grapes, strawberries, pears, persimmons, peaches) and food processing.

Education

Ukiha has seven public elementary schools and two public junior high schools and one public high school operated by the Fukuoka Prefectural Board of Education.

Transportation

Railways

JR Kyushu - Kyūdai Main Line

■ Chikugo-Yoshii - Ukiha - Chikugo-Ōishi

Highways

National Route 210

Sister city relations

Esashi, Hokkaido, Japan(since 31 October 2009^[4]) - It is associated with The Crab and the Monkey folktale^[4]

Local attractions

Chikugo-Yoshii, designated under the Groups of Traditional Buildings

National Historic Sites

Notable people from Ukiha

Hideo Murata - rōkyoku and enka singer
Kenji Darvish - drummer of Golden Bomber, Japanese rock band.
Shinichi Ikejiri - writer and physician
Shinya Izumi - politician
Shuntaro Torigoe - journalist
Yasunoshin Shinohara - inspector general and jujutsu master of Shinsengumi

Related people

Ellison Onizuka - His grandfather and mother were born in this city, and he visited there in 1983. There is "Ellison Onizuka Bridge" commemorate him.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "概要・地勢・シンボル". Ukiha city. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
^ "Ukiha City official statistics" (in Japanese). Japan.
^ Ukiha climate: Average Temperature, weather by month
^ ^a ^b "福岡県うきは市と友好都市提携を締結しました" (PDF). Esashi town. Retrieved February 23, 2015.