Fukuoka is the largest city of Kyushu and one of Japan 's ten most populated cities. Due to its proximity to the Asian mainland (closer to Seoul than Tokyo), Fukuoka has been an important harbor town for many centuries and was chosen by the Mongolian invasion forces as their landing place in the 13th century.
Fukuoka today is the product of the merger of two cities in 1889, when the port city of Hakata and the former castle town of Fukuoka were joined together into a city called Fukuoka. .