Kyūshū

Kyūshū, island of Japan, the most southerly of the four major Japanese islands. It is separated from the island of Honshū by Kammon Strait and from Shikoku by Bungo Strait. Kyūshū is an irregularly shaped, mountainous island. The coalfields in the north yield about half the coal mined in Japan, but the yield is decreasing. The principal crops are rice, tea, tobacco, and citrus. Fukuoka is the largest city and Kitakyūshū is the major industrial center of the island. Other important cities are Kumamoto, Kagoshima, Ōita, Miyazaki, and Saga, all prefectural capitals, and Sasebo, site of a naval base. Also on Kyūshū are the Kagoshima and Tanegashima space centers, launch sites of the National Space Development Agency of Japan, and the Railway Technical Research Institute in Miyazaki. Area, 36,554 sq km (14,114 sq mi); population (1990 estimate) 13,269,000.