Ōkawa, Fukuoka

Ōkawa
Ōkawa
City
	Ōkawa City Hall
	Princess tree

Ōkawa (大川市, Ōkawa-shi) is a city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan.^[1]^[2] As of 1 February 2024^[update], the city had an estimated population of 31,605 in 13984 households, and a population density of 940 persons per km².^[3] The total area of the city is 33.62 km² (12.98 sq mi).

Geography

Ōkawa is located in southern Fukuoka Prefecture next to the border with Saga Prefecture. The Chikugo River flows from northeast to southwest through the city, which is relatively flat. At the centre of Ōkawa, the Hanamune River flows into the Chikugo River as a tributary.

Neighboring municipalities

Fukuoka Prefecture

Kurume
Ōki
Yanagawa

Saga Prefecture

Kanzaki
Saga

Climate

Ōkawa has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Ōkawa is 16.3 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1946 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 27.1 °C, and lowest in January, at around 6.0 °C.^[4]

Demographics

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

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1940	38,249	—
1950	46,345	+21.2%
1960	50,351	+8.6%
1970	51,637	+2.6%
1980	49,537	−4.1%
1990	45,704	−7.7%
2000	41,338	−9.6%
2010	37,465	−9.4%
2020	32,988	−11.9%

History

The area of Ōkawa was part of ancient

Meiji restoration, the town of Ōkawa was established on May 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. It was the location of a dike constructed by Dutch engineer Johannis de Rijke

in 1890. It annexed the neighboring villages of Kawaguchi, Onojima, Taguchi, Mimata, and Kimuro on April 1, 1955 and was raised to city status.

Government

Ōkawa has a

Diet of Japan

.

Economy

Ōkawa is noted for its high concentration of furniture-related woodworking manufacturers, which began in the late Muromachi period.

Education

Ōkawa has eight public elementary schools and two public junior high schools operated by the city government and one public high school operated by the Fukuoka Prefectural Board of Education. There is also one private high school. The International University of Health and Welfare has a campus in Ōkawa.

Transportation

Railways

Ōkawa has not had any passenger railway service since the discontinuation of the

Tenjin Ōmuta Line in Yanagawa City in the center and southern part of the city, Hatchōmuta Station in Ōki Town and Kamachi Station in Yanagawa in the eastern part of the city, and Daizenji Station

in Kurume in the northern part of the city .