Japan: All about Kyushu Trivia Quiz

Answer: Kumamoto

Kumamoto Prefecture borders Kagoshima Prefecture to the south, Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Oita Prefecture to the north-east and Miyazaki Prefecture to the south-east. Its capital is Kumamoto City, where renowned Japanese philosopher, swordsman, writer and strategist, Miyamoto Musashi spent the last years of his life.

Mount Aso is situated in the central of Kyushu in the Kumamoto prefecture's Aso Kujū National Park, which is named after the volcano. It is around 5,225 feet high (1,590 m). It boasta one of the largest active craters in the world, approximately 70 miles (115 km) in circumference.

Answer: Kanmon Straits

The Kanmon Straits or the Straits of Shimonoseki lie between Kyushu and Honshu. They are also called the Straits of Shimonoseki because the city of Shimonoseki which faces the strait, located on the south-western tip of Honshu.

The Kanmon straits are also an important connection between the Seto Inland Sea (Which separates the Japanese islands of Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū) and the Sea of Japan, used by many cargo ships.

The Kanmon Bridge is a suspension bridge connecting Shimonoseki and the city of Kitakyushu on Kyushu. It has been in use since 1973. The bridge is approximately 3,500 feet (1,070 m) long.

Answer: Kagoshima

The capital of Kagoshima Prefecture, Kagoshima City is situated on the southwestern tip of Kyushu. There is a notable museum in Kagoshima, the Museum of the Meiji Restoration, dedicated entirely to the history of the restoration of the power of imperial rule in Japan.

Sakurajima is one of Japan's most active volcanoes. Minor eruptions occur daily and it smokes continuously. It is situated in the middle of Kagoshima Bay. Before 1914, Sakurajima was an island, but a major eruption occurring that year caused flow of lava. This lava travelled to the mainland, connecting with the Osumi Peninsula in the east. Earthquakes in the following days made Sakurajima empty its magma chambers. Nobody died directly as a result of the eruption, but 35 people perished in the following earthquakes.

Answer: Dazaifu

The Dazaifu government buildings have been lost to time. There were many buildings arranged in a symmetrical grid, near the 7th century Kanzeon-ji Buddhist temple complex, which still stands to this day. Its bell has been designated a Japanese national treasure and is one of the oldest in the country.

The city of Dazaifu is situated in the Fukuoka Prefecture, Kyushu. The city is mountainous but still has some cultivable land.

Answer: Fukuoka

Tōchō-ji is located in Hakata-ku, a ward (subdivision) of Fukuoka City. The temple dates back to around 806 AD, and features a 36 feet (11 m) statue of Buddha which weighs around 30 tons. It is the largest seated-Buddha statue in all of Japan. It was founded by famous Buddhist priest, Kukai.

Fukuoka is the second-largest port city in Japan after Yokohama. It boasts the Kushida Shrine, standing since 757 - one of the oldest shrines of Japan. It hosts the Hakata Gion Yamakasa festival every year at this shrine in July. The festival includes racing elaborate floats (often weighing over a ton) carried by revellers. Around a million people take part every year. The floats often depict characters of Japanese folklore or historical figures of Japan.

Answer: Arita

Arita is situated in the north-west of Kyushu, in the Saga Prefecture. Arita has over 400 years of porcelain in its history and holds an annual ceramics fair, one of the biggest in Japan. Around a million people a year attend this fair.

Although this is of fierce historical debate, Korean potter, Yi Sam-pyeong, who allegedly lived in Japan after he was taken there during the Japanese military invasions of Korea, is considered to be the creator of Arita porcelain.

Answer: Kashima

Kashima City is located in the Saga Prefecture. It is situated on the Ariake Sea, all of which is within the maritime territory of Kyushu.

Established in 1687, the Yūtoku Inari Shrine lies in the steep slope of a valley. It is considered in the top three Japanese temples dedicated to Inari Ōkami, a Japanese kami (spirit) considered the protector of rice cultivation. This kami is particularly popular with salesmen and merchants, as Inari also is said to bring prosperity.

Answer: Shikoku

Shikoku is one of the five main islands of Japan, the second-smallest of the main islands after Okinawa. It is north-east of Kyushu. By area, Shikoku is the 50th largest island in the world. The narrowest part is called the Hōyo Strait.

The Bungo Channel bridges the Seto Inland Sea (by the western end of Shikoku) and the Pacific Ocean. "Run Silent, Run Deep;" a World War II film about submarines directed by Robert Wise (1914-2005) was set in the Bungo Channel.

Answer: Taku

Machiko Hasegawa was born in Taku in 1920. One of the first female Manga artists, she published her first series, "Sazae-san," in 1946. It was a series of everyday life and goings-on in Tokyo (after she moved there from Kyushu), having a regular set of characters and families. It ran until 1974 when Machiko Hasegawa retired. She died of heart failure in 1992, aged 72.

Taku is located in the Saga Prefecture, Kyushu. Standing since 1708, the Taku Seibyō, one of the oldest Confucian temples in Japan, is a major feature of the city.

Answer: Dazaifu Tenman

Dazaifu Tenman-gū is a Shinto shrine built over Sugawara no Michizane's grave. The main shrine was built around two years after Michizane's death. The shrine features over 6,000 plum trees, the ume (or Asian plum tree).

Sugawara no Michizane was born in 845. He has since been deified in the Shinto religion since his death in 903, and is now considered the god of learning.

Answer: North Kyushu City

Kitakyushu is the northernmost city of Kyushu. It is often regarded as the bridge between Kyushu and Honshu. Mojiko (or Moji Port) is a major port of the city, strategically located on the narrowest point of the Kanmon Straits, which separates the two islands.

Kitakyushu is also home to the Kyushu Railway History Museum, which has many model railways and simulators.

Answer: Mount Hiko

Battle of Sekigahara took place in 1600 in what is now modern-day Gifu Prefecture, on the island of Honshu. Miyamoto Musashi was on the side of the Toyotomi clan, which reigned over the Japanese before the Edo period. Their defeat meant the establishment of the Edo shogunate, that is, the military government of the Edo period (1603-1868).

Mount Hiko is important for the Shugen-do branch of Buddhism. There are many temples and shrines, and members of this sect of Buddhism are known to train there still. It is around an hour's drive from Fukuoka City. Minami-dake is the highest peak of Mount Hiko, at exactly 1,200 meters (just under 4,000 feet).

Answer: Tree

"Sugi" translates as "cedar" in Japanese. Jōmon Sugi is a large tree located on the island of Yakushima, which is just off the tip of Kyushu, part of Kyushu's Kagoshima Prefecture.

Jōmon Sugi is estimated to be between 2,000 years old to around 7,000. The tree is just over 80 feet high.

Answer: Mount Yufu

Mount Yufu lies between the city of Yufu and the city of Beppu. It is an active stratovolcano in the Oita prefecture, hence the name "Fuji of Oita," coupled with its resemblance to Mount Fuji (the highest mountain in Japan), which is located on the island of Honshu around 60 miles (100 km) south-west of Japan's capital, Tokyo.

Mount Yufu is approximately 5,200 feet (1,580 m) high. Every spring there is the annual grass burning of the fields surrounding Mount Yufu. This is done in order to get rid of the withered and weak winter grass, making way for fresh new grass to thrive.

Answer: Nagasaki

Nagasaki is the capital of Kyushu's Nagasaki Prefecture. The name "Nagasaki" translates in Japanese as "Long Cape." It is the one of the wettest cities of Kyushu. Built in 1634, the Megane Bridge is one of the oldest stone arch bridges of Japan. It was built by Mokusunyoujo, a Chinese monk who lived in the Kofukuji Zen Buddhist temple which still stands in Nagasaki to this day.

Construction of the Basilica of the Twenty-Six Holy Martyrs of Japan was completed in 1864. It commemorates the 26 Martyrs of Japan, who were executed via crucifixion in 1597. The martyrs were 26 Catholics. Among them were 17 Japanese members of Franciscan order, the Third Order of Saint Francis, 3 Japanese Jesuits, 4 Spaniards, 1 Portuguese and 1 Mexican. This was carried out under the orders of daimyo and samurai, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, coined the second "Great Unifier" of Japan, of the Sengoku period.