Kurume, Fukuoka

Kurume
Kurume; 久留米
	— Core city —
久留米市 · Kurume
	View of Kurume City
	; Flag
	; Flag
	Location of Kurume in Fukuoka
	Kurume
	Coordinates: 33°19′N 130°31′E / 33.317°N 130.517°ECoordinates: 33°19′N 130°31′E / 33.317°N 130.517°E
Country	Japan
Region	Kyūshū
Prefecture	Fukuoka
	Government
• Mayor	Toshinori Narahara (since February 2010)
	Area
• Total	229.84 km2 (88.74 sq mi)
	Population (February 1, 2010)
• Total	303,277
• Density	1,319.51/km2 (3,417.5/sq mi)
Time zone	Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
City symbols
- Tree	Cinnamomum camphora, Zelkova serrata, Rhus succedanea, Camellia, Round Leaf Holly
- Flower	Azalea, Cosmos
Phone number	0942-30-9000
Address	15-3 Jonan, Kurume-shi, Fukuoka-ken; 830-8520
Website	City of Kurume

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Kurume (久留米市, Kurume-shi^?) is a city located in Fukuoka prefecture, Japan.

The city has an estimated population of 303,277 and a population density of 1,319.51 persons per km². The total area is 229.84 km².

The city was founded on April 1, 1889.

Famous people from Kurume include: the family of the Bridgestone Tire Corporation (Shojiro Ishibashi), George Shima (the "Potato King" of California), the pop group Checkers, the singer and actress Seiko Matsuda, anime creator Leiji Matsumoto, the television celebrity, Rena Tanaka, actor Ryo Ishibashi and the late Izumi Sakai of Zard. The Bridgestone Tire Corporation has its origins in Kurume as traditional footwear manufacturers, producing the sock-like shoe (tabi), used by farmers. They found that by coating the bottom of tabi with rubber, farmers could be protected from the invasion of parasitic worms that live in rice paddies.

Famous traditional products of Kurume are the kasuri (絣), roughly woven indigo dyed cloth; pork soup (tonkotsu) ramen noodles; and trays and bowls made from rantai shikki (籃胎漆器), a composite made from lacquered bamboo.

In 2010 Kurume hosted the International Camellia Conference.

[edit] Mergers

On February 5, 2005 the following four towns merged into Kurume: the town of Kitano, from Mii District, the towns of Jōjima and Mizuma, both from Mizuma District, and the town of Tanushimaru, from Ukiha District.