Ｈａｋａｔａ Ｃｕｌｔｕｒｅ vol.1

Strolling through Daimyo

I decided to write about the Daimyo district when I heard that this month’s issue would focus on Daimyo fashion. After all, I wrote about the Daimyo community for my master’s thesis, so I know a bit about the subject. Still, that was five years ago, in 2003. In those days, young people used to flock to the Daimyo district. So many people from throughout Kyushu were there on weekends it was as if they were holding a festival. In the five years since then, a lot of vacant lots have appeared as shops and buildings have closed their doors. It’s become so sad and deserted they’re going to have to do something to attract visitors.

The rents are sky-high in Tenjin, so younger people who wanted to open a shop did so in the much cheaper Daimyo. They operated very creative shops that attracted customers, with an appeal based on offering handmade accessories, secondhand clothing and sundry other items. The owners of those shops, the long-time residents of Daimyo, and the customers used to get together to clean the neighborhood and conduct crime prevention activities.

Then, on March 21, 2005, Daimyo and the neighboring Imaizumi were hard hit by the Fukuoka earthquake. That was the impetus which caused many older residents and shopkeepers involved with the community to leave. The district still had storefronts and houses that dated from the old Kuroda-han days because it was spared damage from bombing during the war. Such structures as the chimney and the storehouse from the Jokyu Soy Sauce Company founded in 1855 lent the district a distinctive Daimyo air. But the old houses and the Jokyu chimney collapsed during the earthquake. The people who love the area are pulling together and working hard, but the vacant lots and proliferating graffiti is sucking the energy out of the place.

Yet that’s only part of the story of today’s Daimyo. Recently, the Konya 2023 building project was launched with the participation of people from a wide range of sectors to remodel old apartment houses. The basic concept of the project is “Mixed-Use Occupancy Buildings of the Future”. They are striving to create a new value and culture, so if you are interested, please take the time to drop by.


 Kimiyo Sasaki

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大名という町の行く末

　 今月は大名のファッション特集と聞いたので、私も大名の町について書きたいと思います。修士論文のテーマに「大名のコミュニティ」について書いたので、ちょっと詳しいんです。しかし、論文を書いたのは2003年の今から5年前。大名の町にぞくぞくと若者が集まり、週末になるとお祭りでもあっているかのように九州各地から人が来ていた時代でした。
　それから5年、大名は空き地も多くなり、店舗やビルも閉鎖、客寄せをしなければならないほどに寂しい町になってしまいました。天神は家賃が高いので、それよりも安い大名に店舗を構えたい若者たちが集まって個性豊かな店を造り、集客していました。手作りの内装、自分の好きな古着や雑貨を揃えて営業していた店舗が集積し、それが魅力だったのです。そんな店のオーナーと大名に古くから住む住人とお客さんたちが集まって、掃除をしたり防犯活動をしたりする町でした。
　それが、2005年3月21日におきた福岡県西方沖地震で大名や隣の今泉は大きな被害にあったのです。それまで町を守っていたお年寄りや地域活動を行っていた店主たちが大名を離れていきました。戦災にもあわなかったため黒田藩旧城下町の町並みが残り、1855年創業の「ジョーキュウ醤油」の煙突や蔵などが、大名独特の雰囲気を醸し出していたのですが、古い家屋は倒壊し、ジョーキュウ醤油の煙突も折れてしまいました。その後もなんとか、大名の町を愛する人たちが頑張っていますが、空き地やいたるところに目立つ落書きが町の元気を奪っています。
　そんな大名ではありますが、古いアパートを改築してさまざまなジャンルのプロデューサーやディレクターが集結した建物プロジェクト「紺屋2023」がスタートしました。テーマは「未来の雑居ビル」。新たな価値と文化の醸造を目指すそうなので興味ある人は立ち寄ってください。



　　福岡市広報課長　佐々木　喜美代