is a

tombolo A tombolo is a sandy or shingle isthmus. It is a deposition landform by which an island becomes attached to the mainland by a narrow piece of land such as a spit or bar. Once attached, the island is then known as a tied island. The word ''t ...

Higashi-ku, Fukuoka is one of the seven Wards of Japan, wards of Fukuoka in Japan. As of 1 March 2012, it has a population of 296,576, with 136,133 households, and an area of 66.68 km2. Its name literally means "east ward". Kashii, Japan, Kashii is in this ...

Fukuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 Square kilometre, km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. It connects Kyushu Island and Shikanoshima Island. It is 8km in length and up to 2.5 km in width. Its northern coast borders Genkai Sea and its southern coast

Hakata Bay is a bay in the northwestern part of Fukuoka city, on the Japanese island of Kyūshū. It faces the Tsushima Strait, and features beaches and a port, though parts of the bay have been reclaimed in the expansion of the city of Fukuoka. The ba ...

Nature and land use

Although most of the area consists of sand dunes, the eastern area has older sand dunes that form terrace-like cliffs deposited in the Pleistocene era. There are also hills of

Paleocene The Paleocene ( ), or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 mya (unit), million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), ...

strata to the west. A pine forest of Japanese black pines spreads across the sand dunes, known as the Nata Pine Grove. The Shishiki Shrine is located on the sand dunes of the pine grove. The width of the sandbar is not uniform. Sand spits extend towards

at Saitozaki () in the west and Gan no Su () in the east, with the former exceeding 2 kilometers in width. Other parts are less than 0.5 kilometers wide. The central to northwestern part of the sandbar is a park and recreation area. The easternmost part contains the Fukuoka City Karasu no Su Recreation Center, and to the west are Uminonakamichi Seaside Park, Marine World (aquarium), Nishidozaki Seaside Country Club, Crane Fukuoka (horseback riding), and other recreational activities.

History

In the Chikuzen no Kuni Fudoki fragment of the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capita ...

, Umi no Nakamichi appears in the entry about Shikanoshima under the name Uchiage no Hama.

Salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

production was carried out by local fishermen since ancient times, and fishing tools, shell mounds, and salt-making pottery from the 8th to 10th centuries have been excavated from near Shioya-bana (Salt House Cape). It is unclear when the name Umi no Nakamichi came into use. The Chikuzen no Kuni Fudoki fragment records that the villagers were already calling it by this name at that time.

Transportation

The JR Kashii Line (Uminonakamichi Line) and Fukuoka Prefectural Road 59 Shikanoshima Wajiro Line run parallel through the center of the sandbar. There are four stations on the Kashii Line: Nata Station, Karasu no Su Station, Uminonakamichi Station, and Nishidozaki Station. Prefectural Road 59 extends from the westernmost part of Umi no Nakamichi to Shikanoshima via Shikanoshima Bridge. In October 2002, the Umi no Nakamichi Bridge connected the Karasu no Su area with Island City to the south, significantly reducing the distance to central Fukuoka City. For sea transportation, the city-operated ferry runs between Bayside Place Hakata Pier in Hakata Ward and Nishidozaki/Shikanoshima, while Yasuda Sangyo Steamship operates to routes under the name "Uminaka Line" from Bayside Place Hakata Pier and from Marizon in Seaside Momochi, Sawara Ward, to the Uminonakamichi Ferry Terminal.

References

{{reflist Geography of Fukuoka Cross country running venues Shoals of Japan