>> The city of Ōmuta   I attended both elementary and junior high-school in Ōmuta, a city of around 135,000 on the edge of the Ariake sea on the southern Japanese island of Kyūshū. Ōmuta has been around in some form or other for more than 1000 years, but it gained importance after the discovery of coal in the area around 500 years ago. As the coal industry reached its peak during and after WWII, Ōmuta's population grew to well over 200,000 and the city was widely known as the home of the Miike coal mine, one of Japan's largest. Steady decline and ultimately closure of the coal mine meant hard times for Ōmuta, and the city now relies on fishing, chemical industries spun off from the mining days and, more recently, large-scale energy generation as a means of recyling waste. Although hardly a tourist town, Ōmuta is close to both mountains and ocean, as well as numerous historical sites, and in any case provides a counterpoint to the bustle of the larger cities.

Visit Ōmuta's website HERE—site is in Japanese, but there's an option for English translation.