With some 126,000 people, exactly 1/1000th Japan’s population, Iizuka is Fukuoka Prefecture’s fourth largest city. Nevertheless, it is a quiet town today with an aging and declining population. Back in its postwar heyday, it was the heart of a coal-mining industry that was located throughout the Chikuhō District. When the coal mines closed down in the ‘70s due to cheaper imports, Iizuka, like most towns in the area, lost its mojo.
