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.

Fukuoka (福岡市, Fukuoka-shi^?) is the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture and is situated on the northern shore of the island of Kyushu in Japan.

Ranked as the 14th of the world's most livable cities in the magazine Monocle in 2010, Fukuoka was praised for its green spaces in a metropolitan setting. It is the most populous city in Kyushu, followed by Kitakyushu. It is the largest city and metropolitan area west of Keihanshin. The city was designated on April 1, 1972 by government ordinance. Greater Fukuoka (福岡都市圏), with 2.5 million people (2005 census), is part of the heavily industrialized Fukuoka-Kitakyushu zone, as well as Northern Kyushu.

As of June 2011, Fukuoka is Japan's 7th largest city, having passed the population of Kyoto, and the first time a city west of the Kinki region has a larger population since Kyoto was established in the 7th century. However, in ancient times, the area near Fukuoka was thought to be perhaps even more influential than the Yamato region.

Fukuoka (the area of Kashii, Hakata, Sawara and Imazu) is said to be the oldest city in Japan, because it is the nearest city to China and Korea^{[citation needed]}. The area around Fukuoka is among the oldest non-Jōmon settlements in Japan^{[citation needed]}. Dazaifu was an administrative capital in 663 A.D., but a historian proposed that a prehistoric capital was in the area. Ancient texts, such as the Kojiki, and archaeology confirm this was a very critical place in the founding of Japan. Some scholars even go as far as to claim it was the first place outsiders and the Imperial Family set foot, but like many early Japan origin theories, it remains contested. See History of Japan. Fukuoka is sometimes still referred to as Hakata, the central ward of the city.