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Kurume (久留米市; -shi) is a city located in Fukuoka, Japan.
As of 2003, the city has an estimated population of 238,214 and the density of 1,910.60 persons per km². The total area is 124.68 km².
The city was founded on April 1, 1889.
Famous folk from Kurume include: the family of the Bridgestone Tire Corporation (The Ishibashi), the pop group Checkers, the singer and actress Seiko Matsuda, and the television celebrity, Rena Tanaka.
Famous products of Kurume are the *kasuri* roughly woven indigo dyed cloth, pig-bone soup (*tonkotsu*) *ramen* noodles, and trays and bowls made from *rantai shiki* a composite made from lacquered bamboo.
The Bridgestone Tire Corportation has its origins in Kurume as traditional footwear manufacturers, producting the sock-like shoe or *tabi*, used by farmers. They found that by coating the bottom of tabi with rubber, farmers could be protected from the invasion of paracitic worms that live in rice paddies.
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