Nogata City

What Nogata City does

Nogata City (直方市) is a statutory municipal government in Fukuoka Prefecture, southwestern Japan, within the Kitakyushu metropolitan area, serving a resident population of 53,900 across 27,906 households as of April 2026. It administers the full municipal service portfolio: child-rearing and education support, healthcare and welfare programs, senior care, public safety via the Fire Headquarters, environmental and water/sewerage services, urban planning, and local industry and tourism promotion. The city is designated an SDG Future City and operates under a Zero Carbon City Declaration targeting 2050 neutrality.

Its service delivery combines physical infrastructure (Coal Memorial Museum, Yumeneity no Ogata 1,031-seat hall, Civic Sports Center, Western Sports Park, Central Community Center, Coal Memorial Museum, and the 2023-opened Multi-generational Exchange Space Koccha combining childcare support, temporary childcare, and retail/dining tenants) with a digital services stack. The digital layer comprises the Catalog Pocket multilingual information app (10 languages with auto-translation and voice reading), Graffer Smart Apply online application platform, Tsunagaru no Ogata emergency email service, Machi Iro digital newsletter, Wagaya NAVI digital signage at Aeon Mall, and YouTube-based city council streaming. Core technology is therefore a hybrid civic platform mixing in-house municipal systems with third-party SaaS integrations rather than proprietary technology development.

The entity's business model is a public-sector taxation-and-transfer funding model, not a commercial revenue engine. Revenue streams comprise municipal taxes (residential, property, business), user fees and charges for select facilities and services (e.g., Central Community Center rooms at 180-1,310 JPY, Koccha at 330-660 JPY/hour, Coal Memorial Museum at 100 JPY), and national government transfers and subsidies. The primary customers are city residents across all life stages, with secondary segments including local SMEs and the agricultural sector receiving business enhancement support, plus tourists attracted to coal mining heritage and local hot springs. Key partnerships include Terra Charge Co., Ltd. (EV charging infrastructure, March 2026) and national-level support under the Local Creation Escort System.

Name

Nogata City

Legal name

Nogata City (直方市)

Website

https://city.nogata.fukuoka.jp

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Nogata City (直方市) is a Japanese municipal government in Fukuoka Prefecture serving 53,900 residents with statutory local services including childcare, education, welfare, public safety, and tourism, funded primarily by municipal taxation and national transfers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Municipal Government Services

NAICS

Administration of Housing Programs, Urban Planning, and Community Development (925), Bus and Other Motor Vehicle Transit Systems (485113), Water, Sewage and Other Systems (2213)

SIC

Local & Suburban Transit & Interurban Hwy Passenger Trans (4100), Refuse Systems (4953), Water Supply (4941)

akta.pro primary industry

Mayor/City Manager & General Administration (BPAIACAA)

Keywords

• Municipal government services
• Public facility management
• Community childcare services
• Local administration
• Public transportation

Headquarters

HQ city

Nogata

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Municipal Tax Revenue: Revenue from local taxes including residential tax, property tax, and business tax levied on citizens and enterprises within the city.
2. User Fees and Charges: Fees for municipal services including childcare, elderly care, facility usage, and administrative procedures.
3. National Government Transfers: Allocations and subsidies from the national government for implementing various public services and welfare programs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Nogata City administers local government services to its residents, including resident life support, welfare, education, industry promotion, and tourism. Its service portfolio comprises physical public facilities (community buses, sports facilities, cultural venues, childcare support centers) and digital citizen services (online facility reservation, multilingual information apps, emergency alert email service, city newsletter distribution, digital signage, city council internet broadcast).

Product overview

Nogata City operates a comprehensive municipal service portfolio comprising physical public facilities and digital citizen services. Physical infrastructure includes community bus services, multiple sports facilities (Western Sports Park, Civic Sports Center with kyudo hall), cultural venues (Yumeneity hall, Coal Memorial Museum, Nogata Saisui-kan traditional facility), childcare support centers, and the multi-generational exchange space 'Koccha'. Digital services include an online public facility reservation system, multilingual Catalog Pocket app, city newsletter delivery via Machi Iro app, TV data broadcast 'd-button newsletter', FM radio program, digital signage 'Wagaya NAVI', and city council internet broadcast via YouTube. The city has implemented antiviral coating demonstrations and participates in national local creation support programs for transportation challenges.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Nogata City Community Bus (直方市コミュニティバス) A public transportation service operating within Nogata City, particularly serving areas with declining route bus services due to aging population and driver shortages.
• Nogata City Public Facility Reservation System (直方市公共施設予約システム) An online booking system enabling citizens to reserve city sports facilities, community center meeting rooms, and event spaces. Supports both window registration and online booking.
• Multi-generational Exchange Space Koccha (多世代交流スペースここっちゃ) A complex facility combining a regional childcare support center, temporary childcare service, and retail/dining tenants to promote community interaction and child-rearing support.
• Regional Childcare Support Center Honobono (地域子育て支援センター ほのぼの) A childcare support center where expecting parents and children up to preschool age can play, socialize, and receive parenting advice from staff. Operated by Kodomono Project Inc.
• Central Community Center (中央公民館) A social education facility managed by the city offering meeting rooms for community groups, educational programs, and cultural exchange activities. Room rental fees: Large conference room 1,310 JPY; Audio-visual room 650 JPY; Learning room 1: 430 JPY; Learning room 2: 370 JPY; Japanese-style room: 180 JPY.
• Yumenity no Ogata (ユメニティのおがた) The largest hall facility in Nogata City, featuring a main hall (1,031 seats), small hall (250 seats), rehearsal rooms, and meeting rooms for theatrical performances, orchestral events, and community rentals.
• Coal Memorial Museum (石炭記念館) A museum established July 1971 to preserve the history of coal mining in the Chikuho region. Exhibits include coal blocks, mine rescue training tunnels, steam locomotives, and mining equipment. Admission: 100 yen general, 50 yen university/high school, free for middle school and under and disabled persons.
• Nogata City Western Sports Park (直方市西部運動公園) A sports park featuring tennis courts with night lighting, multi-purpose grounds for soccer and softball with athletics track, and gateball courts. Includes changing rooms with showers and meeting spaces.
• Nogata Civic Sports Center / Kyudo Hall (直方市民体育センター・弓道場) A sports facility offering badminton courts (2), judo hall, meeting rooms, and kyudo (Japanese archery) range with 5 targets. Aims to promote citizen health and sports development.
• Nogata Saisui-kan (直方歳時館) A traditional Japanese-style lifelong learning facility offering tatami-floored rooms with a charcoal brazier for tea ceremonies, event spaces, and seasonal exhibitions. Free admission for museum visits.
• Catalog Pocket (カタログポケット) A multilingual information distribution app supporting 10 languages (Japanese, English, Korean, Chinese Simplified/Traditional, Thai, Portuguese, Spanish, Indonesian, Vietnamese) with auto-translation, voice reading, and text magnification features for communicating municipal information to foreign residents.
• Tsunagaru no Ogata (つながるのおがた) A city information email/messaging service that delivers emergency alerts, disaster evacuation notices, events, and daily living information to residents' mobile devices.
• Business Enhancement Support Programs (中小企業等経営強化法のご案内) Various SME support programs including expert dispatch subsidies, side-job talent support, corporate scholarship repayment assistance, startup school, and industrial park development.
• Koccha Rental Space (Koccha Rental Services) Rental space services within the Koccha multi-generational exchange facility. Hiroba (plaza): 550 JPY/hour (1,100 JPY for commercial use); Japanese-style room: 330 JPY/hour (660 JPY for commercial use).

Quantifiable outcome

• Population: 53,900 residents across 27,906 households as of April 2026

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration9 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Terra Charge Co., Ltd.coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 March 2026Cooperation agreement signed March 4, 2026 to promote EV adoption and install EV charging infrastructure at five public facilities including parks and sports facilities. Partnership supports Nogata City's Zero Carbon City Declaration targeting carbon neutrality by 2050. Terra Charge provides infrastructure without initial or maintenance costs. EVs will also serve as emergency power sources during disasters to strengthen regional resilience.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Miyawaka City: Fukuoka Prefecture city of approximately 31,000 residents geographically adjacent to Nogata. Shares rural-urban service mix including agriculture, small industry, and aging-population welfare programs.
• Kurume City: Core city in southern Fukuoka Prefecture of approximately 301,000 residents with a comparable full municipal service portfolio. Operates at a meaningfully larger scale but shares the same departmental structure and service scope.
• Yukuhashi City: Eastern Fukuoka Prefecture municipality of approximately 58,000 residents with analogous industrial promotion, childcare, and education functions. Comparable as a similarly sized mid-prefecture city.
• Iizuka City: Fukuoka Prefecture municipal government serving roughly 125,000 residents with a similar service portfolio of childcare, education, welfare, and industrial promotion. Comparable in structure and demographic profile as a mid-sized Chikuho-region city.
• Tagawa City: Neighboring Chikuho-region city of approximately 48,000 residents sharing Nogata's coal-mining heritage, aging demographics, and small-city service model. Provides a directly comparable scale and demographic profile.
• Kama City: Fukuoka Prefecture municipality of approximately 35,000 residents in the Chikuho region with parallel rural-decline demographics and a similar reliance on transfers and SME support programs.
• Omuta City: Fukuoka Prefecture city of approximately 108,000 residents sharing Chikuho-region industrial decline narrative and demographic aging. Operates a similar municipal service portfolio with comparable fiscal challenges.
• Nakama City: Fukuoka Prefecture municipal government with roughly 57,000 residents, comparable in population and service scope to Nogata. Both cities operate in the Kitakyushu metropolitan sphere with similar transport and welfare challenges.

Broad incumbents

• Kitakyushu City: Designated city in Fukuoka Prefecture serving approximately 940,000 residents. Provides the regional anchor services (transit, education, welfare, environment) and is the metropolitan hub to which Nogata connects.
• Fukuoka City: Prefecture capital and designated major city of approximately 1.6 million residents. Provides the highest-level local-government reference within Fukuoka Prefecture for service delivery, fiscal structure, and digital innovation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/nogata_city
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/NogataCity
• Facebookfacebook.com/nogatacity.official
• Instagraminstagram.com/nogata_city
• TikToktiktok.com/@nogata_city

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Nogata City