I never tire of looking at this ancient map of Fukuoka.

The isthmus at the bottom is Nagahama, and corresponds with where Nagahama Dōri is today. The little appendix at the end of it is where Suzaki Park (洲崎公園) is located.

In the left-hand lower corner is Hakozaki-gū (箱崎宮).

Nakanohama (中ノ浜) is modern-day Nakasu. Just above that is the Tōchō-ji temple (東長寺) and Kushida Shrine (櫛田宮). And just beyond that is Sumiyoshi Jinja (住吉大明神). Minoshima (美野島) used to be an island in the Naka River (那珂川).

The large body of water in the middle is Reisentsu (冷泉津) and the mountainous bit in the middle (警固村〜広尾村) corresponds with the area from Akasaka, Kego, Sakurazaka, Josui, Hirao, Takamiya.

In the lower right corner is Aratsuyama (荒津山) of Nishi Park (西公園). In the upper right hand corner is where the neighborhood of Kusagae (草香江) is today.

The island at the very bottom is Ugu Island (鵜来島), lit. "Cormorant Comes Island". It's more a rock than an island today and is just offshore of the filthy Fukuyama beach. The other small islands were swallowed up in the land reclamation projects of the 80s.

I need to double check, but I believe this map is from well before the Edo Period (1600~). When the feudal domain of Fukuoka was created, much of the parts covered with water were reclaimed, creating the central areas of Daimyō, Tenjin, Yakuin, and so on. The same is true of the Marunouchi area of Tokyo.

Interestingly, a former neighbor of mine in Daimyo was forced to tear down one of his buildings after the big 2005 earthquake. Construction on a new building ended up being delayed by months because they had to bore and bore and bore through meters and meters of mud until they finally reached the bedrock. Thanks to the less than ideal foundations of the buildings in this area, whenever there is an earthquake, we really feel it.