Ōmuta (大牟田市, Ōmuta-shi) is a city in Fukuoka Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū, Japan.
Reclaimed lands are spread out in the western part of the city facing the Ariake Sea.
Kunugi, one of the neighborhoods in the current Ōmuta city, is mentioned in the Nihon Shoki in an entry dated 720AD.
Following the Meiji restoration, the towns of Ōmuta and Miike were established on April 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system.
The Meiji government ran coal mining in Miike at first themselves, but soon sold it to a private company for a very low price, compared to its value, which caused a scandal.
[citation needed] In 1921 and 1941, mergers with neighboring towns and villages, including Ōmuta, occurred, and in 1941 the city became as large as it is now.
The prisoner-of-war camp "Fukuoka 17", where allied prisoners were forced to work in the mines, was located in the outskirts of the city.
[citation needed] Ōmuta has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 23 members.
In terms of national politics, the city is part of the Fukuoka 7th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.
The economy of Ōmuta is mixed, with agriculture, commercial fishing, commerce, light manufacturing and chemicals.