It was the city that turned red for Wales at the start of the Rugby World Cup , and now the team have shown their gratitude.
And that warm welcome hasn't been forgotten as the Welsh Rugby Union has taken out adverts in the local paper for the city Kitakyushu with a heartwarming message of thanks.
WRU staff have long planned to create a Rugby World Cup legacy in the city and have been back and forth to Japan on regular occasions over the last two years.
So they were delighted by the amazing scenes right from the start of the tournament, when around 15,000 rugby fans turned up to watch the Wales squad take part in an open training session at their host city's ground.
The city’s stadium was packed to the rafters just to see Wales head coach Warren Gatland put his team through their paces in sweltering 30 degree temperatures.
As their way of saying thanks, the WRU took an advert out in the morning edition of the newspaper.
It roughly translates to: "To all Kitakyushu citizens.
"Thank you for your hospitality. Over the two years of exchange it has become a very special place for us.
"Thank you, diolch. See you soon. We are looking forward to working with you in the near future. From the Welsh Rugby Union."
Fans in Kitakyushu also belted out the Welsh national anthem at the same training session
On the day of Wales' well-attended training session, there were three separate queues of nearly half a mile long to get into Kitakyushu Stadium, and the start of Wales’ session was even delayed to ensure everyone could get in.
“I’ve never experienced anything like this in my career", said Welsh Rugby Union performance director Ryan Jones, who has helped lead the WRU’s legacy programme in Kitakyushu which began two years ago.
"It’s astonishing and it’s been really emotional."
Speaking at the time, he said: "It’s been like hosting a party. We were saying ‘Oh, I hope it goes well today and people will turn up’. Then to see the queues and the players’ faces when they came out was just magic."
