So this is the famous Moji Port Banana Auction… You’d never imagine seeing such large crowds and hustle and bustle in a place like this. But surprisingly, you can witness waves of people-- both locals and foreigners-- getting off the trains at Mojiko Station and making their way to the local inns. Amidst the diverse swarms of people, I can hear different languages and dialects all around me. We’re all headed the same way-- to the Moji Port Banana Auction. They say that banana sales in Japan originated in Moji Port, arriving from Taiwan via an Osaka trade ship. To prevent waste, they decided to auction off the bruised bananas.
“Come on, buy it!”
A man wearing a happi coat stands on the stage holding a large bunch of bananas. He energetically shouts with pride as he addresses the crowd, smacking the paddle he’s holding on the banana box in a rhythmic pattern.
“Come on, come on! This fine banana bunch is just 37 sen!”
He stops and raises three fingers as he looks around the crowd. No one moves-- so he starts again, smacking the paddle to the box in the same rhythm.
“Come on people, 25 sen!”
“I’ll buy it!” Wait, did I really just say that? I wait to see what happens next, but there’s nothing but silence. I get nervous and start to doubt myself. I should have held off just a little longer… But no, this is what I came here for! And what’s more, I get to enjoy these delicious bananas and buy as much as I want at a premium. Yes, this is it. This is my chance. I finally understand the dream that lies within this town-- a dream of instant fortune. At this moment, today-- this is where my life begins to change.
Moji is a port town in the strait that connects Honshu and Kyushu. Appropriately, the town name, “Moji” means “to control the gate.” The town was nothing more than a deserted village until the Edo period, and once they started to mine coal in Kitakyushu during the Meiji era they needed a port to ship the coal around the country. The moment Moji Port was chosen and put on the map their future changed forever. First, Kyushu Railway took notice and set up railways leading into Moji, even setting up their headquarters there as well. Naturally, it didn’t take long for various companies to realize the strategic advantage of opening up with access to a port and a train line. With all of these businesses came new job opportunities, and people from all over Japan came to Moji for work. They say there were so many jobs that all you had to do was stand on the harbor and you’d be hired that day.
It was around this time that the Banana Auctions became popular. Back then, it took much longer to prepare ships and trains, so travelers were looking for a way to entertain themselves while they waited for their next transfer. Some went to movie theaters and playhouses, but most ended up visiting the banana stalls lined up along the streets. At any given time, day or night, there were at least 30 banana stalls open and entertaining passersby as they auctioned off bananas. It’s said they were so prosperous that Moji Port would dock more ships than Kobe, and this prosperity allowed their land price to rise to match that of Tokyo. Even Albert Einstein once stayed in Moji, at the Moji Mitsui Club.
For a time, Moji thrived as a port that expanded trade both internationally and domestically. But the strategic advantages Moji brought were the very reason it was targeted in air raids during the Pacific War. Miraculously, Mojiko Station avoided damage during the raids, but the area around it was not as lucky and Kanmon Strait was forced into lockdown. Moji’s prosperity peaked during the Korean War when coal was in high demand, but it declined just as rapidly when the war ended. The strategic advantage of Moji also disappeared as soon as they built the Kanmon Tunnel which connected Honshu and Kyushu. While Japan experienced rapid economic growth as a whole, Moji was left in the dust. One could say, however, that the cultural heritage couldn’t have been preserved any other way.
