Kokura 1915

0:00 Kokura, Fukuoka, in 1915 is the first of Stranger Than Heaven's five cities, where Makoto Daito lands after the San Francisco prologue. SEGA calls it the home of "what was said to be one of the world's largest foundries," a "smoke-scorched town" of hard-driven, fiery workers, traditional in character but with modern culture taking root. Makoto is still a young man in an unfamiliar land. In the October 2026 preview build he runs jobs for Orpheus, falls for the bar worker Tae Matsumoto, and storms an ironworks mill against the Oki Clan. Kokura is the era most shown before launch: it was the subject of SEGA's first In-Depth Look and of the Act I story trailer. The clip is SEGA's In-Depth Look at Kokura.

Quick facts

Sources: SEGA on Steam, Sep 29, 2026; SEGA cast page, as of Nov 3, 2026; Game Informer, Oct 21, 2026; Xbox Wire, May 6, 2026.

What happens in Kokura?

2:04 Makoto arrives as an outsider. Locals jeer at him behind his back and call him "ketō," a slur of the period for Westerners that he does not understand at first, and they dismiss him because his Japanese is not yet fluent, Game Informer reported from its three-hour preview. Xbox Wire described the city as a hotbed of drinking, gambling and prostitution where Makoto gets drawn into the underworld while Yu Shinjo finds honest work; the two part ways here and meet again in later eras. In the clip, from SEGA's Act I story trailer, Makoto is told he is now one of Yashima's men and that the town sees only a blue-eyed foreigner.

0:09 In the preview chapter, Makoto goes to a bar to undermine a rival gang and meets Tae Matsumoto, who works there; he spends an evening with her and asks her on a real date. Tae is the mistress of Oki, head of the Oki Clan, who puts a hit on Makoto and takes her. Makoto storms an ironworks mill to rescue her and ends the chapter in a boss fight with Shimura, a hulking enemy who switches to a huge melee weapon in his second phase (Game Informer). IGN wrote that over 15 minutes of Kokura cutscenes held its attention. The rest of the story is on Story. The clip is VGC's Oct 21, 2026 Kokura footage from the pre-release build: townsfolk tell Makoto that Oki has a bullet with his name on it over Oki's mistress.

Who is in Kokura?

The official cast page places several characters here. Tae Matsumoto (Moeka Hoshi) is a cafe waitress and a yakuza's mistress. Heigo Yashima (Akio Otsuka) is a Kokura boss and merchant who made his fortune in trade and mentors Makoto. Tadashi Hataoka (Takashi Ukaji) is an arrogant, violent Kokura yakuza. Oki and Shimura come from the previews, not the cast page. Everyone is on Characters and Cast.

What can you do in Kokura?

1:23 Xbox Wire listed arm wrestling, dice and card games in Kokura. Kokura was also the first of three encounters in the Summer Game Fest 2026 combat demo, fought unarmed. Every activity is on Minigames and Side Content. The clip, from SEGA's Kokura In-Depth Look, shows a knife game, arm wrestling and menko cards.

The Act I: Kokura story trailer

0:04 SEGA's first story trailer, posted on Steam on Oct 21, 2026, traces the events that lead Makoto onto Orpheus's ship "and the harsh realities that await" in Kokura. SEGA says one trailer per city will follow.

The real Kokura in 1915

The foundry SEGA describes matches the Imperial Steel Works at Yawata, next to Kokura. The state-run works opened in 1901 as Asia's first successful integrated iron and steel works, built in a seaside village near the Chikuho coalfield with help from German engineers; its No. 1 Blast Furnace ran successfully only from 1904, after Japanese engineers changed it. The site is part of the UNESCO World Heritage listing of the Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution, from 2015, and is still inside Nippon Steel's Yawata Works. SEGA has not named Yawata as its model, and the makers say the game takes liberties with history (Five Eras and Cities).

Frequently asked questions

Is Kokura a real place? Yes. Kokura is a real place in Fukuoka Prefecture, in northern Kyushu, and Stranger Than Heaven's 1915 Kokura is modeled on it, foundry included, with deliberate liberties.

What year is Kokura in Stranger Than Heaven? 1915. Kokura is the first of Stranger Than Heaven's five eras, right after the San Francisco prologue.

Who is Tae in Stranger Than Heaven? Tae Matsumoto, played by Moeka Hoshi, is a Kokura waitress and the mistress of a yakuza. In Stranger Than Heaven's preview build Makoto falls for her and rescues her from the Oki Clan.

Who is the Kokura boss in Stranger Than Heaven? In the October 2026 preview build of Stranger Than Heaven, the Kokura chapter ends in a fight with Shimura, a huge brute who takes up a giant weapon in his second phase. Oki leads the Oki Clan behind him.

Sources

• STRANGER THAN HEAVEN | 1915 Kokura, Fukuoka - In-Depth Look, SEGA, Sep 28, 2026 (video)
• STRANGER THAN HEAVEN - Act 1: Kokura Story Trailer, SEGA, Oct 16, 2026 (video)
• Stranger Than Heaven Fukuoka Gameplay, VGC, Oct 21, 2026 (video)
• 1915, Kokura - An In-Depth Look at One of Five Eras in STRANGER THAN HEAVEN, SEGA, Sep 29, 2026
• Watch the Act I: Kokura Story Trailer & Discover Daito's Journey through 1915, SEGA, Oct 21, 2026
• STRANGER THAN HEAVEN, Steam, as of Nov 3, 2026
• Cast, SEGA, as of Nov 3, 2026
• One Man's Story Of Biculturalism, Music, Fitting In, And Fighting Told Over 50 Years, Game Informer, Oct 21, 2026
• Stranger Than Heaven: The Final Preview, IGN, Oct 21, 2026
• I didn't expect Stranger Than Heaven to have such deep, satisfying combat, PCGamesN, Jul 18, 2026
• Xbox Presents: A Special Look at Stranger Than Heaven, Everything We Learned, Xbox Wire, May 6, 2026
• YAWATA, Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution
• The Imperial Steel Works, Japan, Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution