city, Kumamoto ken (prefecture), Kyushu, Japan, facing Ariake Bay. It was a poor village until the opening of the Miike coal mine and the arrival of a major railway in the early 20th century. A military munitions factory was established in 1940. After World War II, however, the mine and the factory closed. Arao is now a residential suburb of Ōmuta to the north. Pop. (2005) 55,960.