Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Chūgoku Region, Japan

🇯🇵 Shimonoseki is a city located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. It is the largest city in Yamaguchi Prefecture and the fifth-largest city in the Chūgoku region. It is located at the south-western tip of Honshu facing the Tsushima Strait at the entrance to the Kanmon Straits across from the city of Kitakyushu and the island of Kyushu. It is nicknamed the "Fugu Capital" for the locally caught pufferfish, and is the largest harvester of the pufferfish in Japan.

Geography Shimonoseki is located at the westernmost point of Yamaguchi Prefecture and the westernmost point of Honshu. It borders the Sea of Japan to the west and the Seto Inland Sea to the south across the Kanmon Straits. It is long in the north-south direction and has a fan shape that opens to the Seto Inland Sea. The Asa River flows from the north to the central area, and the Ariho River flows from the north-east to the east, flowing south into the Seto Inland Sea. The city hall is located on the west bank of the Ariho River mouth.

Neighbouring municipalities Yamaguchi Prefecture • Nagato • San'yō-Onoda • Mine.

History Shimonoseki is part of ancient Nagato Province. It has prospered since ancient times as the gateway to Honshu from the Asian continent, including Kyushu, China, and the Korean peninsula. According to the Nihon Shoki, the semi-legendary Emperor Chuai constructed a palace at the location of what is now the Shimonoseki city hall during the Kofun period. The name of Shimonoseki" appears in Heian period documents from 869 AD as the location of a checkpoint controlling maritime access to the Seto Inland Sea; however, by the Kamakura period, the name of "Akamanoseki" was in more common use. During the Genpei War, the Heike and Genji fought at the Battle of Dan-no-ura near the present Kanmon Bridge. During the Muromachi period, the powerful Ōuchi clan was shugo of both Nagato and Buzen Province in Kyushu and thus controlled trade and diplomatic missions from Ming China and Korea. In the Edo period, the area was part of Chōfu Domain controlled by the Mōri clan. In February 1691, German explorer Engelbert Kaempfer visited the town as part of his two-year stay in Japan, and described it as having around 400 to 500 houses, and as a major port in the region for supplying ship provisions. During the Bakumatsu period, the Bombardment of Shimonoseki occurred in 1864, and in the early Meiji period, the Treaty of Shimonoseki was signed in 1895, seeing a defeated China hand over Taiwan, Penghu, and Port Arthur to the victorious Japanese at the end of the First Sino-Japanese War. An Imperial decree in July 1899 established Shimonoseki as an open port for trading with the United States and the United Kingdom.

Akamagaseki city was established on April 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. The city was renamed Shimonoseki on June 1, 1902.

On February 13, 2005, Shimonoseki absorbed the towns of Hōhoku, Kikugawa, Toyota and Toyoura (all from Toyoura District) to create the new and expanded city of Shimonseki. Since October 1, 2005, the city has been designated as a core city by the Japanese government with icreased local autonomy.

Government Shimonoseki has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 34 members. Shimonoseki contributes ten members to the Yamaguchi Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of the Yamaguchi 4th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Economy Having prospered as a port city, Shimonoseki has long had a thriving industry related to shipping, trade, and finance. It is still the centre of the prefecture in terms of economy.

Universities and colleges • National Fisheries University • Shimonoseki City University • University of East Asia • Baiko Gakuin University ◦ Baiko Gakuin University Women's Junior College • Shimonoseki Junior College.

Transport: Rail JR West – San'yō Shinkansen • Shin-Shimonoseki

JR West (JR West) - San'yō Main Line • Ozuki - Chōfu - Shin-Shimonoseki - Hatabu - Shimonoseki

JR West (JR West) - San'in Main Line • Nagato-Awano - Agawa - Kottoi - Takibe - Nagato-Futami - Ukahongō - Yutama - Kogushi - Kawatana-Onsen - Kuroimura - Umegatō - Yoshimi - Fukue - Yasuoka - Kajikuri-Gōdaichi - Ayaragi - Hatabu - Shimonoseki.

Transport: Road • Chugoku Expressway • National Route 2 • National Route 9 • National Route 191 • National Route 435 • National Route 491.

Ferries Ferries from Shimonoseki Port International Terminal: • The Kanpu ferry to Busan, South Korea regularly. • The Gwangyang Beech to Gwangyang, South Korea regularly. • The Orient ferry to Shanghai, China regularly. • The Orient ferry to Qingdao, China was suspended in November 2015.