260px, Shimonoseki city hall Choshu-Battery-Capture-Shimonoseki-1864

is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

located in

Yamaguchi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Yamaguchi Prefecture has a population of 1,377,631 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 6,112 Square kilometre, km2 (2,359 Square mile, sq mi). ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. , the city had an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 248,193 in 128,762 households and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

of 350 persons per km². The total area of the city is . It is the largest city in Yamaguchi Prefecture and the fifth-largest city in the

Chūgoku region The , also known as the region, is the westernmost region of Honshū, the largest island of Japan. It consists of the prefectures of Hiroshima, Okayama, Shimane, Tottori and Yamaguchi. As of the 2020 census, it has a population of 7,328,339 ...

in terms of population. It is nicknamed the "

Fugu Fugu (; ; ) in Japanese language, Japanese, ''bogeo'' (; 鰒魚) or ''bok'' () in Korean language, Korean, and ''hétún'' () in Standard Modern Chinese refers to tetraodontidae, pufferfish, normally of the genus ''Takifugu'', ''Lagocephalus'', o ...

Capital" for the locally caught

pufferfish Tetraodontidae is a family of marine and freshwater fish in the order Tetraodontiformes. The family includes many familiar species variously called pufferfish, puffers, balloonfish, blowfish, blowers, blowies, bubblefish, globefish, swellfis ...

, and is the largest harvester of the pufferfish in Japan.

History

Shimonoseki is part of ancient

Nagato Province , often called , was a province of Japan. It was at the extreme western end of Honshū, in the area that is today Yamaguchi Prefecture. Nagato bordered on Iwami and Suō Provinces. History Although the ancient capital of the province was Shimono ...

. It has prospered since ancient times as the gateway to Honshu island from the Asian continent, including Kyushu, China, and the

Korean peninsula Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically divided at or near the 38th parallel between North Korea (Dem ...

. According to the ''

Nihon Shoki The or , sometimes translated as ''The Chronicles of Japan'', is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the , the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeol ...

'', the semi-legendary Emperor Chuai constructed a palace at the location of what is now the Shimonoseki city hall during the

Kofun period The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is ...

. The name of "Shimonoseki" appears in

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

documents from 869 AD as the location of a checkpoint controlling maritime access to the Seto Inland Sea; however, by the

Kamakura period The is a period of History of Japan, Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the G ...

, the name of "Akamanoseki" was in more common use. During the

Genpei War The was a national civil war between the Taira clan, Taira and Minamoto clan, Minamoto clans during the late Heian period of Japan. It resulted in the downfall of the Taira and the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate under Minamoto no Yori ...

, the Heike and Genji fought at the Battle of Dan-no-ura near the present Kanmon Bridge. During the

Muromachi period The , also known as the , is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi ...

, the powerful

Ōuchi clan was one of the most powerful and important families in Western Japan during the reign of the Ashikaga shogunate in the 14th to 16th centuries. Their domains, ruled from the castle town of Yamaguchi in the western tip of Honshu island, compris ...

was ''

shugo , commonly translated as ' ilitarygovernor', 'protector', or 'constable', was a title given to certain officials in feudal Japan. They were each appointed by the shogun to oversee one or more of the provinces of Japan. The position gave way to th ...

'' of both Nagato and

Buzen Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area of northeastern Kyūshū, corresponding to part of southeastern Fukuoka Prefecture and northwestern Ōita Prefecture. Buzen bordered on Bungo Province, Bungo to the south, and Chikuzen Pro ...

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...

and thus controlled trade and diplomatic missions from

Ming China The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

and

Joseon Korea Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

. In the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, the area was part of Chōfu Domain controlled by the

Mōri clan The was a Japanese clan, Japanese samurai clan descended from Ōe no Hiromoto. Ōe no Hiromoto was descended from the Fujiwara clan. The family's most illustrious member, Mōri Motonari, greatly expanded the clan's power in Aki Province. Durin ...

. In February 1691, German explorer

Engelbert Kaempfer Engelbert Kaempfer (16 September 16512 November 1716) was a German natural history, naturalist, physician, exploration, explorer, and writer known for his tour of Russia, Iran, Persia, India, Southeast Asia, and Japan between 1683 and 1693. He ...

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 was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

, the

Treaty of Shimonoseki The , also known as the Treaty of Maguan () in China or the in Japan, was signed at the hotel in Shimonoseki, Japan, on April 17, 1895, between the Empire of Japan and Qing China. It was a treaty that ended the First Sino-Japanese War, ...

was signed in 1895, seeing a defeated China hand over

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Penghu The Penghu ( , Hokkien Pe̍h-ōe-jī, POJ: ''Phîⁿ-ô͘'' or ''Phêⁿ-ô͘'' ) or Pescadores Islands are an archipelago of 90 islands and islets in the Taiwan Strait, about west of the main island of Taiwan across the Penghu Ch ...

, and Port Arthur to the victorious Japanese at the end of the

First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 189417 April 1895), or the First China–Japan War, was a conflict between the Qing dynasty of China and the Empire of Japan primarily over influence in Joseon, Korea. In Chinese it is commonly known as th ...

. An Imperial decree in July 1899 established Shimonoseki as an open port for trading with the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. 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 is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

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 In urban planning, a historic core city or central city is the municipality with the largest 1940 population in the present metropolitan area (metropolitan statistical area). This term was retired by the US census bureau and replaced by the term ...

by the Japanese government with increased local autonomy.

Geography

Shimonoseki is located at the westernmost point of Yamaguchi Prefecture and the westernmost point of

Honshu , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the list of islands by area, seventh-largest island in the world, and the list of islands by ...

. It borders the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...

to the west and the

Seto Inland Sea The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osaka Ba ...

to the south across the

Kanmon Straits The or the Straits of Shimonoseki is the stretch of water separating Honshu and Kyushu, two of Japan's four main islands. On the Honshu side of the strait is Shimonoseki (, which contributed "Kan" () to the name of the strait) and on the Kyushu ...

. 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 northeast to the east, flowing southward into the Seto Inland Sea. The city hall is located on the west bank of the Ariho River mouth.

Neighbouring municipalities

Yamaguchi Prefecture * Mine * Nagato * San'yō-Onoda

Climate

Shimonoseki has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Cfa'') with hot summers and cool winters. Precipitation is significant throughout the year, but is heavier in summer.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Shimonoseki in 2020 is 255,051 people. Shimonoseki has been conducting censuses since 1920.

Government

Shimonoseki has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

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 3rd district Yamaguchi 3rd district (山口県第3区) is a single-member electoral district for the House of Representatives (Japan), House of Representatives, the lower house of the National Diet of Japan. It is located in Western Yamaguchi Prefecture and in ...

of the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

. Shimonoseki was represented by

Shinzo Abe Shinzo Abe (21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020. ...

, former Japanese Prime Minister, in the

between 1993 and 2022.

Economy

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

Education

Universities and colleges

* Baiko Gakuin University * Baiko Gakuin University Women's Junior College * National Fisheries University * Shimonoseki City University * Shimonoseki Junior College * University of East Asia

Primary and secondary schools

Shimonoseki has 41 public elementary school and 21 public junior high schools and one public high school operated by the city government. The city has nine public high schools operated by the Yamaguchi Prefectural Board of Education. There are also one private junior high school and five private high schools. The prefecture also operates four special education schools for the handicapped. The city has a North Korean school, . It formerly housed two other North Korean schools, Yamaguchi Korean High School and .

Transportation

Railway

JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, ...

– San'yō Shinkansen *

(JR West) - San'yō Main Line * - - - -

(JR West) -

San'in Main Line The is a railway line in western Japan, which connects Kyoto and Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). It is the major railway line of the San'in region, approximately paralleling the Japan Sea, crossing Kyot ...

* - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Highways

Chugoku Expressway * * * * *

Ferries from Shimonoseki Port International Terminal

*The Kanpu ferry to

Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...

, South Korea regularly. *The Gwangyang Beech to Gwangyang, South Korea regularly. *The Orient ferry to

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, China regularly. *The Orient ferry to

Qingdao Qingdao, Mandarin: , (Qingdao Mandarin: t͡ɕʰiŋ˧˩ tɒ˥) is a prefecture-level city in the eastern Shandong Province of China. Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, Qingdao was long an important fortress. In 1897, the city was ceded to G ...

, China was suspended in November 2015.

Sister cities

Shimonoseki is twinned with: * Santos, Brazil (1971) *

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, Turkey (1972) *

, South Korea (1976) *

, China (1979) * Pittsburg (California), United States (1998)

Local attractions

Festivals

Shimonoseki is home to many festivals, held throughout the year. Of these, the most famous are the Shimonoseki Kaikyo Festival and Shimonoseki Bakan Festival. *Shimonoseki

Festival (February): Haedomari Market *Kawatana Onsen Festival (April) *Shimonoseki Kaikyo Festival (May): Karato, Ganryujima Island *Suhouteisai Festival (August): Castle town Chofu *Kanmon Kaikyo Fireworks Festival (August): Karato(Aruka Port area) *Shimonoseki Bakan Festival (August): Along the street from Karato-cho to Shimonoseki Station *TOUR de Shimonoseki (October/November) *Shimonoseki Kaikyo Marathon (November) *Shimonoseki Fish Festival (November): Shimonoseki Fishing Port *Little

Fest (November): Green Mall

Architecture

* Akama Shrine * Kaikyō Yume Tower *

Kōzan-ji , officially , is a Buddhist temple of the Omuro sect of Shingon Buddhism in Umegahata Toganōchō, Ukyō-ku, Kyoto, Ukyō Ward, Kyoto, Japan. Kōzan-ji is also known as Kōsan-ji and Toganō-dera. The temple was founded by the Shingon scholar ...

- The butsuden completed in 1320 is a National Treasure of Japan.

Museums

*Doigahama Site Anthropological Museum *The Firefly Museum of Toyota Town *Shimonoseki City Archaeological Museum *Shimonoseki City Art Museum * Shimonoseki City Museum of History *Shimonoseki Marine Science Museum (Shimonoseki City Aquarium) (''Kaikyo Kan'') *The of the Yamaguchi Bank

Parks and monuments

*The in Shimonoseki commemorates the final stage of the

Genpei war The was a national civil war between the Taira clan, Taira and Minamoto clan, Minamoto clans during the late Heian period of Japan. It resulted in the downfall of the Taira and the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate under Minamoto no Yori ...

between the feudal

Taira clan The was one of the four most important Japanese clans, clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian period, Heian period of History of Japan, Japanese history – the others being the Minamoto clan, Minamoto, the Fujiwara clan, Fuji ...

and

Minamoto clan was a Aristocracy (class), noble surname bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the Imperial House of Japan, imperial family who were excluded from the List of emperors of Japan, line of succession and demoted into the ranks of Nobili ...

(1180–1185). There is a historical monument with cannons.

Sports

Professional teams

* FC Baleine Shimonoseki (

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

)

Sporting venues

*Nogihama General Park (

stadium) *Shimonoseki Baseball Stadium *Shimonoseki Boat Race Stadium (Shimonoseki '' Kyōtei'') *Shimonoseki City Gymnasium *Shimonoseki city swimming pool *Shimonoseki Track and field stadium

Crime and safety

The Goda-ikka

yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media (by request of the police) call them , while the yakuza call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ''yak ...

syndicate is headquartered in Shimonoseki. A designated yakuza group, the Goda-ikka is the largest yakuza syndicate in Yamaguchi Prefecture."The 7th President announces the succession, The Goda-ikka, The Prefectural Police on red alert"
, 21 October 2009, '' Yamaguchi Shimbun''

Notable people from Shimonoseki

* Arata Izumi ( Indian footballer) * Yūsaku Matsuda * Toshihiro Nagoshi ( video game director,

game designer Game design is the process of creating and shaping the mechanics, systems, rules, and gameplay of a game. Game design processes apply to board games, card games, dice games, casino games, role-playing games, sports, Wargame (video games), war ga ...

and producer) * Atsushi Tamura (Comedian, actor and singer) *

Kinuyo Tanaka was a Japanese actress and film director. She had a career lasting over 50 years with more than 250 acting credits, but was best known for her 15 films with director Kenji Mizoguchi, such as ''The Life of Oharu'' (1952) and ''Ugetsu'' (1953). W ...

, actress

References

External links

Shimonoseki City official website

Shimonoseki City official website
in other languages * * *
City Tourism Promotion Film
Shimonoseki City Official Channel {{Authority control Cities in Yamaguchi Prefecture Port settlements in Japan Populated coastal places in Japan