Shimonoseki

Shimonoseki (shē`mōnōsā'kē), city (1990 pop. 262,635), Yamaguchi prefecture, extreme SW Honshu, Japan. An important port and fishing center on Shimonoseki Strait, it is opposite Kitakyushu, with which it is connected by bridge and tunnel. Shimonoseki is a railroad and industrial center, with engineering works, shipyards, and metal and chemical plants. It is also a port, with ferry connections to Busan (Pusan), South Korea. In the city is Akamagu, a 12th-century shrine dedicated to Emperor Antoku and to the Taira clan, which was defeated at Shimonoseki by the Minamoto clan in the famous naval battle of Dan-no-ura. In 1864 a fleet of U.S., British, French, and Dutch ships bombarded the port in retaliation for hostile acts of the Choshu clan. The Treaty of Shimonoseki, which ended the Sino-Japanese War, was negotiated and signed in 1895. The Shimonoseki Aquarium is the largest in Japan.

---

Shimonoseki

a port in SW Japan, on SW Honshu: scene of the peace treaty (1895) ending the Sino-Japanese War; a heavy industrial centre. Pop.: 246 924 (2002 est.)

---

Shimonoseki 

a city in Japan, in Yamaguchi Prefecture; located on the southwestern part of the island of Honshu, on Shimonoseki Strait. Population, 257,000 (1972).

Shimonoseki and the city of Moji (Kyushu Island) together make up the port of Kammon, which is a junction for transportation between the islands of Honshu and Kyushu. The port has ferry and steamship lines and an underwater tunnel with two levels, for motor-vehicle and railroad transportation. Shimonoseki has enterprises for the production of transportation vehicles, shipyards, and chemical and cement plants. Zinc is smelted and petroleum is refined on the island of Hiko-shima. Shimonoseki is a center for the fishing and fish-canning industries.