Shimonoseki (Jap. 下関市 Shimonoseki-shi) is the central city of Japan on the southwestern tip of the island of Honshu, the largest city in Yamaguchi Prefecture. The area of ​​the city is 716.17 km², the population is 271,072 people (August 1, 2014), the population density is 378.50 people / km².

History
Until the middle of the 19th century, Shimonoseki served as the center of the province of Nagato. The city has long had close ties with the north of the neighboring island of Kyushu. The port area of ​​Shimonoseki was called Akamagaseki (Japanese: 赤間関) or Bakan (Japanese: 馬関). In 1889, this port was transformed into the city of Akamagaseki, which was renamed Shimonoseki in 1902. In February 2005, this city expanded by absorbing the neighboring towns of Toyoura County.
Shimonoseki is famous throughout Japan for its history. In 1185, a major battle of Dannoura took place in its suburban waters. It ended the long war between the Japanese samurai clans Taira and Minamoto and secured the dominance of the Kamakura shogunate in Japan for the next 150 years. The Battle of Dannoura is celebrated in The Tale of the House of Taira, a masterpiece of Japanese classical literature, and one of its participants, Minamoto no Yoshitsune, is considered a Japanese national hero.
Shimonoseki is also associated with a legendary duel that took place in 1612 on the uninhabited island of Ganryujima between Japanese swordsmen Miyamoto Musashi and Sasaki Kojiro. This island, which today is part of the city, attracts martial arts fans from both Japan and the world. The theme of this duel remains one of the most popular in Japanese literature, film, manga and anime.

During the Edo period (1603-1867), the territory of Shimonoseki belonged to the Mori samurai family, one of the leading participants in the Meiji Restoration in the 19th century. This restoration marked the beginning of Japanese modernization and the transformation of Japan into one of the leading countries of the 20th century.
In 1895, Shimonoseki became the site of a peace treaty between the Empire of Japan and the Chinese Qing Empire. He ended the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 and, having strengthened the position of the Japanese state in the international arena, prevented the colonization of Japan by European countries and the United States.
Many famous Japanese were born in Shimonoseki – actor Matsuda Yusaku, writer Hayashi Fumiko and others.