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SHIMONOSEKI |
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Most travellers pass through the port of SHIMONOSEKI at the southern
tip of Honshu, 65km west of Yamaguchi, as quickly as possible en route
to Kyushu, or to Pusan in South Korea on the daily ferry. However, this
unpretentious city is not without its attractions. The narrow Kanmon
Channel , which separates Honshu from Kyushu, is best viewed from Hino-yama,
the mountain park that rises above the port. The channel was the scene
of the battle of Dannoura, the decisive clash between the Taira and
Minamoto clans in 1185, and the colourful shrine Akama-jingu is
dedicated to the defeated Taira. If you have enough time, you should
consider a short trip to the neighbouring town of Chofu , with its
authentic enclave of samurai houses and streets, sleepy temples and
lovely garden.
The City
The one thing you should do while in Shimonoseki is head up Hino-yama to
take in the panoramic view over the Kanmon Channel . If you're pushed
for time, a similar view can be had ten minutes' walk east from
Shimonoseki Station, from the top of Kaikyo-yume (daily 9.30am-9.30pm;
¥600), a 153-metre-high observation tower made of glass, that looks like
a giant golf tee with a ball resting on top. The tower is at its most
striking at night, when the interior glows green and points of light dot
the spherical observation deck, which also has a restaurant.
On the way to Hino-yama you'll pass through Karato , the turn-of-the-century
port area, which still has a handful of handsome brick and stone
buildings, including the former British Consulate. On the waterfront is
the Karato Fish Market , a lively place to drop by if you're up early in
the morning.
Ten minutes' stroll further east is Akama-jingu , the shrine dedicated
to Antoku, an 8-year-old emperor who drowned along with the Taira clan
when they were routed in the naval battle of Dannoura. The clash took
place in the straits overlooked by the striking vermilion, gold and pale-green
shrine, originally built as a Buddhist temple to appease the souls of
the dead Taira warriors, and known at the time as Amida-ji. When Shinto
and Buddhism were separated in the Meiji period, the temple became a
shrine and was renamed Akama-jingu.
The Chinese-style arched gate, Suite-mon, dates from 1958 when the
shrine was rebuilt after being damaged in the war, and the courtyard
beyond is the scene of the colourful Sentei Matsuri festival. Held on
April 23-25, this festival is based around the legend that the surviving
Taira women, who after their clan's defeat were forced to turn to
prostitution, came to the shrine each year to purify themselves. In a
small graveyard to the right of the courtyard are fourteen ancient
graves for notable Taira warriors and a small statue of the blind and
deaf priest, Houichi Miminashi, the "earless Houichi" in one of the
Irish writer Lafcadio Hearn's most famous ghost stories .
If you've got time, nip up the hillside road before the shrine to check
out the Sino-Japan Peace Treaty Memorial Hall (free), in an ornate,
gabled building next to the Shunpanro hotel. Built in 1936, the hall
includes a re-creation of the room in the hotel where a peace treaty was
signed between China and Japan on April 17, 1895, after nearly a month
of negotiations. Around 1km further east, just beside the Kanmon Bridge,
is a kilometre-long pedestrian tunnel through which you can walk under
the straits to Moji, on Kyushu.
Uphill from the bridge is Hino-yama , with a number of trails leading up
to the 268-metre summit. If you don't fancy walking, there's a ropeway
(daily: April 9am-6pm; May-Oct 9am-6.40pm; Jan-March, Nov & Dec 9am-5pm;
¥200 one way) that will take you close to the top. The view from the
roof of the cable-car station takes in the whole of the Kanmon Straits
and the islands to the west of Shimonoseki, and is particularly
memorable towards sunset. Over a thousand ships a day sail through this
narrow waterway, making it one of Asia's busiest maritime crossroads.
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