Japan Heritage story
The Kanmon Strait: retro ports on both shores
関門“ノスタルジック”海峡
Honshu and Kyushu almost touch at the Kanmon Strait. After a war opened the ports, Shimonoseki and Moji filled with grand modern buildings, and you can still hop between them by ferry or on foot through an undersea tunnel.
Key facts
- Theme
- Castles, Sea and waterside, Food and sake
- Era
- Meiji
- Region
- Kansai, Chugoku, Kyushu & Okinawa
- Official name in Japanese
- 関門“ノスタルジック”海峡
- Official subtitle in Japanese
- ～時の停車場、近代化の記憶～
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 福岡県（北九州市）・山口県（下関市）
The story
The Kanmon Strait, between the Seto Inland Sea and the Sea of Japan, has always been a crossroads. At the end of the Edo period, the Choshu domain closed it to Western ships, which led to the Shimonoseki War. Defeated, Choshu sent Takasugi Shinsaku to make peace in 1864, and Shimonoseki port was effectively opened to the world.
British engineers led by Richard Brunton built twin Western lighthouses at each end of the strait, Mutsurejima and Hesaki, both first lit in 1872. Guided by them, Shimonoseki, an old Kitamae ship port, and Moji, backed by the Chikuho coalfield, grew into international ports, and filled with modern buildings from the Meiji to the early Showa era that still stand today.
What to see
- Moji Port: a waterfront of Meiji to early Showa buildings.Google Maps 門司港レトロ (opens in a new tab)
- Shimonoseki: modern buildings facing Moji across the strait.
- Hesaki lighthouse: the eastern twin of 1872.Google Maps 部埼灯台 (opens in a new tab)
- The crossing: ferries and the undersea tunnel link the two shores.
Plan your trip with the Fukuoka and Yamaguchi guides, and see more history and heritage.
Good to know
- Cross one way by ferry and back through the tunnel to see the strait from both angles.
- Watch the big ships: tankers and ferries pass through the narrow strait all day.
- Give yourself time on both sides; each port has its own historic buildings.
Questions travellers ask
Where is the Kanmon Strait?
Between Shimonoseki in Yamaguchi, on Honshu, and Moji in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, on Kyushu.
How do you cross the Kanmon Strait?
By the short ferry or through the undersea tunnel.
Where it comes from
More heritage stories from the same area
- Ako: the town that made Japan's finest salt
- Awaji: the first island in Japan's creation myth
- Inaba and Tajima: landscapes made by the Sea of Japan wind
- Itami and Nada: the birthplace of Japan's clear sake
- Iwami kagura: gods and demons dance the old myths
- Kitamaebune: the merchant ships that made Japan's port towns rich
- Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage: Japan's 1,300-year journey of the heart
- Tamba-Sasayama: a castle town in a folk song
- The Silver Carriage Road: 73 km to Hyogo's mines
- The Six Ancient Kilns: pottery born and raised in Japan
- The Sugar Road: sweets along the Nagasaki Kaido
Local foods from the same area
Crafts from the same area
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.