n.
City (pop., 2000 prelim.: 1,493,595), west-central Honshu , Japan.
It is situated on 014C; saka Bay and occupies a narrow shelf of land between mountains and the sea. With neighbouring cities 014C; saka and Ky 014D; to , it is the centre of a major industrial zone. Until the Meiji Restoration it was only a fishing village, but it grew rapidly in the late 19th century. It was severely bombed during World War II and was entirely rebuilt after 1945. It suffered a major earthquake in 1995. K 014D; be is an important Japanese port and a centre of shipbuilding and steel production; it is the seat of K 014D; be University.