AKASHI

city, Hyogo ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan. The city is adjacent to Kobe on the Akashi Strait of the Inland Sea. It developed as a castle town, and many relics of the Jomon and Yayoi periods remain on the nearby hills. Artifacts of the Jomon period (4500250 BC; a hunting and gathering society) include pottery with distinctive cord impressions. During the Yayoi period (250 BCAD 250) immigrants from Korea introduced irrigation techniques and bronze and iron implements. Before World War II Akashi was a thriving city, its economy based on the aircraft industry. During the war, half of the population was lost to air raids in the old part of the city. The heavy steel industry, developed during the Korean War, revived Akashi as an industrial and residential district. The city was formerly a fishing centre, but the yield of marine products has decreased because of overfishing and marine pollution. The Japanese standard-time meridian, 135 E, passes through the city. Pop. (1992 est.) 278,458.