Muroran City

Muroran (室蘭市 Muroran-shi) is a city and port located in Iburi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Iburi Subprefecture. Muroran holds eight specific scenic sights called Muroran-Hakke (室蘭八景). The most famous of them is the Earth Cape (地球岬 Chikyū Misaki). Muroran's name originates from the Ainu word "Mo Ruerani", which means "the bottom of a little slope". In front of the former Senkai Temple in Sakimori-cho, the slight slope is noted in connection with the name of Muroran. In the late 16th century, the Muroran region came under the administration of the Matsumae clan. Muroran was developed as a trading post between the Ainu and the Matsumae clan people. In 1892, the Port of Muroran was opened for the wooden bridge construction at Kaigan (former Tokikaramoi). Simultaneously, the main road began construction from Hakodate to Sapporo as the first step of the Hokkaido Colonization Plan. An Imperial decree in July 1899 established Muroran as an open port for trading with the United States and the United Kingdom. With the opening of a shipping route from Muroran to Mori and railroad extension to Iwamizawa, Muroran's municipality was started on 1 August 1922, as the core of the significant land and sea traffic in the pioneer era of Hokkaido. Since then, Muroran has been developing as an essential transportation hub and a steel industry centre. This, unfortunately, earned the town's industrial plants a bombardment by some of the newest American battleships in July 1945, in the closing days of World War II. Today, there are large cement factories, steel mills, oil refineries, and shipyards clustered around the port of Muroran.