Shimizu

Shimizu, former city, Shizuoka ken (prefecture), central Honshu, Japan, situated on the northwest coast of Suruga Bay. In 2005 it was merged administratively into neighbouring Shizuoka city and became a ward of that municipality. During the Edo (Tokugawa) era (1603–1867) Shimizu was a post town on the Tōkaidō (Eastern Sea Highway). Its commercial port, protected by the sandspit of Cape Miho, is also a major industrial area and one of the largest deep-sea fishing centres in Japan. Main products are canned goods, motorcycles, ships, musical instruments, and synthetic textiles. Petroleum and aluminum refineries operate there. Future industrial development will be difficult because level land is scarce. In the surrounding rural area, oranges, tea, cucumbers, and strawberries are raised. Places of scenic and historic interest include the Pine Groves of Miho, the Ryuge Temple, containing a fern palm believed to be more than 1,000 years old, and the nearby Nippon-Daira plateau.