Kure Naval District (呉鎮守府)

The Kure Naval District was one of four–alongside Yokosuka, Sasebo, and Maizuru–primary administrative districts of the Imperial Japanese Navy that was established in the Meiji Era. Although the Imperial Japanese Navy has since been replaced by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, that history remains in Kure Port in the form of shipbuilding yards, museums, and oceangoing vessels still moored out in the harbor. Visitors can take a cruise around Kure Harbor or taste a slice of a sailor’s life at one of various restaurants selling Kure’s famous “navy curry.”