Niihama, city in southern Japan on the north coast of Shikoku Island, in eastern Ehime Prefecture near the center of the narrow Hiuchi Plain. Niihama is a port city on the Hiuchi Sea, part of the Inland Sea that separates Shikoku and Honshu islands. It is an important industrial center with several chemicals manufacturers, machine industries, and nonferrous metal works, most of them established in the late 19th century on reclaimed land along Niihama's harbor. The city's history as a manufacturing center is tied closely to the rise of the giant Sumitomo industrial conglomerate. In the late 17th century Niihama began processing and shipping copper ore from the nearby Sumitomo-owned Besshi Copper Mine, one of Japan's largest mines, known for its labor strikes in the early 20th century. The mine closed in 1973 because of diminishing ores at the mine, competition from other sources of copper, and weak market conditions. Population (1999) 129,432.Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001
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