city, Yamaguchi ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan. It faces Tokuyama Bay of the Inland Sea. A castle town during the early Tokugawa period (1603–1867), it became a station on the Sanyō Line (railway) in 1897. The establishment in Tokuyama of a naval coaling station in 1904 was followed by the city's rapid industrial growth. Tokuyama produces petroleum, chemical products, and metals. The city also participates in the commercial activity between Hiroshima and Shimonoseki. Pop. (2005) 152,387.