is the capital of
Hiroshima Prefecture in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The
gross domestic product
Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is of ...
(GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima
Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010.
Kazumi Matsui has been the city's mayor since April 2011.
Hiroshima was founded in 1589 as a castle town on the
Ōta River delta. Following the
Meiji Restoration
The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...
in 1868, Hiroshima rapidly transformed into a major urban center and industrial hub. In 1889, Hiroshima officially gained city status. The city was a center of military activities during the
imperial era
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Medite ...
, playing significant roles such as in the
First Sino-Japanese War
The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the p ...
, the
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...
, and the two world wars.
Hiroshima was the first military target of a nuclear weapon in human history. This occurred on August 6, 1945, at 8:15 a.m., when the
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
(USAAF)
dropped the atomic bomb "
Little Boy" on the city. Most of Hiroshima was destroyed, and by the end of the year between 90,000 and 166,000 had died as a result of the blast and its effects. The
Hiroshima Peace Memorial (a
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...
) serves as a memorial of the bombing.
Since being rebuilt after the war, Hiroshima has become the largest
city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
in the
Chūgoku region
The , also known as the region, is the westernmost region of Honshū, the largest island of Japan. It consists of the prefectures of Hiroshima, Okayama, Shimane, Tottori, and Yamaguchi. In 2010, it had a population of 7,563,428.
History
''Ch ...
of western
Honshu
, historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island s ...
.
History
Early history
The region where Hiroshima stands today was originally a small fishing village along the shores of Hiroshima Bay. From the 12th century, the village was rather prosperous and was economically attached to a
Zen Buddhist temple called ''
Mitaki-Ji''. This new prosperity was partly caused by the increase of trade with the rest of Japan under the auspices of the
Taira clan
The Taira was one of the four most important clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian, Kamakura and Muromachi Periods of Japanese history – the others being the Fujiwara, the Tachibana, and the Minamoto. The clan is divide ...
.
Sengoku and Edo periods (1589–1871)
Hiroshima was established on the delta coastline of the
Seto Inland Sea in 1589 by powerful warlord
Mōri Terumoto.
Hiroshima Castle was quickly built, and in 1593 Mōri moved in. The name Hiroshima means wide island in Japanese. Terumoto was on the losing side at the
Battle of Sekigahara
The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 ( Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu prefecture, Japan, at the end of ...
. The winner of the battle,
Tokugawa Ieyasu, deprived Mōri Terumoto of most of his fiefs, including Hiroshima and gave
Aki Province
or Geishū () was a province in the Chūgoku Region of western Honshū, comprising the western part of what is today Hiroshima Prefecture.
History
When Emperor Shōmu ordered two official temples for each province (one for male Buddhist ...
to
Masanori Fukushima, a ''
daimyō
were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominall ...
'' (Feudal Lord) who had supported Tokugawa.
From 1619 until 1871, Hiroshima was ruled by the
Asano clan.
File:Mitaki-dera Taho-to.jpg, Mitaki-dera
File:Fudoin Kondo.jpg, Fudoin
File:Hiroshima-Castle-1.jpg, Hiroshima Castle
Meiji and Showa periods (1871–1939)
After the
Han was abolished in 1871, the city became the capital of
Hiroshima Prefecture. Hiroshima became a major urban center during the
imperial period, as the Japanese economy shifted from primarily rural to urban industries. During the 1870s, one of the seven government-sponsored English language schools was established in Hiroshima. Ujina Harbor was constructed through the efforts of Hiroshima Governor
Sadaaki Senda in the 1880s, allowing Hiroshima to become an important port city.
The
San'yō Railway was extended to Hiroshima in 1894, and a rail line from the main station to the harbor was constructed for military transportation during the
First Sino-Japanese War
The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the p ...
.
During that war, the
Japanese government
The Government of Japan consists of legislative, executive and judiciary branches and is based on popular sovereignty. The Government runs under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan, adopted in 1947. It is a unitary state, ...
moved temporarily to Hiroshima, and
Emperor Meiji maintained his headquarters at
Hiroshima Castle from September 15, 1894, to April 27, 1895.
[Kosakai, ''Hiroshima Peace Reader''] The significance of Hiroshima for the Japanese government can be discerned from the fact that the first round of talks between Chinese and Japanese representatives to end the Sino-Japanese War was held in Hiroshima, from February 1 to 4, 1895. New industrial plants, including
cotton mills, were established in Hiroshima in the late 19th century. Further industrialization in Hiroshima was stimulated during the
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...
in 1904, which required development and production of military supplies. The Hiroshima Prefectural Commercial Exhibition Hall was constructed in 1915 as a center for trade and the exhibition of new products. Later, its name was changed to Hiroshima Prefectural Product Exhibition Hall, and again to Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall.
During
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, Hiroshima became a focal point of military activity, as the Japanese government entered the war on the Allied forces. About 500 German P.O.W.'s were held in Ninoshima Island in Hiroshima Bay. The growth of Hiroshima as a city continued after the First World War, as the city now attracted the attention of the Catholic Church, and on May 4, 1923, and
Apostolic Vicar was appointed for that city.
File:Mitsui Bank Hiroshima Branch 1928 - 1.jpg, Old Mitsui Bank Hiroshima Branch (1928)
File:Hiroshima map circa 1930.PNG, Map of Hiroshima City in the 1930s (Japanese edition)
File:Hiroshima University Hospital 04.jpg, Old Hiroshima Army Weapon Depot
World War II and the atomic bombing (1939–1945)
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, the
Second General Army
''Dai-ni Sōgun''
, image =
, caption =
, dates = April 8, 1945-November 30, 1945
, country = Empire of Japan
, allegiance = Empe ...
and Chūgoku Regional Army was headquartered in Hiroshima, and the Army Marine Headquarters was located at Ujina port. The city also had large depots of military supplies, and was a key center for shipping.
The
bombing of Tokyo
The was a series of firebombing air raids by the United States Army Air Force during the Pacific campaigns of World War II. Operation Meetinghouse, which was conducted on the night of 9–10 March 1945, is the single most destructive bombi ...
and
other cities in Japan during World War II caused widespread destruction and hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths. There were no such air raids on Hiroshima. However, a real threat existed and was recognized. To protect against potential
firebombings in Hiroshima, school children aged 11–14 years were mobilized to demolish houses and create
firebreak
A firebreak or double track (also called a fire line, fuel break, fireroad and firetrail in Australia) is a gap in vegetation or other combustible material that acts as a barrier to slow or stop the progress of a bushfire or wildfire. A firebr ...
s.
On Monday, August 6, 1945, at 8:15 a.m. (Hiroshima time), the
nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...
"
Little Boy" was dropped on Hiroshima from an American
Boeing B-29 Superfortress, the ''
Enola Gay'', flown by Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr. (23 February 1915 – 1 November 2007), directly killing at least 70,000 people, including thousands of Korean slave laborers. Fewer than 10% of the casualties were military. By the end of the year, injury and radiation brought the total number of deaths to 90,000–140,000. The population before the bombing was around 345,000. About 70% of the city's buildings were destroyed, and another 7% severely damaged.
The public release of film footage of the city following the attack, and some of the
Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission research on the human effects of the attack, were restricted during the
occupation of Japan, and much of this information was censored until the signing of the
Treaty of San Francisco in 1951, restoring control to the Japanese.
As
Ian Buruma observed: The US occupation authorities maintained a monopoly on scientific and medical information about the effects of the atomic bomb through the work of the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission, which treated the data gathered in studies of
hibakusha
''Hibakusha'' ( or ; ja, 被爆者 or ; "person affected by a bomb" or "person affected by exposure o radioactivity) is a word of Japanese origin generally designating the people affected by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at th ...
as privileged information rather than making the results available for the treatment of victims or providing financial or medical support to aid victims.
The book ''
Hiroshima'' by
John Hersey was originally published in article form in the magazine ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'',
on August 31, 1946. It is reported to have reached Tokyo, in English, at least by January 1947 and the translated version was released in Japan in 1949. Although the article was planned to be published over four issues, "Hiroshima" made up the entire contents of one issue of the magazine.
[Sharp, "From Yellow Peril to Japanese Wasteland: John Hersey's 'Hiroshima'", Twentieth Century Literature 46 (2000): 434–452, accessed March 15, 2012.][Jon Michaub, "Eighty-Five From the Archive: John Hersey" ''The New Yorker'', June 8, 2010, np.] ''Hiroshima'' narrates the stories of
six bomb survivors immediately before and four months after the dropping of the
Little Boy bomb.
[Roger Angell, From the Archives, "Hersey and History", ''The New Yorker'', July 31, 1995, p. 66.][John Hersey, Hiroshima (New York: Random House, 1989).]
Oleander (''
Nerium
''Nerium oleander'' ( ), most commonly known as oleander or nerium, is a shrub or small tree cultivated worldwide in temperate and subtropical areas as an ornamental and landscaping plant. It is the only species currently classified in the ge ...
'') is the official flower of the city of Hiroshima because it was the first to bloom again after the explosion of the atomic bomb in 1945.
File:Hiroshima aftermath.jpg, Hiroshima August 1945
File:AtomicEffects-Hiroshima.jpg, Hiroshima in October 1945, two months after the bombing
File:Looking South East General view looking south east building 5H-21 (5-H).jpg, Old Teikoku Bank
was a major Japanese bank from 1876 to 1990. It merged with Taiyo Kobe Bank to form Mitsui Taiyo Kobe Bank (MTKB), which was renamed The Sakura Bank in April 1992. Sakura Bank is now part of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC).
History
T ...
Hiroshima Branch(1945)
Postwar period (1945–present)
On September 17, 1945, Hiroshima was struck by the Makurazaki Typhoon (
Typhoon Ida).
Hiroshima Prefecture suffered more than 3,000 deaths and injuries, about half the national total. More than half the bridges in the city were destroyed, along with heavy damage to roads and railroads, further devastating the city.
Hiroshima was rebuilt after the war, with help from the national government through the Hiroshima Peace Memorial City Construction Law passed in 1949. It provided financial assistance for reconstruction, along with land donated that was previously owned by the national government and used by the Imperial military.
In 1949, a design was selected for the
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, the closest surviving building to the location of the bomb's detonation, was designated the
Genbaku Dome (原爆ドーム) or "Atomic Dome", a part of the
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. The
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum was opened in 1955 in the Peace Park. The historic castle of Hiroshima was rebuilt in 1958.
Hiroshima also contains a
Peace Pagoda, built in 1966 by
Nipponzan-Myōhōji. Uniquely, the pagoda is made of
steel
Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistan ...
, rather than the usual stone.
Hiroshima was proclaimed a City of Peace by the Japanese parliament in 1949, at the initiative of its mayor,
Shinzo Hamai (1905–1968). As a result, the city of Hiroshima received more international attention as a desirable location for holding international conferences on peace as well as social issues. As part of that effort, the Hiroshima Interpreters' and Guide's Association (HIGA) was established in 1992 to facilitate interpretation for conferences, and the Hiroshima Peace Institute was established in 1998 within the
Hiroshima University. The city government continues to advocate the abolition of all
nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...
s and the Mayor of Hiroshima is the president of
Mayors for Peace, an international Mayoral organization mobilizing cities and citizens worldwide to abolish and eliminate nuclear weapons
by 2020.
On May 27, 2016,
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
became the first sitting United States president to visit Hiroshima since the atomic bombing.
Hiroshima is situated on the
Ōta River delta, on
Hiroshima Bay
is a bay in the Inland Sea, Japan.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Hiroshima Wan" in . Administratively, the bay is divided between Hiroshima and Yamaguchi Prefectures. The bay's shore is a Ria. Its surface area is about 1,000 km², w ...
, facing the
Seto Inland Sea on its south side. The river's six channels divide Hiroshima into several islets.
File:Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum 2.jpg, Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
File:Atomic Bomb Dome and Motoyaso River, Hiroshima, Northwest view 20190417 1.jpg, alt=Atomic Bomb Dome by night on 8 September 2017, Atomic Bomb Dome
The , originally the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, and now commonly called the Genbaku Dome, , is part of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, Japan and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. The ...
by Jan Letzel
Jan Letzel (April 9, 1880 – December 26, 1925) was a Czech architect, most famous for designing a building in Hiroshima whose ruins are now the A-Bomb Dome or Peace Memorial.
Biography
Jan Letzel was born in the town of Náchod, Bohemia. ...
and modern Hiroshima
File:Hiroshima Andersen 20200803-1.JPG, Andersen Takaki Bakery
File:Genbakudome by night.jpg, Atomic Bomb Dome by night
File:Hiroshima A-bomb dome.jpg
Geography
Climate
Hiroshima has a
humid subtropical climate characterized by cool to mild winters and hot, humid summers. Like much of Japan, Hiroshima experiences a seasonal temperature lag in summer, with August rather than July being the warmest month of the year. Precipitation occurs year-round, although winter is the driest season. Rainfall peaks in June and July, with August experiencing sunnier and drier conditions.
Wards
Hiroshima has eight
wards (''ku''):
Cityscape
File:An Overview of Hiroshima and the Hiroshima Memorial Peace Park as Seen From a Hotel Rooftop as Secretary Kerry Visited the City (26370244825).jpg, Hiroshima City CBD (2016)
File:Night views from Mount Kogane01.jpg, Skyline
A skyline is the outline or shape viewed near the horizon. It can be created by a city’s overall structure, or by human intervention in a rural setting, or in nature that is formed where the sky meets buildings or the land.
City skylin ...
of Hiroshima City from Mount Futaba(2019)
File:North entrance of Hiroshima Station20210330.jpg, Hiroshima Station
is a railway station in Minami-ku, Hiroshima, Japan, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). Hiroshima Station is the terminal station for several lines, and all San'yō Shinkansen trains stop here.
Station layout
Hiroshima Stati ...
(2021)
File:鯉城通り - panoramio (1).jpg, Around Hondōri Station (2010)
File:20100722 Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park 4478.jpg, Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park (2010)
Demographics
In 2017, the city has an estimated
population
Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction usi ...
of 1,195,327. The total area of the city is , with a
population density
Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...
of 1321 persons per km
2.
The population around 1910 was 143,000.
Before
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, Hiroshima's population had grown to 360,000, and peaked at 419,182 in 1942.
Following the atomic bombing in 1945, the population dropped to 137,197.
By 1955, the city's population had returned to pre-war levels.
Surrounding municipalities
;
Hiroshima Prefecture
*
Kure
*
Higashihiroshima
*
Akitakata
*
Hatsukaichi
*
Akiota
*
Kitahiroshima
is a Cities of Japan, city located in Ishikari Subprefecture, Ishikari, Hokkaido, Japan. "Kita" is the Japanese word for "north", so the town's name, ''Kitahiroshima-shi'', is translated as "North-Hiroshima city" or "city of North-Hiroshima".
...
*
Fuchū
*
Saka
The Saka ( Old Persian: ; Kharoṣṭhī: ; Ancient Egyptian: , ; , old , mod. , ), Shaka (Sanskrit ( Brāhmī): , , ; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): , ), or Sacae (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples who histo ...
*
Kumano
*
Kaita
Economy and infrastructure
*
Mazda Motor Corporation
*
Mitsubishi,
Kawasaki,
JMU
James Madison University (JMU, Madison, or James Madison) is a public research university in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Founded in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg, the institution was renamed Madison Co ...
cor IHI Kure Works, Mitsui and other shipyards on the area
*
Mitsubishi HI Kanon and Eba Works,
IHI
Ihi, Ehee (Nepal Bhasa:ईही) is a ceremony in the Newar community in Nepal in which pre-adolescent girls are "married" to the Suvarna Kumar which is a symbol of the god Vishnu, ensuring that the girl becomes and remains fertile. It is beli ...
Kure machinery
Health care
Hospitals
*Hiroshima City Hospital
*Hiroshima City Asa Hospital
*Hiroshima City Funairi Hospital
*Hiroshima Prefectural Hospital
*Hiroshima Red Cross Hospital & Atomic-bomb Survivors Hospital
*Hiroshima University Hospital
*Japan Post Hiroshima Hospital
*JR Hiroshima Hospital
Media
The ''
Chūgoku Shimbun'' is the local newspaper serving Hiroshima. It publishes both morning paper and evening editions. Television stations include
Hiroshima Home Television,
Hiroshima Telecasting,
Shinhiroshima Telecasting
TSS-TV Co., Ltd. (株式会社テレビ新広島, Television Shin-Hiroshima System), named Shinhiroshima Telecasting Co., Ltd. until 2008, is a TV station serving in Hiroshima Prefecture and eastern Yamaguchi Prefecture, affiliated with of Fuji N ...
, and the
RCC Broadcasting. Radio stations include
Hiroshima FM,
Chugoku Communication Network,
FM Fukuyama,
FM Nanami, and
Onomichi FM
Onomichi FM (JOZZ8AF-FM 79.4 MHz) is a Japanese community FM radio station in Onomichi
is a city located in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, facing the Inland Sea. The city was founded on April 1, 1898. As of April 30, 2016, the city has an es ...
. Hiroshima is also served by
NHK, Japan's public broadcaster, with television and radio broadcasting.
The Maxwell Rayner TV Co. filmed a documentary released in 2012. The documentary contained general information about the city.
Education
University
Hiroshima University was established in 1949, as part of a national restructuring of the education system. One national university was set up in each
prefecture, including Hiroshima University, which combined eight existing institutions (Hiroshima University of Literature and Science, Hiroshima School of Secondary Education, Hiroshima School of Education, Hiroshima Women's School of Secondary Education, Hiroshima School of Education for Youth, Hiroshima Higher School, Hiroshima Higher Technical School, and Hiroshima Municipal Higher Technical School), with the Hiroshima Prefectural Medical College added in 1953. But in 1972 the relocation of Hiroshima University was decided from urban areas of Hiroshima City to wider campus in
Higashihiroshima City. By 1995 almost all campuses were relocated to
Higashihiroshima. But, School of Medicine, School of Dentistry, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Graduate School in these fields in Kasumi Campus and Law School and Center for Research on Regional Economic System in Higashi-Senda Campus are still in Hiroshima City.
Notable art institutions include the
Elisabeth University of Music and
Actor's School Hiroshima
, commonly abbreviated to ASH, is a performing arts school in Hiroshima, Japan, founded in 1999. It is managed by the production company , a subsidiary of Shinhiroshima Telecasting, and is located within TSS Production offices. It has a longstan ...
.
Transportation
Airways
Airport
Hiroshima is served by
Hiroshima Airport , located east of the city, with regular flights to
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...
,
Sapporo
( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...
,
Sendai,
Okinawa
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 Square kilometre, km2 (880 sq mi).
...
, and also to
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
,
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...
,
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
and
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
.
Iwakuni Kintaikyo Airport
is a United States Marine Corps air station located in the Nishiki river delta, southeast of Iwakuni Station in the city of Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan.
History
The Japanese government bought a large portion of what is today MCA ...
, south-west of Hiroshima, re-instated commercial flights on December 13, 2012.
Railways
High-speed rail
;
JR West
, also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and i ...
*
San'yō Shinkansen
Trains
;
JR West
, also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and i ...
*
San'yō Main Line,
Kure Line,
Geibi Line
The is a railway line operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West) in the mountainous area of the Chūgoku region in Japan. It begins at Bitchū Kōjiro Station on the west side of Niimi, Okayama Prefecture, connecting through Miyoshi S ...
,
Kabe Line
*
Hiroshima New Transit Line 1
*
Hiroshima Short Distance Transit Seno Line
Tramways
Hiroshima is notable, in Japan, for its
light rail system, nicknamed ''
Hiroden
is a Japanese transportation company established on June 18, 1910, that operates streetcars and buses in and around Hiroshima Prefecture. It is known as for short.
The company's rolling stock includes an eclectic range of trams manufact ...
'', and the "Moving Streetcar Museum". Streetcar service started in 1912, was interrupted by the atomic bomb, and was restored as soon as was practical. (Service between Koi/Nishi Hiroshima and Tenma-cho was started up three days after the bombing.
)
Streetcars and light rail vehicles are still rolling down Hiroshima's streets, including streetcars 651 and 652, which survived the atomic blast and are among the older streetcars in the system. When Kyoto and Fukuoka discontinued their trolley systems, Hiroshima bought them up at discounted prices, and, by 2011, the city had 298 streetcars, more than any other city in Japan.
*
Hiroden
is a Japanese transportation company established on June 18, 1910, that operates streetcars and buses in and around Hiroshima Prefecture. It is known as for short.
The company's rolling stock includes an eclectic range of trams manufact ...
**
Main Line,
Ujina Line,
Eba Line,
Hakushima Line,
Hijiyama Line,
Yokogawa Line,
Miyajima Line
Roads
Expressway
*
Hiroshima Expressway
Japan National Route
Hiroshima is served by
Japan National Route 2,
Japan National Route 54
National Route 54 is a national highway of Japan connecting Naka-ku, Hiroshima and Matsue, Shimane.
Route data
*Length: 174.5 km (108.43 mi).
References
054
The Type 054 (NATO Codename Jiangkai I) is a class of Chinese multi-r ...
,
Japan National Route 183,
Japan National Route 261
National Route 261 is a national highway of Japan connecting Naka-ku, Hiroshima and Gōtsu, Shimane
is a city located in Shimane Prefecture, Japan. It is the smallest and least populous city in Shimane Prefecture. The city was founded on A ...
,
Japan National Route 433,
Japan National Route 487
National Route 487 is a national highway of Japan. The highway connects Kure, Hiroshima and Minami-ku, Hiroshima
is one of the eight wards of the city of Hiroshima, Japan.
As of March 1, 2012, the ward had an estimated population of 138,471 ...
,
Japan National Route 488
National Route 488 is a national highway of Japan connecting between Masuda, Shimane and Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima in Japan, with total length has 108.9 km (67.66 mi).
References
488
__NOTOC__
Year 488 ( CDLXXXVIII) was a leap ...
.
Prefectural Route
Hiroshima Prefectural Route 37 (Hiroshima-Miyoshi Route), Hiroshima Prefectural Route 70 (Hiroshima-Nakashima Route), Hiroshima Prefectural Route 84 (Higashi Kaita Hiroshima Route), Hiroshima Prefectural Route 164 (Hiroshima-Kaita Route), and Hiroshima Prefectural Route 264 (Nakayama-Onaga Route).
File:Hiroshima Station Building.jpg, Hiroshima Station
is a railway station in Minami-ku, Hiroshima, Japan, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). Hiroshima Station is the terminal station for several lines, and all San'yō Shinkansen trains stop here.
Station layout
Hiroshima Stati ...
File:Hiroshima Bus Center- arrivalside2017.jpg, Hiroshima Bus Center
is the key bus terminal located in central Hiroshima.
History
Hiroshima Bus terminal opened on July 29, 1957, with bus stops around Kamiya-cho, Hiroshima. The current "Bus Center" opened in October 1974 as a part of "Hiroshima Center Building ...
File:Hiroden 5006B 20150502.jpg, A Hiroshima tram, 2015
File:Hiroden 5200 20190623.JPG, Hiroden
is a Japanese transportation company established on June 18, 1910, that operates streetcars and buses in and around Hiroshima Prefecture. It is known as for short.
The company's rolling stock includes an eclectic range of trams manufact ...
File:広島西飛行場01.jpg, Hiroshima–Nishi Airport
File:Port of Hiroshima, Moto-Ujina 01.jpg, Port of Hiroshima
File:海田大橋.jpg, Niho JCT
File:Shinonome IC pt1.jpg, Hiroshima Expressway
Culture
Hiroshima has a professional
symphony orchestra, which has performed at Wel City Hiroshima since 1963. There are also many museums in Hiroshima, including the
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, along with several art museums. The
Hiroshima Museum of Art, which has a large collection of French
renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...
art, opened in 1978. The
Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum opened in 1968 and is located near
Shukkei-en gardens. The
Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, which opened in 1989, is located near Hijiyama Park. Festivals include
Hiroshima Flower Festival
The is a flower festival held annually in Hiroshima, Japan.
Overview
The Hiroshima Flower Festival has been held every year since 1977 during Golden Week (Japan), Golden Week, from 3 May to 5 May.
More than one million people take part in the f ...
and
Hiroshima International Animation Festival
The International Animation Festival Hiroshima is a wikt:biennial, biennial animation festival hosted in Hiroshima, Japan. The festival was founded in 1985 by ''Association International du Film d'Animation'' or ''ASIFA'' as ''International Animat ...
.
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, which includes the
Hiroshima Peace Memorial, draws many visitors from around the world, especially for the
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony, an annual commemoration held on the date of the atomic bombing. The park also contains a large collection of monuments, including the
Children's Peace Monument
The is a monument for peace to commemorate Sadako Sasaki and the thousands of child victims of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. This monument is located in Hiroshima, Japan. Sadako Sasaki, a young girl, died of leukemia from radiation of the ato ...
, the
Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims and many others.
Hiroshima's rebuilt castle (nicknamed ''Rijō'', meaning ''
Koi Castle'') houses a
museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make th ...
of life in the
Edo period
The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...
.
Hiroshima Gokoku Shrine is within the walls of the castle. Other attractions in Hiroshima include
Shukkei-en, Fudōin,
Mitaki-dera, and Hijiyama Park.
Events
*Hiroshima Flower Festival, May 3–5,
Heiwa Odori,
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
*Toukasan, first Friday to Sunday in June, Mikawa-Cho, Chuo Dori
*Ebisu Festival, November 18–20, Ebisucho,
Hacchobori, Chuo Dori
*
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony, August 6,
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
*
1994 Asian Games
Cuisine
Hiroshima is known for
okonomiyaki, a savory (
umami) pancake cooked on an iron plate, usually in front of the customer. It is cooked with various ingredients, which are layered rather than mixed as done with the
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...
version of okonomiyaki. The layers are typically egg, cabbage,
bean sprouts (moyashi), sliced pork/bacon with optional items (mayonnaise, fried squid, octopus, cheese,
mochi,
kimchi, etc.), and noodles (
soba
Soba ( or , "buckwheat") is a thin Japanese noodle made from buckwheat. The noodles are served either chilled with a dipping sauce, or hot in a noodle soup. The variety ''Nagano soba'' includes wheat flour.
In Japan, soba noodles can be found ...
,
udon
Udon ( or ) is a thick noodle made from wheat flour, used in Japanese cuisine. It is a comfort food for many Japanese people. There are a variety of ways it is prepared and served. Its simplest form is in a hot soup as with a mild broth called ...
) topped with another layer of egg and a generous dollop of okonomiyaki sauce (Carp and Otafuku are two popular brands). The amount of cabbage used is usually 3 to 4 times the amount used in the Osaka style. It starts piled very high and is generally pushed down as the cabbage cooks. The order of the layers may vary slightly depending on the chef's style and preference, and ingredients will vary depending on the preference of the customer.
Sports
Hiroshima has several professional sports clubs.
Football
The city's main
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
club is
Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Sanfrecce Hiroshima ( ja, サンフレッチェ広島, translit=''Sanfuretche Hiroshima'') is a Japanese professional football club based in Asaminami-ku, Hiroshima. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the c ...
, who play at the
Hiroshima Big Arch
The , known under current sponsorship as , is a multi-purpose stadium in Hiroshima, Japan. It used mostly for association football matches and also for athletics. The venue is the home of J. League club Sanfrecce Hiroshima. It has a capaci ...
. As Toyo Kogyo Soccer Club, they won the
Japan Soccer League
, or JSL, was the top flight association football league in Japan between 1965 and 1992, and was the precursor to the current professional league, the J.League. JSL was the second national league of a team sport in Japan after the professional ...
five times between 1965 and 1970 and the
Emperor's Cup in
1965
Events January–February
* January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years.
* January 20
** Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in for a full term ...
,
1967 and
1969
This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon.
Events January
* January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco.
* January 5
**Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...
. After adopting their current name in 1992, the club won the
J.League in
2012,
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
and
2015. The city's main women's football club is
Angeviolet Hiroshima
was a women's football club. Its hometown was the city of Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urb ...
. Defunct clubs include
Rijo Shukyu FC, who won the Emperor's Cup in 1924 and 1925, and
Ẽfini Hiroshima SC.
Baseball
Hiroshima Toyo Carp
The is a professional baseball team based in Hiroshima, Japan. They compete in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. The team is primarily owned by the Matsuda family, led by , who is a descendant of Mazda founder Jujiro Mats ...
are the city's major
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
club, and play at the
Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium Hiroshima
, also called , is a baseball stadium in Minami-ku, Hiroshima, Japan. It is used primarily for baseball and is the home of the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of the Japanese Central League. The ballpark has a capacity of 32,000 people and opened on April ...
.
Members of the
Central League
The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consi ...
, the club won the
Central League
The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consi ...
in 1975, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1986, 1991, 2016, 2017 and 2018, the club won the
Japan Series
The Japan Series ( , officially the Japan Championship Series, ), also the Nippon Series, :File:2014_JS_logo.png is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a best-of-seven series ...
in 1979, 1980 and 1984.
Basketball
Hiroshima Dragonflies
The Hiroshima Dragonflies (広島ドラゴンフライズ) are a professional basketball team based in Hiroshima, Japan. In October 2014 they commenced competing in the Western Conference of the Japanese National Basketball League. In Septembe ...
(
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
).
Handball
Hiroshima Maple Reds
Hiroshima Maple Reds is a women's handball team based in Hiroshima, Japan. It plays in the Japan Handball League. The club was founded in 1994 and belonged to IZUMI, a supermarket company in Hiroshima. The club was dissolved in 2001, then reins ...
(
handball).
Volleyball
JT Thunders
is a men's volleyball team based in Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Hiroshima city, Hiroshima, Japan. It plays in V.League (Japan), V.Premier League. The owner of the club is Japan Tobacco.
History
The club was founded in 1931 as a club of the Ministry ...
(
volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...
).
Other sports
The
Woodone Open Hiroshima was part of the
Japan Golf Tour
The Japan Golf Tour ( ja, 日本ゴルフツアー機構) is a prominent golf tour. It was founded in 1973 and as of 2006 it offers the third-highest annual prize fund out of the regular (that is not for seniors) men's professional tours after t ...
between 1973 and 2007. The city also hosted the
1994 Asian Games, using the Big Arch stadium, which is now used for the annual
Mikio Oda Memorial International Amateur Athletic Game. The now-called
Hiroshima Prefectural Sports Center
is an indoor arena located in Hiroshima, Japan. The original arena was built sometime shortly after World War II. The arena was rebuilt for the 1994 Asian Games. It hosted some of the group games for the 2006 FIVB Men's World Championship and t ...
was one of the host arenas of the
2006 FIBA World Championship (basketball).
International relations
Twin towns – sister cities
Hiroshima has ten
sister cities:
*
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different na ...
,
Emilia-Romagna
egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title ...
, Italy (since May 1962)
*
Chongqing, China (since October 1986)
*
Columbus
Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to:
* Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer
* Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio
Columbus may also refer to:
Places ...
,
OH, United States (since July 1990)
*
Guernica
Guernica (, ), official name (reflecting the Basque language) Gernika (), is a town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain. The town of Guernica is one part (along with neighbouring Lumo) of the m ...
,
Basque Country, Spain (since Feb 1961)
*
Daegu
Daegu (, , literally 'large hill', 대구광역시), formerly spelled Taegu and officially known as the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea.
It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; it is ...
, South Korea (since May 1997)
*
Hanover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
,
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...
, Germany (since June 1983)
*
Honolulu
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the isla ...
,
HI, United States (since June 1959)
*
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...
,
QC, Canada (since June 1998)
*
Nantes,
Pays de la Loire, France (since March 1986)
*
Volgograd, Russia (since September 1972)
Within Japan, Hiroshima has a similar relationship with
Nagasaki
is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan.
It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...
.
Tourism
The Japanese city and the Prefecture of Hiroshima may have been devastated by the atomic bomb over 76 years ago, but today, this site of the destruction is one of the top tourist destinations in the entire country. Statistics released by the nation's tourist agency revealed that around 363,000 visitors went to the metropolis during 2012, with Americans making up the vast majority of that figure, followed by Australians and Chinese.
In 2016, some 1.18 million foreigners visited Hiroshima, a 3.2-fold jump from about 360,000 in 2012. Americans were the largest group, accounting for 16%, followed by Australians at 15%, Italians at 8% and Britons at 6%. The numbers of Chinese and South Korean visitors were small, representing only 1% and 0.2% of the total.
Places of interest
There are many popular tourist destinations near Hiroshima. A popular destination outside the city is
Itsukushima Island, also known as
Miyajima may refer to:
Places
* Miyajima, another name for the Japanese island Itsukushima
* Miyajima, Hiroshima, a former town on this island, merged into Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima in 2005
* Itsukushima Shrine
is a Shinto shrine on the island of Itsukus ...
, which is a sacred island with many temples and shrines. But inside Hiroshima there are many popular destinations as well, and according to online guidebooks, these are the most popular tourist destinations in Hiroshima:
#
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum
#
The Atomic Bomb Dome
#
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
#
Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium Hiroshima
, also called , is a baseball stadium in Minami-ku, Hiroshima, Japan. It is used primarily for baseball and is the home of the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of the Japanese Central League. The ballpark has a capacity of 32,000 people and opened on April ...
#
Hiroshima Castle
#
Shukkei-en
#
Mitaki-dera Temple
#
Hiroshima Gogoku Shrine
#
Kamiyacho and
Hatchobori (''A major center in Hiroshima which is a shopping area. It is directly connected to the
Hiroshima Bus Center
is the key bus terminal located in central Hiroshima.
History
Hiroshima Bus terminal opened on July 29, 1957, with bus stops around Kamiya-cho, Hiroshima. The current "Bus Center" opened in October 1974 as a part of "Hiroshima Center Building ...
'')
#
Hiroshima City Asa Zoological Park
#
Hiroshima Botanical Garden
The is located in Saeki-ku, Hiroshima in western Honshū, on the hill facing the Seto Inland Sea. The Garden was opened to the public on 3 November 1976.
Since its inception, the Garden has been adding to its collection of exotic as well as ...
Other popular places in the city include the
Hondōri shopping arcade.
Notes
References
*
*
Further reading
*Pacific War Research Society, ''Japan's Longest Day'' (Kodansha, 2002, ), the internal Japanese account of the surrender and how it was almost thwarted by fanatic soldiers who attempted a coup against the Emperor.
*
Richard B. Frank, ''Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire'' Penguin, 2001 )
*
Robert Jungk, ''Children of the Ashes'', 1st Eng. ed. 1961
Gyanpedia.in PDF*
Gar Alperovitz, ''The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb'',
*
John Hersey,
''Hiroshima'',
*
Michihiko Hachiya, ''Hiroshima Diary: The Journal of a Japanese Physician'', August 6 – September 30, 1945 (Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press, 1955), since reprinted.
*
Masuji Ibuse, ''Black Rain'',
*
Tamiki Hara, ''Summer Flowers''
*
Robert Jay Lifton ''Death in life: The survivors of Hiroshima'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1st edition (1968)
External links
*
Hiroshima City official website (In English)
Official tourist information website (in 5 languages)Hiroshima before and after atomic bombing– interactive aerial maps
Hiroshima atomic bomb damage– interactive aerial map
Is Hiroshima still radioactive?– No. Includes explanation.
*
CBC Digital Archives – Shadows of Hiroshima– interactive with points of interest
BBC World ServiceBBC Witness programme interviews a schoolgirl who survived the bomb
Hope Elizabeth May, "Creating Peace through Law: the City of Hiroshima"hiroshima-navi"Hiroshima" By John Hersey, A Reporter at Large August 31, 1946 Issue of The New Yorker*
{{Authority control
Cities in Hiroshima Prefecture
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Populated places established in 1589
Port settlements in Japan
Populated coastal places in Japan
World War II sites in Japan
1589 establishments in Asia
Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan
Destroyed cities