is a

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 de ...

located on the Ashida River in

Hiroshima Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Hiroshima Prefecture has a population of 2,811,410 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 8,479 km² (3,274 sq mi). Hiroshima Prefecture borders Okayama Prefecture to the ...

, Japan. As of September 30, 2019, 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 using ...

of 468,812 and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), 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 ...

of 904.80 persons per km². The total area is . After Hiroshima, it is the largest city in

and is located on the far east side of the prefecture. The city's symbol is the rose and it holds an annual Rose Festival in the month of May. The official mascot of Fukuyama is an anthropomorphic rose child by the name of Rola. Fukuyama is a vital commercial, industrial and

communications center In telecommunication, the term communications center has the following meanings: # An agency charged with the responsibility for handling and controlling communications traffic. The center normally includes a message center, and transmitting and r ...

. It produces

machinery A machine is a physical system using power to apply forces and control movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to natural biological macromolecul ...

koto Koto may refer to: * Koto (band), an Italian synth pop group * Koto (instrument), a Japanese musical instrument * Koto (kana), a ligature of two Japanese katakana * Koto (traditional clothing), a traditional dress made by Afro-Surinamese women * ...

(Japanese harps), rubber products,

electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

textiles Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not th ...

, and processed foods.

History

What is today the city of Fukuyama was founded as a castle town in 1619 by Mizuno Katsunari, a cousin of ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fel ...

. Mizuno was given command of a territory in western Japan consisting of southern

Bingo Province was a province of Japan on the Inland Sea side of western Honshū, comprising what is today the eastern part of Hiroshima Prefecture. It was sometimes grouped together with Bizen and Bitchu Provinces as . The 備 ''bi'' in the names of these p ...

and southwestern Bitchu Province. He built a new castle-town as his capital and called it Fukuyama. After the

abolition of the han system The in the Empire of Japan and its replacement by a system of prefectures in 1871 was the culmination of the Meiji Restoration begun in 1868, the starting year of the Meiji period. Under the reform, all daimyos (, ''daimyō'', feudal lords) ...

in 1871, Fukuyama Prefecture was founded. A short time later the prefecture was renamed Fukatsu. Fukatsu Prefecture was merged with Kurashiki Prefecture in 1872 to form Oda Prefecture. In 1875 Oda Prefecture was merged into

Okayama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,906,464 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 7,114 km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefecture borders Tottori Prefecture to the nor ...

. When the border between Hiroshima and Okayama prefectures was re-arranged in 1876, Fukuyama Town became a part of Hiroshima Prefecture. Fukuyama Town became Fukuyama City on July 1, 1916. The population of the city at that time was 32,356. Bombing of Fukuyama Station in 1945

On August 8, 1945 (two days after the atomic-bombing of Hiroshima), 91 American B-29 bombers made an air raid on Fukuyama, destroying much of the city. Fukuyama was named one of the core cities of Japan on April 1, 1998. Fukuyama castle Honmaru

Mergers with surrounding towns

In 1933, 10

villages A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

from surrounding Fukayasu District were merged into Fukuyama. Two additional villages from Numakuma District were similarly merged in 1942. On March 31, 1954, several towns and villages in Kōrimatsu District merged to found the city of Matsunaga. Matsunaga City would eventually merge with Fukuyama City on May 1, 1966. Several towns and villages from the Fukayasu District merged into Fukuyama in 1956, and Fukayasu Town merged in 1962. Several other surrounding towns and districts eventually merged with Fukuyama: *April 1, 1974, Ashida Town in Ashina District *February 1, 1975, Kamo Town, Fukayasu District and Ekiya Town, Ashina District *February 3, 2003,

Utsumi Utsumi (written: ) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese voice actor *, Japanese politician and cabinet minister * Takeshi Utsumi, American operations researcher *, Japanese basketball coach *, former secretary ...

Town in Numakuma District and Shin'ichi Town in Ashina District, thereby dissolving Ashina District *February 1, 2005 Numakuma Town, dissolving Numakuma District *March 1, 2006 Kannabe Town in Fukayasu District, dissolving the district

Geography

Climate

Fukuyama has a humid subtropical climate (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

''Cfa'') with very warm summers and cool winters. Precipitation is significant throughout the year, but is somewhat lower in winter.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Fukuyama in 2020 is 460,930 people. Fukuyama has been conducting censuses since 1960.

Transportation

The city is a regional rail hub and a stop on the coastal Sanyō line as well as a terminus for the Fukuen line extending north into Hiroshima Prefecture. Additionally, four types of Shinkansen train on the Sanyō Shinkansen line (limited express Nozomi, express Hikari, Kyuushu shinkansen and local Kodama) stop there, making the city easily accessible from anywhere in Japan. Regional and city buses carry passengers throughout the city and link it to other cities in the region. Some of the cities reachable by highway bus are Hiroshima, Kobe, Kyoto, Matsue, Okayama, Osaka, Tokyo, Ehime's Imabari City & Matsuyama city and Yonago. ShinkansenRailStar7525

Education

Fukuyama is home to some 70 elementary schools, several dozen junior high schools and roughly twenty high schools, both public and private. Fukuyama University is located in the northwestern district of Matsunaga. The university offers many courses of study, but is best known for its excellent

pharmacology Pharmacology is a branch of medicine, biology and pharmaceutical sciences concerned with drug or medication action, where a drug may be defined as any artificial, natural, or endogenous (from within the body) molecule which exerts a biochemi ...

program.

Fukuyama City Junior College for Women is a public women's junior college A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and tec ...

is located in the Kita Honjo district. The Holocaust Education Center in Fukuyama, inaugurated on June 17, 1995, is dedicated to the memory of 1.5 million children who were murdered in the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

. It has the distinction of being the first institution in Japan devoted to Holocaust education.

Shopping

Fukuyama is home to several large department stores, including Lotz, Tenmaya, and Ito Yokado/Happy Town/Port Plaza. Kannabe-cho is home to the department store Fuji Grand. Many shops selling traditional Japanese goods can be found along the city's Hondori (covered shopping arcade), as well as throughout the city. Further away from the center of town are the districts of Matsunaga, known for its traditional Japanese footwear, called geta, and Tomo-no-Ura, a fishing village known for its traditional sea bream netting display every May.

Sights

* Tomonoura - fishing port of numerous temples and shrines; approximately 30 minutes south of Fukuyama by bus (14 km from Fukuyama). * Myōōin - Buddhist temple with two national treasures. * Taichōrō - temple hall on the hill behind the ferry terminal was built at the end of the 17th century to house a Korean delegation, which would at times pay its respects. * Uono-sato - snack-food factory that processes most of the locally-caught fish. One can observe workers make ''chikuwa'' (ground-fish snacks) and ''senbei'' (rice crackers). * Fukuyama Castle * Kusado Sengen, a medieval town excavated in the Ashida River *

Fukuyama Hachimangū Fukuyama Hachimangū (福山八幡宮, ''Fukuyama Hachimangū'') is a Shinto shrine located in Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. It is a Hachiman shrine, dedicated to the kami Hachiman. The kami it enshrines include Emperor Ōjin, Empress Jin ...

Shinto shrine

Twin towns/Sister cities

* Kazanlak, Bulgaria *

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of ...

, Canada *

Okazaki Okazaki may refer to: *Okazaki (surname) *Okazaki, Aichi, a city in Japan *Okazaki Castle, a castle in Japan *Okazaki fragments Okazaki fragments are short sequences of DNA nucleotides (approximately 150 to 200 base pairs long in eukaryotes) w ...

, Aichi, Japan * Pohang City,

North Gyeongsang North Gyeongsang Province ( ko, 경상북도, translit=Gyeongsangbuk-do, ) is a province in eastern South Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former Gyeongsang province, and remained a province of Korea until the ...

, South Korea *

Tacloban City Tacloban ( ; ), officially the City of Tacloban ( war, Syudad han Tacloban; fil, Lungsod ng Tacloban), is a first class highly urbanized city in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines. The city is autonomous from the province of Leyte, al ...

, Philippines * Maui, Hawaii, United States *

Gotham City Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his allies and foes. Created by writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane, t ...

, New Jersey, United States

Notable people from Fukuyama, Hiroshima

* Mana Endo, Japanese professional tennis player *

Anri Sugihara Is a Japanese gravure idol who is represented by the talent agency, Stardust Promotion is a leading Japanese talent agency, headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo. It was founded in 1979 and invests in entertainment forms including music, cinema, and ...

, Japanese

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* Jun Fukuyama,

Japanese voice actor Voice acting in Japan is an industry where actors provide voice-overs as characters or narrators in media including anime, video games, audio dramas, commercials, and dubbing for non-Japanese films and television programs. In Japan, and a ...

and singer (''

Code Geass , often referred to simply as ''Code Geass'', is a Japanese anime television series produced by Sunrise. It was directed by Gorō Taniguchi and written by Ichirō Ōkouchi, with original character designs by Clamp. ...

'', '' Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions'', '' Persona 5'', '' Osomatsu-san'', '' Assassination Classroom'', '' Working!!'', '' K'', '' Oresuki'' and '' Jewelpet'') *

Hirotaka Egusa is a Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball pitcher. His wife is a former Japanese volleyball player Yoshie Takeshita Yoshie Takeshita (竹下佳江 ''Takeshita Yoshie'', born March 18, 1978) was a Japanese volleyball player who played for J ...

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pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...

* Soji Shimada, Japanese mystery writer * NOCCHi, Japanese singer, dancer and

J-Pop J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the ...

idol, member of

girlgroup

Perfume Perfume (, ; french: parfum) is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agreeable scent. ...

(Real Name: Ayano Ōmoto, Nihongo: 大本彩乃, ''Ōmoto Ayano'') *

Takuya Mitsuda is a Japanese manga artist from Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture. He has published his works primarily in Shogakukan's manga magazine, ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday''. He is best known for his long-running baseball manga ''Major'' for which he won ...

, Japanese

manga artist A is a comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. As of 2006, about 3,000 professional manga artists were working in Japan. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist be ...

('' Major'') * Kotomi Kyono, Japanese actress and

singer * Yuhki Kamatani, Japanese

and

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

('' Nabari no Ou'') * Fumiaki Kobayashi,

Japanese politician Politics of Japan are conducted in a framework of a dominant-party bicameral parliamentary constitutional monarchy, in which the Emperor is the head of state and the Prime Minister is the head of government and the head of the Cabinet, which ...

representing Hiroshima 7th district in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

, the lower house of the National Diet, for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) *

Masuji Ibuse was a Japanese author. His most notable work is the novel '' Black Rain''. Early life and education Ibuse was born in 1898 to a landowning family in the village of , which is now part of Fukuyama, Hiroshima. Ibuse failed his entrance exam to ...

, Japanese author (''

Black Rain Black Rain may refer to: Phenomena * Black rain, rain polluted with dark particulates; such as those from wildfires, volcanic eruptions and explosions, and nuclear fallout. Film and television * ''Black Rain'' (1977 film) or ''The Last Wave' ...

'') *

Tatsuo Kawai was a Japanese diplomat and author. He was a leading proponent of expansionism in Japan before World War II but later became a pacifist and was Japan's first Minister to Australia. Early years Kawai was born in Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture, ...

, Japanese

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

and author *

Katsuhisa Fujii ,(born August 15, 1972) is a Japanese retired mixed martial artist and professional wrestler, mostly known for his work in Pro Wrestling Zero1 and Hustle. A professional MMA competitor from 1996 until 2010, he competed for the UFC, PRIDE Figh ...

, retired

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorpo ...

and

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, former Japanese professional wrestler * Makoto Izumitani, Japanese

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western bands that play rock, pop, jazz, or R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeeping and embellishing the musical timbre. The drummer' ...

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, a Japanese

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on strike (attack), striking, grappling and ground f ...

and

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other tit ...

, professional wrestling booker,

authority figure In the fields of sociology and political science, authority is the legitimate power of a person or group over other people. In a civil state, ''authority'' is practiced in ways such a judicial branch or an executive branch of government.''The N ...

and occasional wrestler *

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, retired Japanese

* Hiroyuki Nakano, Japanese

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, ...

Naomi Nishida is an actress. She won the Best Supporting Actress award at the 2001 Yokohama Film Festival and at the 25th Hochi Film Award for her performance in ''Nabbie's Love''. Personal life She married a Japanese shoe designer in 2005, and gave birth to a ...

, Japanese

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

(''

Nabbie's Love is a 1999 film written and directed by Yuji Nakae about Nanako Agarikinjo ( Naomi Nishida) returning to Aguni Island (Okinawa) to visit her grandmother, Nabbie Agarikinjo, played by Tomi Taira. The film score is by Kenichiro Isoda, with two ...

'') * Masanori Sera, Japanese singer and actor * Kotaro Miyachi, Japanese former professional tennis player *

Hiroshi Miyazawa was the governor of Hiroshima Prefecture from 1973 to 1981 and justice minister from 1995 to 1996. Biography Miyazawa was born in 1921. He was the younger brother of Kiichi Miyazawa. He was elected as governor of Hiroshima in December 1973 f ...

, former governor of Hiroshima Prefecture, younger brother of

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and father of Yoichi Miyazawa *

, former

Prime Minister of Japan The prime minister of Japan ( Japanese: 内閣総理大臣, Hepburn: ''Naikaku Sōri-Daijin'') is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its Ministers of Stat ...

, older brother of

and uncle of Yoichi Miyazawa * Yoichi Miyazawa,

, member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), son of

and nephew of

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, Japanese professional wrestler (Real Name: Konami Takemoto, Nihongo: 竹本小波, ''Takemoto Konami'') *

Kenji Imaizumi is a Japanese professional shogi player A professional shogi player (将棋棋士 ''shōgi kishi'' or プロ棋士 ''puro kishi'' "professional player") is a shogi player who is usually a member of a professional guild of shogi players. Th ...

, Japanese

professional shogi player A professional shogi player (将棋棋士 ''shōgi kishi'' or プロ棋士 ''puro kishi'' "professional player") is a shogi player who is usually a member of a professional guild of shogi players. There are two categories of professional player ...

ranked 5- dan

References

External links

Fukuyama City official website

* * {{Authority control Cities in Hiroshima Prefecture Port settlements in Japan Populated coastal places in Japan Populated places established in 1619 1619 establishments in Japan