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 in

Yamaguchi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Yamaguchi Prefecture has a population of 1,377,631 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 6,112 km2 (2,359 sq mi). Yamaguchi Prefecture borders Shimane Prefecture to ...

, Japan. The city was founded on April 1, 1943. It was reorganised with different borders on July 1, 1955, and October 4, 2004. As of October 1, 2016, 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 51,040, 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 560 persons per square kilometer (1,450.4 persons per square mile). The total area is . The name Hikari itself means "brilliance" or "light" in Japanese. It is connected by railroad with a train station and route 188. Hikari is bounded with Yanai,

Kudamatsu is a city in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 55,119, with 24,392 households and a population density of 616 persons per km2. The total area is 89.44 km2. The city was founded on November 3, 1939, being ...

, Shunan,

Iwakuni is a city located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. History Iwakuni was formerly the castle town of the Iwakuni han, which was formed by Lord Hiroie Kikkawa after he was banished there for supporting the defeated shōgun. The Kikkawa clan rule ...

and Tabuse in the Kumage District. On October 4, 2004, the town of Yamato (from Kumage District) was merged into Hikari.

History

Municipal timeline

*October 1, 1940: The town of Shunan was renamed Hikari. *April 1, 1943: The town merged with the town of Murozumi to form the city of Hikari (1st generation). *July 1, 1955: The city (1st generation) merged with the village of Suō to form the new city of Hikari (2nd generation). *April 10, 1957: The city lost parts of Tateno area to the village of Yamato. *October 4, 2004: The city (2nd generation) absorbed the town of Yamato (from Kumage District) to create the new and expanded city of Hikari (3rd generation).

Military

The Hikari Naval

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

(or Dockyard) included a

fire-control A fire-control system (FCS) is a number of components working together, usually a gun data computer, a director, and radar, which is designed to assist a ranged weapon system to target, track, and hit a target. It performs the same task as a hu ...

factory, built in 1942, that employed about 600 people. It was one of the principal establishments for producing the Standard H.A. System (Type 94 ''Kosha Sochi'') at the rate of ~15 per month, along with

bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...

components,

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...

afterbodies, and misc. machined parts. The

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

formed the Second Special Attack Force (former First Special Base Unit) on March 1, 1945, at Hikari for conducting

kaiten were crewed torpedoes and suicide craft, used by the Imperial Japanese Navy in the final stages of World War II. History In recognition of the unfavorable progress of the war, towards the end of 1943 the Japanese high command considered s ...

attacks. Rear Admiral Nagai Mitsuru was the

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latit ...

. On that same day, a kaiten crew training unit is also formed at Hirao, SE of Hikari. This was one of four such

training bases. With hints of cessation of hostilities, bombing raids by U.S. forces were canceled. However, resumption of bombing was ordered on August 13, 1945. The Hikari Naval Arsenal was consequently bombed the next day on August 14, 1945 (one day before the end of war), taking 738 lives.Tomokiyo, Hiroshi. "2005 Hikari City Memorial Service for the War Dead"
- accessed 27 Jan 2010 The attacking U.S. aircraft were 156

B-29 bombers The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Fl ...

of the 40th Bomb Group stationed in

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a commonwealth of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2020 est ...

, supported by

P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James ...

s from

Iwo Jima Iwo Jima (, also ), known in Japan as , is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands and lies south of the Bonin Islands. Together with other islands, they form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at high. ...

. The 40th Bomb Group dropped 3,540 bombs (885 tons) on the Hikari Naval Arsenal, resulting in severe destruction. Including this bombing, Hikari lost more than 1,200 citizens in

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 ...

, both military and civilian. After surrender, Allied forces found 52 kaiten at Hikari and destroyed them.Hackett, Bob and Kingsepp, Sander. "SENSUIKAN! Midget Submarines in Japan and 'Operation Downfall' - 1945"
- accessed 28 Jan 2010 The former Hikari Naval Arsenal is now the sites for Nippon Steel Corporation Tomokiyo, Hiroshi. "2004 Hikari City Memorial Service for the War Dead"
- accessed 27 Jan 2010 and vaccine manufacturing by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company. Takeda discovered the hull of a Type 4 Kaiten under one of the buildings in August 1989, an attestation to the history of the site. The Kaiten Monument, erected in 1996, honors Hikari Naval Arsenal kaiten pilots. Steel frames that once constituted the structure of the destroyed Hikari Naval Arsenal were used to build the Tsukumo Bridge.Tomokiyo, Hiroshi. "The Hikari Naval Dockyard"
- accessed 27 Jan 2010

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Cities in Yamaguchi Prefecture Port settlements in Japan Populated coastal places in Japan