is the capital of

Hiroshima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, 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 ...

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 north ...

. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010.

Kazumi Matsui is a Japanese politician and the current mayor of Hiroshima, the capital city of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. Early life Matsui was born on January 8, 1953 in Hiroshima, Japan. His parents are ''hibakusha'', atomic bomb survivors. He earned a ...

has been the city's mayor since April 2011. Hiroshima was founded in 1589 as a castle town on the Ōta River

delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also re ...

. Following the Meiji Restoration 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 Mediterr ...

, playing significant roles such as in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War, 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 (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 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 ruin ...

(a UNESCO World Heritage Site) 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 of western Honshu.

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 Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

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.

Sengoku and Edo periods (1589–1871)

Hiroshima was established on the delta coastline of the

Seto Inland Sea The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osaka ...

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 to Masanori Fukushima, a '' daimyō'' (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 Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...

was abolished in 1871, the city became the capital of

. 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 The was established in 1887 and served as a major railroad company during the Meiji period in Japan. The railroad was headquartered in Kobe, and Nakamigawa Hikojirō served as head of the railroad. Rail lines The first rail line opened in 1888 ...

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. 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, c ...

moved temporarily to Hiroshima, and

Emperor Meiji , also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figur ...

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 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, 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, 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 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 firebreaks. On Monday, August 6, 1945, at 8:15 a.m. (Hiroshima time), the nuclear weapon " Little Boy" was dropped on Hiroshima from an American

Boeing B-29 Superfortress 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 ...

, the ''

Enola Gay The ''Enola Gay'' () is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets. On 6 August 1945, piloted by Tibbets and Robert A. Lewis during the final stages of World War II, it be ...

'', 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 Japan was occupied and administered by the victorious Allies of World War II from the 1945 surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of the war until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect in 1952. The occupation, led by the United States wi ...

, 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 Ian Buruma (born December 28, 1951) is a Dutch writer and editor who lives and works in the United States. In 2017, he became editor of ''The New York Review of Books'', but left the position in September 2018. Much of his writing has focused on ...

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 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 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 Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

'' by John Hersey was originally published in article form in the magazine '' The New Yorker'', 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 Hiroshima Branch（1945）

Postwar period (1945–present)

On September 17, 1945, Hiroshima was struck by the Makurazaki Typhoon ( Typhoon Ida).

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 is a memorial park in the center of Hiroshima, Japan. It is dedicated to the legacy of Hiroshima as the first city in the world to suffer a Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, nuclear attack at the end of World War II, and to the memorie ...

. 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

. 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 A Peace Pagoda is a Buddhist stupa; a monument to inspire peace, designed to provide a focus for people of all races and creeds, and to help unite them in their search for world peace. Most, though not all, peace pagodas built since World War II ...

, 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-resistant ty ...

, 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 is a Japanese national university located in Higashihiroshima and Hiroshima, Japan. Established in 1929, it was chartered as a university in 1949 following the merge of a number of national educational institutions. History Under the Nationa ...

. The city government continues to advocate the abolition of all nuclear weapons 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 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, ...

, facing the

on its south side. The river's six channels divide Hiroshima into several islets. File:Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum 2.jpg,

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 ruin ...

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 A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

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 Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...

(''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 of Hiroshima City from Mount Futaba（2019） File:North entrance of Hiroshima Station20210330.jpg, Hiroshima Station (2021) File:鯉城通り - panoramio (1).jpg, Around Hondōri Station (2010) File:20100722 Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park 4478.jpg,

(2010)

Demographics

In 2017, the city has an estimated population of 1,195,327. The total area of the city is , with a population density of 1321 persons per km². The population around 1910 was 143,000. Before World War II, 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

;

* Kure * Higashihiroshima *

Akitakata 270px, ruins of Yoshida Koriyama Castle 270px, Aerial view of Yoshida urban center is a city located in north-central Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 26,810 in 13,319 households and a population density of ...

* Hatsukaichi * Akiota *

Kitahiroshima is a city located in 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". As of April 30, 2017, the city has an est ...

Fuchū is the name of several places in Japan. The name means capital of a province (Kokufu). According to the provisions of the 8th-century Ritsuryō system, there was a ''fuchū'' in every administrative province. The placename Fuchū remains in many ...

* Saka * Kumano * Kaita

Economy and infrastructure

* Mazda Motor Corporation *

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...

, 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 Coll ...

cor IHI Kure Works, Mitsui and other shipyards on the area *

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 bel ...

Kure machinery Rijo-dori Street from platform of Hondori Station at dusk

Hiroshima-Hondori Shopping Street at dusk 2

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 Itsukaichi Community Broadcast (FM Nanami) was a Japanese community FM radio station in Saeki-ku, Hiroshima is one of the eight wards of the city of Hiroshima, Japan. The Hiroshima Branch of the Japan Mint The is an Independent Administ ...

, 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 ...

. 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

was established in 1949, as part of a national restructuring of the education system. One national university was set up in each

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...

, 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 is a Jesuit university in Hiroshima, Japan. The predecessor of the school was founded in 1948. It was chartered as a university in 1963. History Belgian Jesuit Father Ernest Goossens began a music classroom for youths right after the devasta ...

and Actor's School Hiroshima.

Transportation

Airways

Airport

Hiroshima is served by Hiroshima Airport , located east of the city, with regular flights to Tokyo, Sapporo,

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture, the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,091,407 in 525,828 households, and is one of Japan's 20 Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, desig ...

, Okinawa, and also to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea.

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 MCAS Iw ...

, south-west of Hiroshima, re-instated commercial flights on December 13, 2012.

Railways

High-speed rail

; JR West * San'yō Shinkansen

Trains

; JR West *

San'yō Main Line The is a major railway line owned by JR Group companies in western Japan, connecting Kōbe Station and Moji Station, largely paralleling the coast of the Seto Inland Sea, Inland Sea, in other words, the southern coast of western Honshu. The Sa ...

, Kure Line, Geibi Line, 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 manufactur ...

'', 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. *

Main Line Mainline, ''Main line'', or ''Main Line'' may refer to: Transportation Railway * Main line (railway), the principal artery of a railway system * Main line railway preservation, the practice of operating preserved trains on an operational railw ...

, 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 is a major highway on the islands of Honshū and Kyūshū in Japan. It follows the old Sanyōdo westward from the city of Osaka, Osaka Prefecture in the Kansai region to the city of Kitakyūshū in Fukuoka Prefecture, passing through the Sa ...

, Japan National Route 54,

Japan National Route 183 National Route 183 is a national highway of 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, ...

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 Ap ...

, 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 is a city located in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The name derives from a market traditionally held on the 20th of each month with ...

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 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 Buildin ...

File:Hiroden 5006B 20150502.jpg, A Hiroshima tram, 2015 File:Hiroden 5200 20190623.JPG,

File:広島西飛行場01.jpg,

Hiroshima–Nishi Airport was an airport in Nishi-ku, Hiroshima, Nishi Ward, located southwest of Hiroshima, Hiroshima City, Japan. History Hiroshima's first airport, , opened on a nearby island in Naka-ku, Hiroshima in 1940. It was largely destroyed during the atomic ...

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 An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...

, 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 art, opened in 1978. The Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum opened in 1968 and is located near

Shukkei-en is a historic Japanese garden in the city of Hiroshima, Japan. The Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum is located adjacent to the garden. History Construction began in 1620 during the Edo period at the order of Asano Nagaakira, ''daimyō'' of the ...

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 biennial animation festival hosted in Hiroshima, Japan. The festival was founded in 1985 by ''Association International du Film d'Animation'' or ''ASIFA'' as ''International Animation Festival f ...

, which includes the

, draws many visitors from around the world, especially for the

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony is an annual Japanese vigil. Every August 6, "A-Bomb Day", the city of Hiroshima holds the Peace Memorial Ceremony to console the victims of the atomic bombs and to pray for the realization of lasting world pea ...

, 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 of life in the Edo period. Hiroshima Gokoku Shrine is within the walls of the castle. Other attractions in Hiroshima include

, Fudōin, Mitaki-dera, and Hijiyama Park.

Events

*Hiroshima Flower Festival, May 3–5, Heiwa Odori,

*Toukasan, first Friday to Sunday in June, Mikawa-Cho, Chuo Dori *Ebisu Festival, November 18–20, Ebisucho, Hacchobori, Chuo Dori *

, August 6,

1994 Asian Games The 1994 Asian Games ( ja, 1994年アジア競技大会, ''Senkyūhyakukyūjūyon-nen Ajia kyōgi taikai''), also known as the XII Asiad and the 12th Asian Games ( ja, 第12回アジア競技大会, Daijūni-kai Ajia kyōgi taikai), were held from ...

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 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 i ...

, udon) 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

MAZDA Zoom-Zoom Stadium Hiroshima facade

Hiroshima has several professional sports clubs.

Football

The city's main association football club is Sanfrecce Hiroshima, 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 capacity of ...

. As Toyo Kogyo Soccer Club, they won the Japan Soccer League five times between 1965 and 1970 and the

Emperor's Cup , commonly known as or also Japan FA Cup is a Japanese football competition. It has the longest tradition of any football match in Japan, dating back to 1921, before the formation of the J.League, Japan Football League and their predecessor, J ...

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 Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

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 The , officially is Japan's professional football league including the first division J1 League, second division J2 League and third division J3 League of the Japanese association football league system. J1 League is one of the most successfu ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

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 fact ...

and

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

. 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 Urba ...

. Defunct clubs include

Rijo Shukyu FC was a Japanese amateur football club based in Hiroshima. The club name "Rijo" came from the nickname of the Hiroshima Castle. History The club was founded by the students and alumni of the Hiroshima Daiichi Chūgaku, the former Hiroshima Ko ...

, who won the Emperor's Cup in 1924 and 1925, and Ẽfini Hiroshima SC.

Baseball

Hiroshima Toyo Carp are the city's major baseball 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 Apri ...

. Members of the Central League, the club won the Central League in 1975, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1986, 1991, 2016, 2017 and 2018, the club won the Japan 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).

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 reinst ...

(

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

Volleyball

JT Thunders is a men's volleyball team based in Hiroshima city, Hiroshima, Japan. It plays in V.Premier League. The owner of the club is Japan Tobacco. History The club was founded in 1931 as a club of the Ministry of Finance Japan Hiroshima Monopoly ...

( volleyball).

Other sports

The Woodone Open Hiroshima was part of the Japan Golf Tour between 1973 and 2007. The city also hosted the

, 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 an ...

was one of the host arenas of the

2006 FIBA World Championship The 2006 FIBA World Championship was the 15th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was hosted by Japan and held from 19 August to 3 September 2006. It was co-organised by ...

(basketball).

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Hiroshima has ten sister cities: * Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy (since May 1962) *

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...

, 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 mu ...

Basque Country Basque Country may refer to: * Basque Country (autonomous community), as used in Spain ( es, País Vasco, link=no), also called , an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain (shown in pink on the map) * French Basque Country o ...

, 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, Lower Saxony, Germany (since June 1983) * Honolulu, HI, United States (since June 1959) * Montreal, QC, Canada (since June 1998) *

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

Pays de la Loire Pays de la Loire (; ; br, Broioù al Liger) is one of the 18 regions of France, in the west of the mainland. It was created in the 1950s to serve as a zone of influence for its capital, Nantes, one of a handful of "balancing metropolises" (). ...

, France (since March 1986) * Volgograd, Russia (since September 1972) Within Japan, Hiroshima has a similar relationship with Nagasaki.

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, 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 Castle #

# 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 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 in ...

Other popular places in the city include the

Hondōri is a commercial area in Naka-ku, Hiroshima, Japan, which centers on the Hondōri street which today is a shopping arcade. Hondōri, which means "Main Street", runs from Hatchōbori to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. Hondōri was also previo ...

shopping arcade.

Notes

References

* *

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 Service
BBC 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