was a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

located in Kamo District, Hiroshima, Japan. The town is the administrative center of

Higashihiroshima is a Cities of Japan, city located in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. As of July 31. 2016 the city has an estimated population of 185,418 and a population density of 291.85 persons per km2. The total area is 635.32 km2. Higashihiroshima is a c ...

History

From the earliest times, the fertile region around Saijō (part of the ancient province of Aki) has been occupied, as displayed by the Mitsushiro ''Kofun'' (a 5th-century burial mound) and the Aki- Kokubunji (Aki-Kokubun temple) from the 8th century. It benefited from its location on the

San'yōdō is a Japanese geographical term. It means both an ancient division of the country and the main road running through it. The San'yōdō corresponds for the most part with the modern conception of the San'yō region. This name derives from the id ...

linking the capital with Kyūshū, but the benefit was double-edged as its communications and proximity to the sea meant it was heavily embroiled in the

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

struggles between the clans of western Honshū. During the later Edo period, Saijō was a post-town on the San'yōdō and home to a government office. In 1974 the Kamo District towns of Saijō, Hachihonmatsu, Shiwa and Takaya were combined to form

, the twelfth city in Hiroshima Prefecture. In April 1973, Saijō was chosen as the home of the (largely) relocated

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 ...

, with the relocation occurring between 1982 and 1995. The relocation of the university and the establishment of the Hiroshima Central Technopolis (since 1984) has created many jobs and intellectual opportunities, a new communications network (Saijō was made part of the Sanyo

Shinkansen The , colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. Initially, it was built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond l ...

in October 1993) and has put the area on the technology map, but has also seen much of the green-field areas eaten up as the population of Higashihiroshima City soared to 100,000 (August 1992).

Sake

Saijō is famed for

sake Sake, also spelled saké ( ; also referred to as Japanese rice wine), is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indee ...

(rice wine). Within the narrow streets of the Sakagura Dori ("Sake Storehouse Road") area near JR Saijō Station are the

Namako wall ''Namako'' wall or ''Namako-kabe'' (sometimes misspelled as ''Nameko'') is a Japanese wall design widely used for vernacular houses, particularly on fireproof storehouses by the latter half of the Edo period. The ''namako'' wall is distinguished ...

(white-lattice walled) and (red-roof tile) roofs of ten well-known sake breweries; Chiyonoharu, Fukubijin, Hakubotan, Kamoki, Kamoizumi, Kamotsuru, Kirei, Saijotsuru, Sakurafubuki, and Sanyotsuru. From July 1995, Saijō was made the home of the Brewery Laboratory of the National Tax Office. Each October there is also the Saijō Sake Matsuri 酒まつり (Sake Festival) which draws crowds of between 100,000-200,000 revelers and sake connoisseurs before the brewing season (October–March) begins.https://sakematsuri.com/

References

External links

Sake Festival

Hiroshima Cricket Club

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saijo, Hiroshima (Kamo) Dissolved municipalities of Hiroshima Prefecture