, formerly known as , is a port in the Tomo ward of Fukuyama,

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 ...

. It stands on the southern point of the Numakuma Peninsula, 14 kilometers south of Fukuyama Station, with a population of about half a million people as of 2017. Tomonoura has been a prosperous port since ancient times. Its unique circular harbor was preserved even after modern port facilities were introduced. Tomonoura lies within , which forms part of the Setonaikai National Park. In 2007, the port was listed as one of the top 100 scenic municipalities in Japan and its harbor was listed as one of the top 100 historical natural features in Japan. There are many historical temples and shrines around Tomonoura, and the area is famous for fishing.

History

* 8 poems about Tomonoura are to be found in the oldest collection of Japanese poems, the ''

Man'yōshū The is the oldest extant collection of Japanese (poetry in Classical Japanese), compiled sometime after AD 759 during the Nara period. The anthology is one of the most revered of Japan's poetic compilations. The compiler, or the last in ...

'', compiled in the Tenpyō-hōji era. * Jyoganji Temple was established by Saichō and Ioji Temple was established by Kūkai during the Heian period. * According to the Engishiki (延喜式, "Procedures of the Engi Era"), mainly completed in 927 A.D., Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto had its origins in Tomonoura's Nunakuma Shrine ( 沼名前神社) during the Heian period. * After the Battle of Tatarahama (1336), Emperor Kōgon visited Tomonoura and gave a memorial written for Nitta Yoshisada to Ashikaga Takauji. * The Five-story pagodas of Jyoganji Temple was destroyed during the

Battle of Tomo A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

between the Northern Court and the

Southern Court The were a set of four emperors (Emperor Go-Daigo and his line) whose claims to sovereignty during the Nanboku-chō period spanning from 1336 through 1392 were usurped by the Northern Court. This period ended with the Southern Court definitively ...

in the Nanboku-chō period. * The former

Tomo Castle Tomo may refer to: People Surname *Angele Tomo (born 1989), Cameroonian freestyle wrestler *Sutomo (1920-1981), also known as Bung Tomo, Indonesian military leader during the Indonesian National Revolution *Taite Te Tomo (1883–1939), Maori poli ...

was built by the Mōri clan during the Sengoku period. * After Ashikaga Yoshiaki was banished from Kyoto by

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period. He is regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. Nobunaga was head of the very powerful Oda clan, and launched a war against other ''daimyō'' to unify ...

, Ashikaga formed the

Tomo Bakufu Tomo may refer to: People Surname *Angele Tomo (born 1989), Cameroonian freestyle wrestler * Sutomo (1920-1981), also known as Bung Tomo, Indonesian military leader during the Indonesian National Revolution *Taite Te Tomo (1883–1939), Maori pol ...

with the Ise clan, the

Ueno clan is a district in Tokyo's Taitō Ward, best known as the home of Ueno Park. Ueno is also home to some of Tokyo's finest cultural sites, including the Tokyo National Museum, the National Museum of Western Art, and the National Museum of Na ...

and the Odachi clan, and with the support of the Mōri clan. * Fukushima Masanori of

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 ...

started rebuilding Tomo Castle during the Edo period, but construction was halted by order of Tokugawa Ieyasu. * Mizuno Katsushige of Fukuyama Domain was opened the government office at the site of Tomo Castle. * Tomonoura was the site of the sinking of the ''Iroha Maru'', a ship belonging to Sakamoto Ryōma. * Railway service between Tomo Station and Fukuyama Station started in 1913, but the line was closed in 1954. * The Setonaikai National Park, which includes Tomonoura, was founded on 16 March 1934. * Tomonoura was once given the nickname Shio mahi minato which means "port of waiting for tides".

Preserving the historic harbor

The local government had a plan to build a bridge over the scenic harbor for a bypass road, which caused conflict with members of the local community concerned about the preservation of the historic harbor. The plan has now been overturned by the Hiroshima District Court. The plan led to the town being included in the World Monuments Watch by the World Monuments Fund in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

. This organization later helped to restore a historic merchant house in the town with financial support from

American Express American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...

. The 19th-century residence, known as Uoya-Manzohas since become an information center and guesthouse for visitors.World Monuments Fund - Tomo Port Town
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In the arts and literature

Poetry

- (7th to 8th century) (8 poems, including 2 Ōtomo no Tabito's poems)

Art

*"Seto Inland Sea, Tomonotsu, 1940"; woodblock print by

Tsuchiya Koitsu Tsuchiya Kōitsu ( ja, 土屋光逸) was a Japanese artist in the Shin-hanga movement. He trained under the ukiyo-e master Kobayashi Kiyochika for 19 years, and initially focused on works depicting scenes from the First Sino-Japanese War. In 193 ...

(土屋光逸), a sunset scene of ships in the harbor at Tomonoura.

Music

Haru no Umi ''Haru no Umi'' (, "The Sea in Spring") is a ''Shin Nihon Ongaku'' ('New Japanese Music') piece for koto and shakuhachi composed in 1929 by Michio Miyagi. It is Miyagi's best known piece and one of the most famous for the koto and shakuhachi inst ...

, composed by Michio Miyagi -

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 * ...

music - (1929) *

Tomonoura Bojō is the 3rd single (music), single by Misaki Iwasa. It was released on January 8, 2014. It debuted in List of Oricon number-one singles of 2014, number one on the weekly Oricon Singles Chart. It has sold a total of 20,139 copies, as of July 28, 20 ...

, enka song by

Misaki Iwasa is a Japanese idol. She is a former member of the Japanese idol group AKB48 and enka singer. Her nickname is Wasamin. Her talent agency is Nagara Productions. She was also a member of the sub-unit Watarirouka Hashiritai 7. Career 2008 * Decem ...

(2014) (The music video was shot in Tomonoura, and the song is about feelings and the harbor.)

Books

* Tomonotsu Chakaiki (1986), a novel by Masuji Ibuse about the life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi *鞆の浦殺人事件 (Murder in Tomonoura, 1988), a detective novel by

Yasuo Uchida Yasuo Uchida was a Japanese author This is an alphabetical list of writers who are Japanese, or are famous for having written in the Japanese language. Writers are listed by the native order of Japanese names, family name followed by given name ...

Photography exhibitions

尾道への旅 (''A Journey to Onomichi'', 2006) by

Wim Wenders Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders (; born 14 August 1945) is a German filmmaker, playwright, author, and photographer. He is a major figure in New German Cinema. Among many honors, he has received three nominations for the Academy Award for Best Docum ...

Films

*白椿 (''White Camellia'', 2007), directed by Masatoshi Akihara, starring Hiroko Hatano, based on a story about a family in Tomo by

Yumeno Kyūsaku was the pen name of , an early Shōwa period Japanese author, Zen priest, post office director and sub-lieutenant. The pen name roughly means "a person who always dreams". His Dharma name was . He wrote detective novels and is known for his avan ...

*崖の上のポニョ ('' Ponyo'', 2008), directed by Hayao Miyazaki, who stayed in Tomonoura for two months in 2005 * The Wolverine, 2013, directed by James Mangold, starring Hugh Jackman, was filmed in Tomonoura

References

External links

Tomonoura
in Portuguese)
Yakup Bektas, "Visions of Vanishing Japan: Threatened with radical redevelopment, the rare Edo-Period port town of Tomo-no-Ura has been granted a reprieve. For just how long, no one knows." ''ICON Magazine,'' Summer 2004, p. 18-23.

・VISIT Tomonoura

・Japan Heritage Portal Site Tomonoura
* {{Coord, 34.380762, 133.380111, format=dms, display=title, type:waterbody_region:JP_scale:10000 Tourist attractions in Hiroshima Prefecture Fukuyama, Hiroshima Buildings and structures in Hiroshima Prefecture Transport in Hiroshima Prefecture