270px, Sake Brewers in Saijō 270px, Panorama from Saijō Station 270px, Aerial view of Saijō area of Higashihiroshima is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

located in Hiroshima Prefecture,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. , the city had an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 190,186 in 90,294 households and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing 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 geog ...

of 300 persons per km². The total area of the city is .

Geography

Higashihiroshima extends from the coast of the

Seto Inland Sea The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, 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 Ba ...

to the hilly area in the foothills of the Chugoku Mountains, with a large difference in elevation. It consists of the Saijō Basin, which is the largest basin in the prefecture, and the main urban center, and small basins scattered around it. The Numata River is located to the east, the Kurose River to the south, and the Seno River to the west. Because it is located in a basin, the diurnal temperature range (day and night) and annual temperature range (summer and winter) are large.

Adjoining municipalities

Hiroshima Prefecture * Akitakata * Hiroshima * Kumano *

Kure is a city in the Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 208,024 in 106,616 households and a population density of 590 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . With a strong industrial and naval heritage, ...

* Mihara * Miyoshi * Ōsakikamijima * Sera *

Takehara file:Takehara City.jpg, 270px, Panorama of Takehara City center file:Takehara city center area Aerial photograph.2010.jpg, 270px, Aerial photograph of Takehara City center file:Taketsuru house Takehara.jpg, 270px, Taketsuru house in Takehara histo ...

Climate

Higashihiroshima has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Cfa'') characterized by cool to mild winters and hot, humid summers. The average annual temperature in Higashihiroshima is . The average annual rainfall is with July as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Higashihiroshima was on 17 July 1994; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 31 January 1981.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Higashihiroshima in 2020 is 196,608 people. Higashihiroshima has been conducting censuses since 1960.

History

The area of Higashihiroshima is mostly part of ancient

Aki Province or Geishū () was a province in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, comprising the western part of what is today Hiroshima Prefecture. History When Emperor Shōmu ordered two official temples for each province (one for male Buddhist prie ...

. Archaeologists have found evidence of continuous human settlement from the

Japanese Paleolithic The is the period of human inhabitation in Japan predating the development of pottery, generally before 10,000 BC. The starting dates commonly given to this period are from around 40,000 BC, with recent authors suggesting that there is good evi ...

period, with the oldest remains of several dwellings dating back to 22,000 years ago. Traces from the

Yayoi period The Yayoi period (弥生時代, ''Yayoi jidai'') (c. 300 BC – 300 AD) is one of the major historical periods of the Japanese archipelago. It is generally defined as the era between the beginning of food production in Japan and the emergence o ...

through the

Kofun period The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is ...

are numerous, including the Mitsushiro Kofun, a National Historic Site. During the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capita ...

, the ancient Sanyōdō highway connecting the

Kinai region is a Japanese term denoting an ancient division of the country. ''Kinai'' is a name for the ancient provinces around the capital Nara and Heian-kyō. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kinai''" in . The five provinces were called ''go-kina ...

with

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...

passed close to the north side of

Saijō Station is a passenger railway station located in the city of Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. It is operated by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West). Lines Saijō Station is served by the JR West Sanyō Main Line, and is located 272 ...

. Aki Kokubun-ji was located in what is now Higashihiroshima, and through geographic names, the original ''

kokufu were the capitals of the historical Provinces of Japan from the Nara period to the Heian period. History As part of the Taika Reform (645), which aimed at a centralization of the administration following the Chinese model (''ritsuryō''), the '' ...

'' of the province was located in the vicinity before it was relocated to Fuchū in the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

. During the

Muromachi period The , also known as the , is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi ...

, the area was dominated by the Ouchi clan, who built Kagamiyama Castle, the ruins of which are a National Historic Site. The Ouchi were replaced after 200 years by the

Mōri clan The was a Japanese clan, Japanese samurai clan descended from Ōe no Hiromoto. Ōe no Hiromoto was descended from the Fujiwara clan. The family's most illustrious member, Mōri Motonari, greatly expanded the clan's power in Aki Province. Durin ...

in the

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

. After the establishment of the

Tokugawa Shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

, the area was part of the holdings of

Fukushima Masanori was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the late Sengoku period to early Edo period and served as the lord of the Hiroshima Domain. A retainer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, he fought in the Battle of Shizugatake in 1583 and soon became known as one of the ...

and later the

Asano clan The was a Japanese samurai clan that descended from the Minamoto clan, and the Emperor Seiwa (850-881), the 56th Emperor of Japan. The Main Lineage (''sōke'', 宗家) were Lords (daimyō) of the Hiroshima Domain in Aki Province and another f ...

Hiroshima Domain The was a large domain that owned all of Aki Province and half of Bingo Province. It occupies most of current Hiroshima Prefecture. The domain office was located at Hiroshima Castle in Sato District, Aki Province (renamed Numata District in 1 ...

Municipal mergers

* On April 1, 1889 - The town of Saijō was established with the creation of the modern municipalities system. * On April 20, 1974 - Saijō merged with the towns of Shiwa, Takaya and Hachihonmatsu in Kamo District to form the city of Higashihiroshima. * On February 7, 2005 - The towns of Kurose, Kōchi, Toyosaka and Fukutomi (all from Kamo District), and the town of Akitsu (from Toyota District) were merged into Higashihiroshima.

Government

Higashihiroshima has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

city council of 30 members. Higashihiroshima contributes four members to the Hiroshima Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of the Hiroshima 4th district of the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

Economy

Higashihiroshima has a mixed economy. The area has traditionally been associated with ''

sake Sake, , or saki, 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 indeed any East Asi ...

'' brewing, and ''sake'' remains an important industry. Other industries include semiconductors, automobile related parts/special equipment, shipbuilding, and brick making, as well as agriculture centered on rice, and commercial fishing.

Education

Higashihiroshima has 37 public elementary schools and 15 public junior high schools operated by the city government, and six public high schools, and one combined middle/high school operated by the Hiroshima prefectural

Board of education A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional area, ...

. There are also two private middle schools and two private high schools. In terms of higher education, Higashihiroshima hosts a campus of

Hiroshima University is a Japanese national research 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. Its abbreviated f ...

Elisabeth University of Music is a Jesuit university in Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Japan. The predecessor of the school was founded in 1948. It was chartered as a university in 1963. History Belgians, Belgian Jesuit Father Ernest Goossens began a music classroom for ...

Kindai University is a private non-sectarian and coeducational university based in Higashiosaka, Osaka, Japan with campuses in five other locations: Nara, Nara; Ōsakasayama, Osaka; Uchita, Wakayama; Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima; and Iizuka, Fukuoka. The ...

and Hiroshima International University

Transportation

Railway

JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, ...

–

San'yō Shinkansen The is a line of the Japanese Shinkansen high-speed rail network, connecting Shin-Osaka in Osaka with Hakata Station in Fukuoka, the two largest cities in western Japan. Operated by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West), it is a westward co ...

(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, in other words, the southern coast of western Honshu. The San'yō Shi ...

* - - - - - - -

(JR West) -

Kure Line The is a railway line operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West) within Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. It begins at Mihara Station in Mihara and terminates at Kaitaichi Station in Kaita. It is one of the main lines of JR West. The s ...

* -

Highways

San'yō Expressway * * * * *

Sister city relations

* -

Marília Marília () is a Brazilian municipality in the midwestern region of the state of São Paulo. Its distance from the state capital São Paulo is by highway, by railway and in a straight line. It is located at an altitude of 675 meters. The popul ...

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, Brazil, sister city since November 2, 1980Prefeitura de Marília: Marília e Izumisano se tornam cidades-irmãs
/ref> * -

Deyang Deyang ( zh, s=德阳 , t=德陽 , p=Déyáng) is a prefecture-level city of Sichuan province, China. Deyang is a largely industrial city, with companies such as China National Erzhong Group and Dongfang Electric having major operations there. The ...

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

, China, friendship city since October 14, 1993 * -

Virginia Beach, Virginia Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the most populous city in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeastern Virginia. It is the sixth-most populous city in the ...

, United States, friendship city since October 26, 1993

Local attractions

Higashihiroshima is famous for making ''sake'', and along the Sakagura Dōri ("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 architecture, vernacular houses, particularly on fireproof storehouses by the latter half of the Edo period. The ''namak ...

(white-lattice walled) and (red-roof tile) roofs of ten well-known sake breweries. An annual ''sake'' festival is held every October.

Notable people from Higashihiroshima

Reizo Fukuhara was a Japanese football player. He made two appearances for the Japan national team. On February 27, 1970, Fukuhara died of stomach cancer at the age of 38. National team career On January 5, 1955, while a student at the Tokyo University of E ...

, Japanese soccer player (

Midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

) *

Yūki Himura is a Japanese comedian, actor and voice actor. He performs ''tsukkomi'' (and occasionally ''boke'') in the comedy duo Bananaman. His partner is Osamu Shitara. Personal life Himura grew up in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture. He is represented ...

, Japanese comedian, Japanese actor and

voice actor Voice acting is the art of Acting, performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animation, animated, ...

* Ryuichi Hirashige, Japanese former footballer ( Striker) * Akira Ibayashi, Japanese soccer player (

Sanfrecce Hiroshima Sanfrecce Hiroshima () is a Japanese professional association football, football club based in Hiroshima. The club competes in the J1 League, top flight of the Japanese football league system. Sanfrecce is one of the most successful clubs in Ja ...

J1 League The , the J.League or the for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Japan and the highest level of the Japanese football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation ...

) * Koichi Isobe, former

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

Akinoshima Katsumi Akinoshima Katsumi (born 16 March 1967 as Katsumi Yamanaka) is a former sumo wrestler from Akitsu, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. He made his professional debut in 1982, and after reaching the top division in 1988 he remained there for 15 years. ...

, former

sumo wrestler A , or, more colloquially, , is a sumo wrestler. Although used to define all wrestlers participating in sumo wrestling matches, the term is more commonly used to refer to professional wrestlers, employed by the Japan Sumo Association, who part ...

(Real Name: Katsumi Yamanaka,

Nihongo is the principal language of the Japonic language family spoken by the Japanese people. It has around 123 million speakers, primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language, and within the Japanese diaspora worldwide. ...

: 山中勝美, ''Yamanaka Katsumi'') *

Daiki Nishiyama is a Japanese judoka. He won the silver medal in the middleweight (90 kg) division at the 2010 World Judo Championships – Men's 90 kg, 2010 and 2011 World Judo Championships – Men's 90 kg, 2011 World Judo Championships. Because of Nish ...

, Japanese

judoka is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

* Ayako Okamoto, Japanese

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

and member of the

World Golf Hall of Fame The World Golf Hall of Fame was, until recently, located at World Golf Village between Jacksonville, Florida and St. Augustine, Florida, in the United States. It is unusual amongst sports halls of fame in that a single site honored both men ...

* Ryuji Sainei, Japanese actor * Toru Takahashi, Japanese racing driver * Yasuyuki Yamauchi, Japanese professional baseball player and baseball coach * Hirotake Yano, businessman who was the founder of the

Daiso is a franchise of 100-yen shops founded in Japan. Its headquarters are in Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture. Daiso has locations in 25 countries and regions worldwide. History Daiso was originally opened as a street vending shop with ...

discount retail chain

References

External links

Higashihiroshima City official website

Higashihiroshima City official website
{{Authority control Cities in Hiroshima Prefecture Higashihiroshima Populated coastal places in Japan