Hiroshima (広島) is an industrial city in the west of the
Japanese region of Chūgoku. The city gained notoriety as the
world's first atomic bomb was dropped and has attracted numerous
tourists since its reconstruction.
Hiroshima was already
an important city in the 16th century. During World War II it
was one of Japan's military centers and had around 350,000
inhabitants. The city lies on the Otagawa, which forms a delta
in the area of Hiroshima and flows into the Seto Inland Sea.
The flat urban area was one of the reasons why the Americans
wanted to test their new weapon here in World War II. Hiroshima
was therefore spared from attacks before the atomic bomb was
dropped. In the attack on August 6, 1945, over 80% of the city
was destroyed, well over 100,000 people died immediately, and
over 250,000 atomic bomb victims have been mourned in Hiroshima
to this day due to the long-term effects.
Just 3 days
after the atomic bomb detonation, the first tram was running
again in Hiroshima, and that is one of the reasons why the
citizens of Hiroshima love this mode of transport. Tram cars
from all over the world, including low-floor cars from Germany,
can be seen in the cityscape. Today, Hiroshima is a modern city
with more than 1 million inhabitants, and the "Crow Castle" has
also been rebuilt on its old site, but the atomic bomb dome, the
Peace Park and many other details ensure that the memory of the
1945 catastrophe remains alive.
Those who expect a city marked by destruction will be surprised:
after leaving the station, visitors are greeted by a city that is on a
par with any other Japanese metropolis.
Peace Dome (原爆ドーム, Genbaku
Dōmu) . The Peace Memorial is probably the most famous building in
Hiroshima. Before the atomic bomb was dropped, it was an exhibition hall
and when it was detonated it was only a few meters from ground zero.
Only the skeleton of the building remains; it is one of the few
remaining buildings from the pre-war period and is a UNESCO World
Heritage Site.
Peace Memorial Park (広島平和記念公園) . The park is located
between the Ota-gawa River and the Motoyasu-gawa River on a triangular
area opposite the Peace Dome. The rivers appear like a Y from the air
and made it easier for bomber pilots to orient themselves. Today there
is a green park here where the Peace Tower stands. This was built in
memory of the children who were victims of the atomic bomb. Little
Sadako Sasaki initially survived the bomb, got leukemia and, according
to an old legend, folded 1,000 cranes in the hope of getting better.
Today, visitors bring countless paper cranes every day in memory of the
girl's will to survive and her death. Not far from there are other
memorials, such as the Peace Bell and a monument in honor of the Korean
forced laborers who died. The central point of the park is a cenotaph
with the names of all the victims. Further towards the Atomic Bomb Dome
is the Peace Flame. Peace Memorial Museum (平和記念資料館, Heiwa Kinen
Shiryōkan), 1-2 Nakajima-cho, Naka-ku, 広島県広島市中区中島町1-2 . The Peace
Museum documents the bombing and the period afterward. On display are
models that document the "before" and "after" state, melted tricycles
and a shocking reconstruction of a destroyed street. Warning: A visit to
the museum, although highly recommended, can be very emotionally moving
and therefore make further tourist exploration of the city difficult or
even impossible! Admission to the museum is only 50 ¥. A flyer with an
overview of the museum is available free of charge (also in German), and
for 300 ¥ you can borrow an audio guide in German (highly recommended).
Chūō Park (広島市中央公園) . Also known as Central Park, the park is located
north of the Peace Memorial Park on the other side of the river. Here
you will find the Yu Hua Garden, the Hiroshima Museum of Art, the
Hiroshima Children's Museum with planetarium, the baseball stadium and
an outdoor swimming pool (Family Swimming Pool).
Hiroshima Castle
(広島城, Carp Castle), 広島県広島市中区基町21-1 . In the park grounds directly to
the east. Feature: Photography prohibited. Open: daily 9:00 a.m.–6:00
p.m. (March 1–Nov 30), 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. (December 1–Feb 29); closed:
Dec. 29, Dec. 30, Dec. 31.
A little further east is the Shukkeien
Garden with the prefectural art museum, Hiroshima Prefectural Art
Museum.
South of the park is the Memorial Cathedral for World Peace,
a Catholic church built in 1954.
In the southeast of the city is
Hijiyama Park, which houses the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary
Art.
The Matsuda company, better known to us as Mazda, produces in
Hiroshima. It has a museum that also offers guided tours in English.
By plane
Hiroshima Airport (IATA: HIJ) is connected to major
departure points in Japan. Both ANA and JAL offer flights from Tokyo
Haneda and Sapporo Chitos. International flights are available from
Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul and Taipei. Buses connect the airport to the
city's train station (50 minutes, ¥1,300).
By train
Hiroshima
is a major station on the San'yo Shinkansen Line. The city is 40 minutes
from Okayama and 90 minutes from Osaka. Osaka is a full 7 hours by train
on the cheap but slow local trains. From Tokyo, the journey time is 4
hours on the Nozomi and 5 hours on the Hikari (change!, best in
Shinosaka). Japan Rail Pass holders do not have to pay an extra fee when
travelling on the Hikari. Cheaper but slower local trains serve the city
from other cities in the region.
By bus
Night buses from Tokyo
take 12 hours and cost 12,000 ¥, making them the cheapest but not the
most comfortable option.
The city center is very small and the trams are reliable and run frequently. Hiroshima Station is outside the city center, so it is necessary to take the tram after arriving by train. The bus station (広島バスセンター), on the other hand, is located in the Sogo department store in the city center. Hondori, a long covered shopping street, is very good for orientation. Most of the sights are easily accessible on foot.
Okonomiyaki is quite popular in the region. The Hiroshima version,
which uses noodles and each ingredient is cooked separately and then
thrown together, is different from the more popular Kansai version,
which mixes all the ingredients together. Note that the term
"Hiroshima-yaki" is never used in the region, it is only found on menus
elsewhere in Japan. The Kansai version is called "Ōsaka-yaki" in
Hiroshima. Often found in simple restaurants in a variety of different
versions, usually quite inexpensive.
The Hiroshima area is also known
for its oysters. They are generally much cheaper in Japan than in
Europe.
The website Get Hiroshima gives a good overview in English of bars and clubs in Hiroshima.
Cheap
Hiroshima Youth Hostel. A relatively inexpensive option.
Upscale
Hotel Granvia Hiroshima (株式会社ホテルグランヴィア広島), right next to
the station. From the station forecourt you can go through a pedestrian
underpass to the Ekimae-ohashi Bridge, from here Ekimae-dori Avenue goes
southwest, then Aioi-dori Avenue goes west, after about 2km you reach
the Atomic Bomb Dome. Feature: ★★★★.
Hiroshima is a modern, cosmopolitan and clean city. It is safe and friendly, so visitors should have no problems.
On the small island of Miyajima, just a short tram and ferry ride
away, is probably the most famous Japanese shrine. You drive to
Miyajima-guchi and take one of the ferries, which take about 20 minutes
to cross.
The small town of Onomichi, 75 minutes away by train, is
known for its temples and novelists. This place can also be reached on
the slower, seasonal etSETOra tourist trains. The coastal route runs
along the picturesque bays of the Inland Sea. The journey takes place
Friday to Monday, reservations should be made three days in advance. A
small meal is then served on the 3-hour journey. On the outward and
return journey, there are “picture opportunities” at various stops.
The river valley of Sandan-kyo is particularly inviting for a hike to
various waterfalls during the autumn colors. After about 3/4 of the hike
there is a shuttle bus stop that takes you back to the "main gate" of
the valley. It can be reached from the Hiroshima Bus Center in 1.5 hours
(express bus 1400 yen) to 2 hours (normal bus 1200 yen).
In the 13th century, the Aki-Takeda built a castle upstream above the
later city of Hiroshima (on the mountain now called Takeda-yama in the
present-day Asaminami district), the Kanayama Castle (Kanayama-jō), also
called Satō-Kanayama-jō (佐東銀山城) after its location in the then Satō
district (Satō-gun, later Numata-gun). It remained the main castle of
the Aki-Takeda until the 16th century, when the Mōri took over control
of the region.
The actual city of Hiroshima grew around a castle
in the river delta (called the "carp castle") of the Mōri from the late
16th century. The Mōri, who had previously controlled large parts of the
Chūgoku region and were among the most powerful families of the Sengoku
period, were among the losers of the Battle of Sekigahara and from then
on ruled from Hagi "only" over Chōshū in what is now Yamaguchi. Under
the Tokugawa, the Asano received the principality of Hiroshima in 1619.
The Asano expanded the city and ruled until the Meiji Restoration.
Before the Meiji Restoration, the city was part of the counties
Numata (沼田, historically also read Nuta) and Aki of the Aki province -
the ancient provinces and counties had largely lost their administrative
function since the Middle Ages, but still served as a geographical
division of the country. Both counties became part of the prefecture
(-ken) of Hiroshima during the Restoration. In the unsustainable
administrative division of the prefectures of 1871, which was linked to
the right of registration, the area around the castle formed the "large
district No. 1" of Hiroshima Prefecture (広島県第一大区, Hiroshima-ken daiichi
daiku). When the Meiji government reactivated and reorganized the
counties in 1878, the "district"/urban district (-ku) of Hiroshima was
established in its place. When the Prussian-inspired municipal
regulations were introduced in 1889, today's Hiroshima-shi emerged, with
83,387 inhabitants at the time.
The expansion of the port in 1889
and the connection to the Sanyō railway line between Kobe and
Shimonoseki, completed in 1894, led to a further boom in the city.
During the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895), the city was the
location of the imperial headquarters - and for one session also the
meeting place of the Reichstag - and subsequently became a military
center of the Japanese Empire. By the Second World War, Hiroshima had
become increasingly important and, with 245,000 inhabitants, was the
seventh largest city in the country.
The atomic bomb Little Boy was dropped on the metropolis on the morning of August 6, 1945 from the USAAF B-29 Enola Gay bomber. The explosion at a height of around 600 meters destroyed around 90% of the previously undamaged city at 8:16 a.m. local time. A total of 70,000 of the 76,000 houses were destroyed or severely damaged. In this first use of a nuclear weapon in a war, around 70,000 people were killed immediately. In total, an estimated 140,000 people died by the end of 1945. The surviving victims of the attack are known in Japan as "Hibakusha" and are still suffering from the effects of radiation today.
After reconstruction in 1949, Hiroshima developed into an important
industrial location and is now the 11th largest city in Japan with over
1.1 million inhabitants.
Since "Little Boy" exploded a few
hundred meters above the city, any damage from radioactive fallout was
kept to a minimum; most of the radiation damage only occurred
immediately after the explosion. Radiation exposure today is not above
the level of normal background radiation from natural radioactivity and
is therefore no higher than in other areas of the world.
In the
1950s ("Great Shōwa Regional Reform", Shōwa no daigappei), the city was
expanded to include several communities from the Aki and Saeki
districts. In 1958, the population exceeded the pre-war level and
reached 500,000 in 1964. During the economic miracle, further extensive
incorporations of surrounding communities were planned, which were
intended to enable large-scale urban planning for the rapidly growing
city. In the 1970s, the entire Asa district and parts of other districts
were finally incorporated in several steps. In 1980, Hiroshima was
declared a large city (seirei shitei toshi) by the government and
divided into urban districts (ku). It was the tenth seirei-shi in the
entire country. Two further incorporations from Saeki district in 1985
and 2005 created the Saeki urban district.
The mayor of Hiroshima (Hiroshima-shichō) has been Kazumi Matsui, a
former official of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, since 2011. He
was re-elected for a fourth term in the 2023 unified regional elections
with the support of the LDP and Kōmeitō with 80% of the vote against two
candidates.
The Hiroshima City Council (Hiroshima-shigikai) was
also elected in the unified elections, which normally has 54 members
from eight constituencies identical to the city districts: ten from the
Asa-South district, nine from the West district, seven from the
Asa-North district, six each from the Central, East, South and Saeki
districts and four from the Aki district. In 2023, the LDP remained the
strongest party with 17 seats.
In 2003, Hiroshima was the first
"major city by government decree" in Japan to allow foreigners to
participate in local referendums. Foreigners over the age of 18 who have
been registered in the city for at least three months are entitled to
vote.
The city of Hiroshima is represented by a total of 26 members in the
64-member Hiroshima Prefectural Parliament. Here, too, the city
districts act as constituencies and each elect two to five members. In
the 2023 prefectural parliamentary election, which was also held as part
of the unified elections, there was no vote in three constituencies in
the city of Hiroshima (Higashi, Nishi, Saeki).
The city of
Hiroshima has been the seat of the Hiroshima Prefectural Administration
(Hiroshima-kenchō) since its founding. The prefectural administration
building complex is located in Motomachi in the central district.
In elections to the national House of Representatives, the city has
so far extended into constituencies 1 to 4 of Hiroshima Prefecture.
Constituency 1, the only one located entirely within the city, has been
held by the Liberal Democrat Fumio Kishida since the introduction of
single-mandate constituencies in 1996. Constituencies 2 and 4 will also
be held by Liberal Democrats after the 2021 election, while constituency
3 was won in 2021 by the national coalition partner Kōmeitō with Tetsuo
Saitō. Following the reorganization of constituencies decided in 2022,
in which Hiroshima lost a seat, the city of Hiroshima will extend into
constituencies Hiroshima 1, 2 and 3 from the next general election.
Hiroshima is home to several branches of central government
ministries with responsibility for the Chūgoku region. The judicial
district of the Hiroshima High Court, with its headquarters in Naka
District, also covers all of Chūgoku.
The city of Hiroshima was
the first local authority in Japan to hold a referendum under Article 95
of the 1947 Constitution, which requires the approval of voters for laws
that only apply to a specific local authority: In July 1949, the
citizens of Hiroshima voted on the Hiroshima heiwa kinen toshi
kensetsu-hō (広島平和記念都市建設法, "Building Law for the Hiroshima Peace Memorial
City"), which formed the basis for the establishment of the Peace
Memorial. The law found a clear majority among the citizens and came
into force in the same year.
Hiroshima has been connected to the San'yō Shinkansen (high-speed
line, Hiroshima Station) since March 10, 1975. Hiroshima Airport has
been located about 50 km east of the city since 1993; the old airport is
still in operation for regional flights under the name Hiroshima-Nishi.
Hiroshima is also connected to the Chugoku and Sanyō motorways as well
as National Road 2, which crosses the city from east to west. There are
numerous ferry connections from the port to the islands in the Seto
Inland Sea and to Shikoku.
Hiroshima has the largest tram network
in Japan with the Hiroshima tram, with nine lines that are limited to
the city center. An intercity line leads to Miyajima-guchi, from where
there is a ferry connection to the island of Miyajima. In the 1980s, two
GT8 trams were bought from Dortmund, one of which is still in use today
as a museum and special car with full advertising for König Pilsener.
Six bus companies operate numerous connections - especially to the
suburbs - and the JR covers regional rail traffic. There are also two
modern public transport systems - the Astram and the Hiroshima monorail
- but trams, mopeds, motorcycles, trains and buses bear the brunt of the
traffic.
The student Sadako Sasaki (1943-1955), who came from Hiroshima,
fought her leukemia, which was caused by the radiation released after
the atomic bomb was dropped, by folding origami cranes until her death.
Due to the worldwide sympathy for her fate, paper cranes became a symbol
of the international peace movement and resistance to nuclear war.
Hara Tamiki was born on November 15, 1905 in Hiroshima. After
studying English in Tokyo, he worked as an English teacher, but was also
active in literature. The dominant theme of his works was already death,
but still flirted with the "beautiful death". In 1944 his wife died,
whereupon he returned to his hometown of Hiroshima. There he experienced
the atomic bomb being dropped on August 6, 1945. From then on his work
was based on the motto: "Don't live for your own sake! Live to mourn the
dead!" He is particularly well known for his story Natsu no hana (1949;
Eng. Summer Flowers, in: Since That Day, ed. Ito Narihiko 1984). It is
one of the best pieces of Japanese war literature and had a strong
influence on the Japanese peace movement. In despair over the outbreak
of the Korean War, he threw himself in front of a train in Musashino on
March 13, 1951.
The German Jesuit priest Hugo Makibi
Enomiya-Lassalle, one of the most important mediators between
Christianity and Buddhism, lived and worked in Hiroshima from 1939.
The important Japanese composer Toshio Hosokawa (born October 23,
1955) also comes from Hiroshima; with his symphony Memory of the Sea, he
created an impressive sound monument to the self-healing powers of his
hometown. The members of the girl band Perfume also come from Hiroshima.
Okonomiyaki is a type of crepe on which cabbage cut into thin strips and meat or seafood are cooked. In Hiroshima, in contrast to the Kansai region, the ingredients are layered and noodles are also used.
State universities:
Hiroshima (National) University (Kasumi
campus, main campus in Higashihiroshima)
Hiroshima Prefectural
University
Hiroshima Municipal University
Private universities:
Elisabeth University of Music
Hijiyama University
Hiroshima
University of Economics
Hiroshima Institute of Technology
Hiroshima Kokusai Gakuin Daigaku
Hiroshima Shudo University
Hiroshima Jogakuin University
Hiroshima Toshi Gakuen Daigaku
Hiroshima Cosmopolitan University
Hiroshima Bunkyo Women’s University
University)
Yasuda Women's University Hiroshima
Baseball: Hiroshima is the home of the Hiroshima Tōyō Carp baseball
club from the Central League, whose games are played at the Mazda
Stadium.
Football: Hiroshima is the home of the Sanfrecce Hiroshima
football club from the J. League, whose games are played at the
Hiroshima Big Arch (nickname of the athletics stadium in Hiroshima
Regional Park).
The Japan Women's Open, an international WTA tennis
tournament, is held in the tennis stadium of Hiroshima Regional Park
(Hiroshima kōiki koen) in the Asa-Minami district.
From 1920 to 1931, the headquarters of the Mazda company was in the city of Hiroshima, and since 1931 it has been in Aki-Fuchū, today an eastern suburb surrounded by the city. One of the two Japanese factories is also located in Hiroshima Prefecture. This has led to the city developing into a center of the automobile industry and the supplier industry. Hiroshima has an export and fishing port and an airport. Several companies are also active in shipbuilding.