Hiroshima was founded in 1589, on the coast of the Seto
Inland Sea, and became a major urban centre during the Meiji period.
The city is located on the broad, flat delta of the Ota River, which
has 7 channel outlets dividing the city into six islands which project
into Hiroshima Bay. The city is almost entirely flat and only slightly
above sea level; to the northwest and northeast of the city, some
hills rise to 700 feet.
Hiroshima was founded by Mori Motonari as his capital. About a half
century later, after the Battle of Sekigahara, his grandson and the
leader of the West Army Mori Terumoto lost the battle. The winner
Tokugawa Ieyasu deprived Mori Terumoto of most of his fiefs including
Hiroshima and gave Aki province to another daimyo who had supported
him.
Finally Asano was appointed the daimyo of this area and Hiroshima
served as the capital of Hiroshima han during the Edo period. After
the han was abolished the city became the capital of Hiroshima
prefecture.
During the First Sino-Japanese War, Hiroshima emerged as a major
supply and logistics base for the Japanese military, a role that it
continued to play during World War II. The city was heavily damaged in
World War II by the nuclear weapon Little Boy, the second such device
to be detonated, and the first ever used in military action. The
American atomic bombings of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki was the major factor leading to the
surrender of the Japanese government six days after the latter attack.
After the nuclear attack, Hiroshima was rebuilt as a "peace memorial
city," and the closest surviving building to the location of the
bomb's detonation was designated the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. The
city government continues to advocate for the abolition of nuclear
weapons, writing a letter of protest every time a nuclear weapon has
been detonated anywhere in the world since the city's bombing, and has
advocated more broadly for world peace.
Hiroshima gained city status on April 1, 1889 and was designated on
April 1, 1980 by government ordinance.
Hiroshima, following the atomic bombing
After the war
Hiroshima was rebuilt after the war, with new modern buildings rising
all over the city. In 1949, Hiroshima was proclaimed a City of Peace
by the Japanese parliament, at the initiative of its mayor Shinzo
Hamai (b. 1905-d. 1968). As a result, the city of Hiroshima was
receiving 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 in order to facilitate
translation services for conferences, and the Hiroshima Peace
Institute was established in 1998 within the Hiroshima University. In
1994, the City of Hiroshima hosted the Asian Games.
Also, as a result of the atomic bombing, Hiroshima began to receive
donations of streetcars from all over Japan. (After World War II,
Japanese cities - like British ones - were anxious to get rid of their
streetcar systems due to damage to the infrastructure, and so there
were plenty of streetcars available to give away.) Hiroshima thus
rebuilt its streetcar system along with the rest of the city, and thus
Hiroshima is the only city in Japan with an extensive streetcar system
(although other cities have streetcar lines). Some streetcars that
survived the war - and the nuclear attack - were put back into
service, and four of these are still running today. For the most part,
however, Hiroshima has updated its streetcars over the years.
Tens of thousands of people marked the 40th anniversary of the atomic
bombing of the city on August 6, 1985.
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(Article
based on
Wikitravel article
by Jpatokal. Based on work by Jose Ramos and Anonymous user(s) of
Wikitravel. Article used under
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0.)
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