Hiroshima

Attraction > Area

Hiroshima was established on a river delta coastline of the Seto Inland Sea in 1589 by powerful warlord Mori Terumoto.  Terumoto left his castle in Aki Province (which was an old province in what is now Hiroshima Province) and in 1593 quickly built the new castle in Hiroshima.  However, Terumoto was on the losing side at the Battle of Sekigahara (one of the "great" battles to unify Japan) and as the "loser" lost most of his land to Tokugawa Ieyasu.  After the Meiji Restoration (1868), Hiroshima City became the capital if Hiroshima Prefecture and a major urban center. During the 1870s, one of the seven government-sponsored English language schools was established in Hiroshima and Ujina Harbor was constructed which enabled it to become an important port city. From 1871–1939 Hiroshima grew to become one of the major cities in Japan and even Emperor Meiji maintained his headquarters at Hiroshima Castle from September 15, 1894, to April 27, 1895.  During WW2 Hiroshima did not come under "Fire Bombing" attacks and was relatively a strong, major city in Japan until "The Bomb" ("Little Boy") was dropped on August 6, 1945, at 8:15 a.m.