Hiroshima

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Hiroshima-shi
広 島 市
Hiroshima (Japan)
Red pog.svg
Geographical location in Japan
Region : Chūgoku
Prefecture : Hiroshima
Coordinates : 34 ° 23 '  N , 132 ° 27'  E Coordinates: 34 ° 23 '7 "  N , 132 ° 27' 19"  E
Basic data
Surface: 906.68 km²
Residents : 1,199,391
(June 1, 2019)
Population density : 1323 inhabitants per km²
Community key : 34100-2
Symbols
Flag / coat of arms:
Flag / coat of arms of Hiroshima
Tree : Camphor tree
Flower : oleander
town hall
Address : Hiroshima City Hall
1 - 6 - 34 , Kokutaiji
Naka-ku , Hiroshima -shi
Hiroshima  730-8586
Website URL: www.city.hiroshima.lg.jp
Location of Hiroshima in Hiroshima Prefecture
Hiroshima's location in the prefecture

Hiroshima ([ çi'ɺoɕima ], pronunciation ? / I , dt. "Spacious island"; in German also Hiroshima ; Japanese 広 島 市 , Hiroshima- shi , "[district] city of Hiroshima") is a port city in the southwest of the Japanese main island Honshu and the administrative seat of the same name Hiroshima Prefecture (Hiroshima ken ) . Audio file / audio sample

Hiroshima gained worldwide fame as the target of the first military use of nuclear weapons on August 6, 1945 .

history

Beginnings up to the Meiji restoration

The castle , originally built between 1592 and 1599, was completely destroyed in 1945 and rebuilt in 1958

In the 13th century, the Aki- Takeda built a castle upriver above the later city of Hiroshima (on the mountain called Takeda-yama in today's Asaminami district), the Kanayama Castle ( Kanayama-jō ), based on its location in the then Satō County ( Satō-gun , later Numata-gun ) also called Satō-Kanayama-jō ( 佐 東 銀 山城 ). It remained the main castle of the Aki-Takeda until the 16th century, when the Mōri took 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 until then had controlled large parts of the Chūgoku region and were among the most powerful families of the Sengoku period, were among the losers in the Battle of Sekigahara and from Hagi "only" ruled Chōshū in today's Yamaguchi. Under the Tokugawa, the Asano received the Principality of Hiroshima in 1619 . The Asano expanded the city and ruled until the Meiji Restoration .

19th century to World War II

The temporary Reichstag building in Hiroshima, 1894
Model of Hiroshima before it was destroyed on August 6, 1945

Before the Meiji Restoration, the city ​​was part of the districts of Numata ( 沼 田 , historically also read Nuta) and Aki of the province of Aki - the ancient provinces and districts had lost their administrative function in large parts since the Middle Ages, but still served as geographical ones Classification of the country. Both counties became part of the (- ken ) Hiroshima Prefecture during the restoration . In the unsustainable administrative division of the prefectures, which was linked to the registration law, the area around the castle formed the "large district No. 1" of the Hiroshima prefecture ( 広 島 県 第一 大 区 , Hiroshima-ken daiichi daiku ). When the districts were reactivated and reorganized by the Meiji government in 1878, the “district” / urban district (- ku ) Hiroshima, which had been detached from the districts, was set up in its place . From this, when the Prussian-inspired municipal ordinances were introduced in 1889, today's Hiroshima-shi with 83,387 inhabitants at that time was created.

The expansion of the port in 1889 and the connection to the Sanyo railway line between Kobe and Shimonoseki , which was completed in 1894, led to a further boom in the city.

During the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895), the city was the site 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. Until the Second World War , Hiroshima gained increasing importance and with 245,000 inhabitants was the seventh largest city in the country.

Atomic bombs dropped on August 6, 1945

→ Main article: Atomic bombing of Hiroshima

Model of Hiroshima with marked hypocenter of the atomic bomb explosion

In the metropolis of August 6, 1945, from the morning 29 B bomber Enola Gay of the USAAF the atomic bomb Little Boy dropped. At 8:16 a.m. local time, the explosion at a height of around 600 meters destroyed around 90% of the previously undamaged city. A total of 70,000 of the 76,000 houses were destroyed or badly damaged. This first use of a nuclear weapon in a war killed about 70,000 people instantly. In total, an estimated 140,000 people had died by the end of 1945. The surviving victims of the attack are known as " Hibakusha " in Japan and continue to suffer from the effects of the radiation to this day.

From the reconstruction until today

Peace Monument in modern Hiroshima

After the reconstruction in 1949, Hiroshima developed into an important industrial location and with over 1.1 million inhabitants it is now the 11th largest city in Japan .

Since "Little Boy" exploded a few hundred meters above the city, any damage from radioactive fallout was kept to a minimum; most radiation damage was only immediate in the explosion. The radiation exposure today is not above the level of normal background radiation from natural radioactivity and therefore not higher than in other areas of the world.

In the 1950s ("Great Shōwa Territorial Reform", Shōwa no daigappei ) the city was enlarged by several communities from the Aki and Saeki counties. In 1958 the population exceeded the pre-war level and reached 500,000 in 1964. In the economic miracle, further extensive incorporations of surrounding communities were planned, which should enable large-scale urban planning for the rapidly growing city. In the 1970s, the entire district of Asa and parts of other districts were finally incorporated in several steps. In 1980 Hiroshima was named a city ( seirei shitei toshi ) by the government and divided into districts (ku) . She was the tenth seirei-shi in the whole country. Two further incorporations from the Saeki district in 1985 and 2005 created the Saeki district.

Politics and administration

Factions in the city parliament
(as of May 13, 2019)
       
A total of 54 seats
  • Jiyūminshutō ・ shimin club (“ Liberal Democratic Party , [City] Civic Club ”): 14
  • Jiyūminshutō ・ hoshu club (" Liberal Democratic Party , Conservative Club"): 12
  • Kōmeitō : 8
  • Shisei kaikaku ・ mutōha club ("City policy reform, impartial club"): 8
  • KPY : 5
  • Shimin rengō ("Citizens' Union"): 5
  • Two other factions: 2
The Hiroshima City Council (Hiroshima-shiyakusho) in Kokutaijimachi in the Central District

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 third term in the uniform regional elections in 2019 with the support of the LDP , DVP and Kōmeitō .

The city parliament of Hiroshima (Hiroshima-shigikai) was also elected in the unified elections, which has 54 members from eight constituencies that are identical to the city districts: ten from the Asa-South district, nine from the West district, seven from Asa-North, Six each from the districts of Central, East, South and Saeki and four from the Aki district. The LDP remained clearly the strongest party with 26 seats.

In 2003, Hiroshima was the first “major city by government decree” in Japan to allow foreigners to take part 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.

City structure

The eight boroughs; in the southeast, the Aki district is divided into two non-contiguous parts by the Aki district and, conversely, the district is divided into three by the city.
Aki County Council

As a "city by government decree" ( seirei shitei toshi ), Hiroshima is divided into eight districts :

Code
with check digit 		Surname Area (in km²) population Population
density (inh / km²)
Rōmaji , translation Kanji 01.10.2017 1 01.10.2018 2 01/10/2015 3
34101-1 Naka-ku ("Central District") 中 区 15.32 140.051 136,640 8919.06
34102-9 Higashi-ku ("East District") 東区 39.42 119,833 120,155 3048.07
34103-7 Minami-ku ("South District") 南 区 26.46 144.016 142,728 5394.1
34104-5 Nishi-ku ("West District") 西区 35.61 191,499 190.929 5361.67
34105-3 Asaminami-ku ("Asa-South District") 安佐南 区 117.03 245.881 242,512 2072.22
34106-1 Asakita-ku ("Asa-North District") 安佐 北区 353.33 141.504 145.018 410.43
34107-0 Aki-ku 安 芸 区 94.08 78,679 79,353 843.46
34108-8 Saeki-ku 佐伯 区 225.43 137,789 136,699 606.39
34100-2 Hiroshima-shi ("City of Hiroshima") 広 島 市 906.68 1,199,252 1,194,034 1316.93
The last area change was in 2005 when the Yuki Township was integrated into the Saeki District.

Population development

Census population
year population
2018 1,199,252 *
2015 1,194,034
2010 1,173,843
2005 1,154,391
2000 1,126,239
1995 1,108,888
1990 1,085,705
1985 1,044,118
1980 899,399
* Population as of October 1, 2018

Prefectural policy

The Hiroshima Prefectural Parliament building in the Prefectural Administration Building Complex

The city of Hiroshima is represented by a total of 26 members in the Hiroshima Prefectural Parliament, which has 64 members. Here too, the city districts function as constituencies and each elect two to five members. In the 2019 prefectural parliamentary elections, which were also held as part of the unified elections, there were no votes in six constituencies of Hiroshima city, only in the districts of Higashi and Asa-Kita there were more candidates than seats.

The city of Hiroshima has been the seat of the Prefectural Administration of Hiroshima (Hiroshima-kenchō) since it was founded . The prefectural administration building complex is located in Motomachi in the Mitte district.

National politics

In elections to the national House of Representatives , the city extends into constituencies 1 to 4 of Hiroshima Prefecture. Constituency 1, which is the only one entirely in the city, has been held by the liberal democrat Fumio Kishida since the introduction of the single-mandate constituencies in 1996 . Constituencies 2, 3 and 4 will also be held by Liberal Democrats after the 2017 election .

In Hiroshima there are some branch offices of ministries of the central government with responsibility for the Chūgoku region . The judicial district of the Hiroshima High Court , headquartered in Naka District, also includes the whole 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 required the approval of the electorate for laws that apply only to a specific local authority: in July 1949, the citizens of Hiroshima voted on Hiroshima Heiwa kinen toshi kensetsu-hō ( 広 島 平和 記念 都市 建設 法 , "Building Law for the Peace Memorial City of Hiroshima"), 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.

traffic

Hiroshima has been connected to the San'yō Shinkansen ( high-speed line , Hiroshima station ) since March 10, 1975 . The Hiroshima Airport is located since 1993 about 50 km east of the city, the old one is under the name Hiroshima-Nishi continue for regional flights in operation. Hiroshima also has access to the Chugoku and Sanyo motorways and 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 overland line leads to Miyajima-guchi, from where there is a ferry connection to Miyajima Island . In the 1980s, two GT8 tram cars 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 - mainly to the suburbs - and the JR covers regional rail transport. There are also two modern public transport systems - the Astram and the Hiroshima monorail - but the main load is the trams, mopeds, motorbikes, trains and buses.

Personalities

A native of Hiroshima schoolgirl Sadako Sasaki (1943-1955) fought until her death with the folding of origami - cranes against their leukemia disease infection caused by the released radiation after the atomic bombing. Because of the worldwide sympathy with their fate, paper cranes have become a symbol of the international peace movement and resistance to nuclear war .

Hara Tamiki was born in Hiroshima on November 15, 1905. After studying English in Tokyo , he worked as an English teacher, but was also active in literature. Even then, the dominant theme of his works was death, but still flirting with the "beautiful death". In 1944 his wife died, after which he returned to his hometown Hiroshima. There he witnessed the atomic bomb being dropped on August 6, 1945. From then on, his work was under the motto: “Don't live for your own sake! Live to mourn the dead! ”He is particularly known for his story Natsu no hana (1949; German summer flowers , in: Since that day , ed. Ito Narihiko 1984). It is one of the best pieces of Japanese war literature and exerted a strong influence on the Japanese peace movement . Desperate about the outbreak of the Korean War , he threw himself in front of a train in Musashino on March 13, 1951 .

Since 1939 the German Jesuit father Hugo Makibi Enomiya-Lassalle , one of the most important mediators between Christianity and Buddhism, lived and worked in Hiroshima.

The important Japanese composer Toshio Hosokawa (born October 23, 1955) also comes from Hiroshima, and with his symphony Memory of the Sea he created an impressive sound memorial to the self-healing powers of his native city. The members of the girl band Perfume also come from Hiroshima.

Attractions

Since the city itself was largely destroyed in the atomic bombing, there are only a few historical sights. This includes the Fudō-in Temple .

In the city center is the 12 hectare Hiroshima Peace Park .

The peace memorial in Hiroshima , the ruins of the former building of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Jan Letzel , has been preserved as a memorial in the state immediately after the atomic bomb was dropped. On the other side of the Ōta River is the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum . In 1970 a memorial was also erected for the Korean victims of the atomic bombing on Hiroshima.

Shukkei-en , a 17th century Japanese garden with a pond, is located near the center . In the mountains bordering Hiroshima, in a small valley, the Mitaki-dera temple with moss gardens and various monastery and temple complexes is located.

The "Karpfenburg" was rebuilt in 1958 in the old style. To the south of the castle is the Hiroshima Museum of Art , which opened in 1978, with its collection of European and Japanese art from the 19th and 20th centuries.

The City Museum for Contemporary Art , which opened in 1989, is located in Hijiyama Park and has a collection of 1,400 pictures and sculptures by national and international contemporary artists.

The World Peace Church in the Nobori-chō district, built between 1950 and 1954 on the initiative of the German-Japanese Jesuit father Hugo M. Enomiya-Lassalle , contains works of art by contemporary German artists as well as a large number of donated items and furnishings from German personalities and companies. Since 1960 it is no longer subordinate to the Jesuit order, but is the seat of the Catholic Bishop of Hiroshima.

Culinary specialties

Okonomiyaki is a type of crepe that is used to cook cabbage and meat or seafood, cut into thin strips. In Hiroshima, in contrast to the Kansai region , the ingredients are layered, and noodles are also used.

education

State universities:

Private universities:

Sports

In the tennis stadium of the Hiroshima Regional Park (Hiroshima kōiki koen) in the Asa-Minami district, the Japan Women's Open is an international tennis tournament of the WTA .

economy

From 1920 to 1931 the headquarters of the Mazda company was in the city of Hiroshima, since 1931 it has been in Aki-Fuchū , today an eastern suburb enclosed by the city. One of the two Japanese plants is also located in Hiroshima Prefecture. As a result, the city developed into a center of the auto industry and the supplier industry. Hiroshima has an export and fishing port and an airport. Several companies are also active in shipbuilding.

Town twinning

See also

literature

(in chronological order)

Web links

Commons : Hiroshima  - album with pictures, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Hiroshima  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ duden.de
  2. ↑ a b c Hiroshima City Administration: 広 島 の 歴 史 ; English Hiroshima City / History of Hiroshima
  3. ↑ Ishida Satoshi, 地理 デ ー タ 集 : 郡 の 変 遷 （中国 地方）
  4. ↑ Use of Nuclear Weapons - Hiroshima. In: Atomwaffen AZ.info. Retrieved January 11, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Ferdinand Knauß: An experiment with 70,000 dead. In: Zeit.de. August 20, 2009, accessed January 11, 2020 .
  6. ↑ 140,000 people died - Japan commemorates the atomic bombing of Hiroshima 73 years ago. In: Abendzeitung-Muenchen.de. August 6, 2018, accessed January 11, 2020 .
  7. ↑ Question # 12: Is there still radiation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Even now, if people go to Hiroshima or Nagasaki, might they be affected by radiation? Hiroshima, accessed July 27, 2010 .
  8. ↑ Hiroshima City Parliament: Members by parliamentary group , accessed on May 17, 2019.
  9. ↑ 広 島 市 議 選 各 党 議席 . In: NHK Senkyo Web. April 8, 2019, Retrieved May 17, 2019 (Japanese).
  10. ↑ ＜ 在 日 社会 ＞ 永 住 外国人 住民 投票 権 全国 31 の 自治 体 に 拡 大 . In: Tōyō Keizai Nippō . April 25, 2003, Retrieved December 12, 2010 (Japanese).
  11. ↑ 広 島 市 住民 投票 制度 に つ い て Hiroshima City
  12. ↑ Hiroshima Prefectural Parliament: Constituencies and Mandate Numbers
  13. ↑ 広 島 県 議 選 各 党 議席 . In: NHK Senkyo Web. April 7, 2019, Retrieved May 17, 2019 (Japanese).
  14. ^ Okonomiyaki Menu. In: Otafuku Foods website. Otafuku Foods, archived from the original on February 16, 2013 ; Retrieved July 20, 2010 (English).
  15. ↑ Japanese Tennis Association ( Nihon Tennis kyōkai , 日本 テ ニ ス 協会 , English Japan Tennis Association ): 花 キ ュ ー ピ ッ ト オ ー プ ン