Editing Hiroshima (section)

==History==
{{see also|Timeline of Hiroshima}}

=== Early history ===
The region where Hiroshima stands today was originally a small fishing village along the shores of Hiroshima Bay. From the 12th century, the village was rather prosperous and was economically attached to a [[Zen|Zen Buddhist]] temple called ''[[Mitaki-Ji]]''. This new prosperity was partly caused by the increase of trade with the rest of Japan under the auspices of the [[Taira clan]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=International Dictionary of Historic Places, Volume 5: Asia and Oceania |publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers |year=1996 |isbn=1-884964-04-4 |editor-last=Schellinger |editor-first=Paul |location=Chicago |pages=349 |editor-last2=Salkin |editor-first2=Robert}}</ref>

===Sengoku and Edo periods (1589–1871)===

Hiroshima was established on the delta coastline of the [[Seto Inland Sea]] in 1589 by powerful warlord [[Mōri Terumoto]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.city.hiroshima.jp/kikaku/joho/toukei/History-E/c01.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080130190042/http://www.city.hiroshima.jp/kikaku/joho/toukei/History-E/c01.html |archive-date=January 30, 2008 |title=The Origin of Hiroshima |publisher=Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation |access-date=August 17, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://aboutjapan.japansociety.org/content.cfm/hiroshima_history_city_event |title=Hiroshima: History, City, Event |author=Scott O'Bryan |year=2009 |publisher=About Japan: A Teacher's Resource |access-date=March 14, 2010 |archive-date=July 27, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727131904/http://aboutjapan.japansociety.org/content.cfm/hiroshima_history_city_event |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Hiroshima Castle]] was quickly built, and in 1593 Mōri moved in. The name Hiroshima means wide island in Japanese. Terumoto was on the losing side at the [[Battle of Sekigahara]]. The winner of the battle, [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]], deprived Mōri Terumoto of most of his fiefs, including Hiroshima and gave [[Aki Province]] to [[Fukushima Masanori|Masanori Fukushima]], a ''[[daimyō]]'' (Feudal Lord) who had supported Tokugawa.<ref name="Kosaikai">{{cite book |author=Kosaikai, Yoshiteru |title=Hiroshima Peace Reader |publisher=Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation |year=2007 |chapter=History of Hiroshima}}</ref> From 1619 until 1871, Hiroshima was ruled by the [[Asano clan]].
<gallery mode="packed" style="text-align: center;" caption="Gallery" heights="130px" perrow="3">
File:Mitaki-dera Taho-to.jpg|[[Mitaki-dera]]
File:Fudoin Kondo.jpg|Fudoin
File:Hiroshima-Castle-1.jpg|[[Hiroshima Castle]]
</gallery>

===Meiji and Showa periods (1871–1939)===
After the [[Han system|Han]] was abolished in 1871, the city became the capital of [[Hiroshima Prefecture]]. Hiroshima became a major urban center during the [[Empire of Japan|imperial period]], as the Japanese economy shifted from primarily rural to urban industries. During the 1870s, one of the seven government-sponsored English language schools was established in Hiroshima.<ref>Bingham (US Legation in Tokyo) to Fish (US Department of State), September 20, 1876, in ''Papers relating to the foreign relations of the United States, transmitted to congress, with the annual message of the president, December 4, 1876'', p. 384</ref> Ujina Harbor was constructed through the efforts of Hiroshima Governor [[Sadaaki Senda]] in the 1880s, allowing Hiroshima to become an important port city.

The [[San'yō Railway]] was extended to Hiroshima in 1894, and a rail line from the main station to the harbor was constructed for military transportation during the [[First Sino-Japanese War]].<ref name="Kosakai"/> During that war, the [[Government of Japan|Japanese government]] moved temporarily to Hiroshima, and [[Emperor Meiji]] maintained his headquarters at [[Hiroshima Castle]] from September 15, 1894, to April 27, 1895.<ref name="Kosakai">Kosakai, ''Hiroshima Peace Reader''</ref> The significance of Hiroshima for the Japanese government can be discerned from the fact that the first round of talks between Chinese and Japanese representatives to end the Sino-Japanese War was held in Hiroshima, from February 1 to 4, 1895.<ref>Dun (US Legation in Tokyo) to Gresham, February 4, 1895, in ''Foreign relations of United States, 1894'', Appendix I, p. 97</ref> New industrial plants, including [[cotton mill]]s, were established in Hiroshima in the late 19th century.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Origin of Modern Capitalism and Eastern Asia |author=Jacobs, Norman |publisher=Hong Kong University |year=1958 |page=51}}</ref> Further industrialization in Hiroshima was stimulated during the [[Russo-Japanese War]] in 1904, which required development and production of military supplies. The Hiroshima Prefectural Commercial Exhibition Hall was constructed in 1915 as a center for trade and the exhibition of new products. Later, its name was changed to Hiroshima Prefectural Product Exhibition Hall, and again to Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall.<ref>{{cite book |author=Sanko |title=Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome) |year=1998 |publisher=The City of Hiroshima and the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation}}</ref> The building, now known as the A-Bomb Dome, part of the [[Hiroshima Peace Memorial]], a [[World Heritage Site]] since 1996, permanently remains the only structure still standing and is a state of preserved ruin.

During [[World War I]], Hiroshima became a focal point of military activity, as the Japanese government joined the Allied at war. About 500 German POWs were held in Ninoshima Island in Hiroshima Bay.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.hiroshimapeacemedia.jp/mediacenter/article.php?story=20100901131622626_en |title=Hiroshima's contribution to food culture tied to A-bomb Dome｜Opinion｜Hiroshima Peace Media Center |access-date=2010-09-03 |archive-date=2013-10-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131025030048/http://www.hiroshimapeacemedia.jp/mediacenter/article.php?story=20100901131622626_en |url-status=dead}}</ref> The growth of Hiroshima as a city continued after the First World War, as the city now attracted the attention of the Catholic Church, and on May 4, 1923, an [[Apostolic Vicar]] was appointed for that city.<ref>{{Catholic-hierarchy|diocese|dhiro|Diocese of Hiroshima|January 21, 2015}}</ref>
<gallery mode="packed" style="text-align: center;" caption="Gallery" heights="130px" perrow="3">
File:Mitsui Bank Hiroshima Branch 1928 - 1.jpg|Old [[Mitsui Bank]] Hiroshima Branch (1928)
File:Hiroshima map circa 1930.PNG|Map of Hiroshima City in the 1930s (Japanese edition)
File:Hiroshima University Hospital 04.jpg|Old Hiroshima Army Weapon Depot
</gallery>

===World War II and the atomic bombing (1939–1945)===
{{main|Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki#Hiroshima}}
<!-- Note to editors: This article is for an overview. Please do not add details. Instead, add details to the main article "Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki". -->

During [[World War II]], the [[Second General Army (Japan)|Second General Army]] and Chūgoku Regional Army was headquartered in Hiroshima, and the Army Marine Headquarters was located at Ujina port. The city also had large depots of military supplies, and was a key center for shipping.<ref name="effects">{{cite web |url=http://www.nuclearfiles.org/redocuments/1946/460619-bombing-survey1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041011111052/http://www.nuclearfiles.org/redocuments/1946/460619-bombing-survey1.html |archive-date=October 11, 2004 |title=U. S. Strategic Bombing Survey: The Effects of the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki |date=June 1946 |author=United States Strategic Bombing Survey |publisher=nuclearfiles.org |access-date=July 26, 2009}}</ref>

The [[bombing of Tokyo]] and [[Air raids on Japan|other cities in Japan]] during World War II caused widespread destruction and hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths.<ref>{{cite book |title=Bombing to Win: Airpower and Coercion in War |last=Pape |first=Robert |year=1996 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-0-8014-8311-0 |page=129}}</ref> There were no such air raids on Hiroshima. However, a real threat existed and was recognized. To protect against potential [[firebombing]]s in Hiroshima, school children aged 11–14 years were mobilized to demolish houses and create [[firebreak]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chugoku-np.co.jp/abom/97e/peace/e/03/omoide.htm |title=Japan in the Modern Age and Hiroshima as a Military City |publisher=The Chugoku Shimbun |access-date=August 19, 2007 |archive-date=August 20, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070820001539/http://www.chugoku-np.co.jp/abom/97e/peace/e/03/omoide.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

On Monday, August 6, 1945, at 8:15&nbsp;a.m. (Hiroshima time), the American [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress]], the ''[[Enola Gay]]'', flown by [[Paul Tibbets]] (23 February 1915 – 1 November 2007), dropped the [[nuclear weapon]] "[[Little Boy]]" on Hiroshima,<ref>[http://www.cfo.doe.gov/me70/manhattan/hiroshima.html The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303233319/http://www.cfo.doe.gov/me70/manhattan/hiroshima.html |date=March 3, 2016 }}, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of History and Heritage Resources.</ref> directly killing at least 70,000 people, including thousands of [[Koreans|Korean slave laborers]]. Fewer than 10% of the casualties were military.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Barton |last=Bernstein |title=Reconsidering the 'Atomic General': Leslie R. Groves |journal=Journal of Military History |volume=67 |issue=3 |date=July 2003 |pages=904–905 |doi=10.1353/jmh.2003.0198 |s2cid=161380682 |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/44239 |access-date=2019-05-20 |archive-date=2020-03-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322095315/https://muse.jhu.edu/article/44239 |url-status=live | issn = 0899-3718 }}</ref> By the end of the year, injury and radiation brought the total number of deaths to 90,000–140,000.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rerf.or.jp/general/qa_e/qa1.html |title=Frequently Asked Questions – Radiation Effects Research Foundation |publisher=Rerf.or.jp |access-date=July 29, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070919143939/http://www.rerf.or.jp/general/qa_e/qa1.html |archive-date=September 19, 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The population before the bombing was around 345,000. About 70% of the city's buildings were destroyed, and another 7% severely damaged.

The public release of film footage of the city following the attack, and some of the [[Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission]] research on the human effects of the attack, were restricted during the [[occupation of Japan]], and much of this information was censored until the signing of the [[Treaty of San Francisco]] in 1951, restoring control to the Japanese.<ref>Ishikawa and Swain (1981), p. 5</ref>

As [[Ian Buruma]] observed: {{blockquote|News of the amazing explosion of the atom bomb attacks on Japan was deliberately withheld from the Japanese public by US military censors during the Allied occupation—even as they sought to teach the natives the virtues of a free press. Casualty statistics were suppressed. Film shot by Japanese cameramen in Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the bombings was confiscated. "Hiroshima", the account written by John Hersey for ''The New Yorker'', had a huge impact in the US, but was banned in Japan. As [John] Dower says: "In the localities themselves, suffering was compounded not merely by the unprecedented nature of the catastrophe&nbsp;... but also by the fact that public struggle with this traumatic experience was not permitted."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Seldon |first=Mark |date=December 2016 |title=American Fire Bombing and Atomic Bombing of Japan in History and Memory |url=https://apjjf.org/2016/23/Selden.html |journal=The Asia-Pacific Journal |volume=14 |via=Japan Focus |access-date=2019-03-26 |archive-date=2019-03-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190326231734/https://apjjf.org/2016/23/Selden.html |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

The book ''[[Hiroshima (book)|Hiroshima]]'' by [[John Hersey]] was originally published in article form in the magazine ''[[The New Yorker]]'',<ref name="autogenerated3"/> on August 31, 1946. It is reported to have reached Tokyo, in English, at least by January 1947 and the translated version was released in Japan in 1949.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2009/08/16/books/the-pure-horror-of-hiroshima/#.UdhVsfnVDTc |title=The pure horror of Hiroshima |work=[[The Japan Times]] |first=Donald |last=Richie |date=August 16, 2009 |access-date=August 11, 2021 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |archive-date=August 6, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806215706/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2009/08/16/books/the-pure-horror-of-hiroshima/#.UdhVsfnVDTc }}</ref> Although the article was planned to be published over four issues, "Hiroshima" made up the entire contents of one issue of the magazine.<ref name="ReferenceA">Sharp, "From Yellow Peril to Japanese Wasteland: John Hersey's 'Hiroshima'", Twentieth Century Literature 46 (2000): 434–452, accessed March 15, 2012.</ref><ref name="The New Yorker 2010">Jon Michaub, "Eighty-Five From the Archive: John Hersey" ''The New Yorker'', June 8, 2010, np.</ref> ''Hiroshima'' narrates the stories of [[Hibakusha|six bomb survivors]] immediately before and four months after the dropping of the [[Little Boy]] bomb.<ref name=autogenerated3>Roger Angell, From the Archives, "Hersey and History", ''The New Yorker'', July 31, 1995, p. 66.</ref><ref name=autogenerated4>John Hersey, Hiroshima (New York: Random House, 1989).</ref>

Oleander (''[[Nerium]]'') is the official flower of the city of Hiroshima because it was the first to bloom again after the explosion of the atomic bomb in 1945.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.city.hiroshima.lg.jp/www/contents/0000000000000/1112000428867/ |script-title=ja:広島市 市の木・市の花 |access-date=July 15, 2012 |archive-date=April 8, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408231422/http://www.city.hiroshima.lg.jp/www/contents/0000000000000/1112000428867/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
<gallery mode="packed" style="text-align: center;" caption="Gallery" heights="130px" perrow="3">
File:Hiroshima aftermath.jpg|Hiroshima August 1945
File:AtomicEffects-Hiroshima.jpg|Hiroshima in October 1945, two months after the bombing
File:Looking South East General view looking south east building 5H-21 (5-H).jpg|Old [[Mitsui Bank|Teikoku Bank]] Hiroshima Branch (1945)
</gallery>

===Postwar period (1945–present)===
[[File:Emperor Showa visit to Hiroshima in 1947.JPG|thumb|237px|Emperor [[Hirohito]] visiting Hiroshima in 1947, where he held a speech encouraging the city's citizens in the aftermath of the war. The domed [[Hiroshima Peace Memorial]] can be seen in the background.]]
On September 17, 1945, Hiroshima was struck by the Makurazaki Typhoon ([[Typhoon Ida (1945)|Typhoon Ida]]). [[Hiroshima Prefecture]] suffered more than 3,000 deaths and injuries, about half the national total.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://excite.co.jp/world/english/web/body/?wb_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bioweather.net%2Fcolumn%2Fweather%2Fcontents%2Fmame068.htm&wb_submit=%83E%83F%83u%83y%81%5B%83W%96%7C%96%F3&wb_lp=JAEN&wb_dis=2 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120710150554/http://excite.co.jp/world/english/web/body/?wb_url=http://www.bioweather.net/column/weather/contents/mame068.htm&wb_submit=%83E%83F%83u%83y%81%5B%83W%96%7C%96%F3&wb_lp=JAEN&wb_dis=2 |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 10, 2012 |script-title=ja:Excite エキサイト |access-date=August 7, 2018 }}</ref> More than half the bridges in the city were destroyed, along with heavy damage to roads and railroads, further devastating the city.<ref>Ishikawa and also Swain (1981), p. 6</ref>

From 1945 to 1952, Hiroshima came under [[British Commonwealth Occupation Force|occupation from the British Empire]].

Hiroshima was rebuilt after the war, with help from the national government through the Hiroshima Peace Memorial City Construction Law passed in 1949. It provided financial assistance for reconstruction, along with land donated that was previously owned by the national government and used by the Imperial military.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.city.hiroshima.jp/kikaku/joho/toukei/History-E/c05.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080206124545/http://www.city.hiroshima.jp/kikaku/joho/toukei/History-E/c05.html |archive-date=February 6, 2008 |title=Peace Memorial City, Hiroshima |publisher=Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation |access-date=August 14, 2007}}</ref>

In 1949, a design was selected for the [[Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park]]. Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, the closest surviving building to the location of the bomb's detonation, was designated the [[Hiroshima Peace Memorial|Genbaku Dome (原爆ドーム) or "Atomic Dome"]], a part of the [[Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park]]. The [[Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum]] was opened in 1955 in the Peace Park.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/virtual/VirtualMuseum_e/exhibit_e/exh0507_e/exh050701_e.html |title=Fifty Years for the Peace Memorial Museum |publisher=Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum |access-date=August 17, 2007 |archive-date=August 30, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070830055255/http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/virtual/VirtualMuseum_e/exhibit_e/exh0507_e/exh050701_e.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The historic castle of Hiroshima was rebuilt in 1958.

Hiroshima also contains a [[Peace Pagoda]], built in 1966 by [[Nipponzan-Myōhōji]]. Uniquely, the pagoda is made of [[steel]], rather than the usual stone.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://japandeluxetours.com/experiences/hiroshima-peace-memorial-park |title=Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park |publisher=Japan Deluxe Tours |access-date=May 23, 2017 |archive-date=January 9, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109032854/https://japandeluxetours.com/experiences/hiroshima-peace-memorial-park |url-status=live }}</ref>

Hiroshima was proclaimed a City of Peace by the Japanese parliament in 1949, at the initiative of its mayor, [[Shinzo Hamai]] (1905–1968).{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} As a result, the city of Hiroshima received more international attention as a desirable location for holding international conferences on peace as well as social issues.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} As part of that effort, the Hiroshima Interpreters' and Guide's Association (HIGA) was established in 1992 to facilitate interpretation for conferences, and the Hiroshima Peace Institute was established in 1998 within the [[Hiroshima University]]. The city government continues to advocate the abolition of all [[nuclear weapon]]s and the Mayor of Hiroshima is the president of [[Mayors for Peace]], an international Mayoral organization mobilizing cities and citizens worldwide to abolish and eliminate nuclear weapons [[2020 Vision Campaign|by 2020]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/hiroshima.htm |title=Surviving the Atomic Attack on Hiroshima, 1944 |publisher=Eyewitnesstohistory.com |date=August 6, 1945 |access-date=July 17, 2009 |archive-date=August 5, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090805180140/http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/hiroshima.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/library/media-gallery/video/hiroshima-aftermath |title=Library: Media Gallery: Video Files: Rare film documents devastation at Hiroshima |publisher=Nuclear Files |access-date=July 17, 2009 |archive-date=June 23, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090623222755/http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/library/media-gallery/video/hiroshima-aftermath/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

On May 27, 2016, [[Barack Obama]] became the first sitting United States president to visit Hiroshima since the atomic bombing.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kaster |first=Carolyn |date=May 27, 2016 |title=President Obama Visits Hiroshima |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/live/president-obama-hiroshima-japan/obama-becomes-1st-sitting-president-to-visit-hiroshima/ |access-date=September 28, 2023 |archive-date=April 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407211729/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/live/president-obama-hiroshima-japan/obama-becomes-1st-sitting-president-to-visit-hiroshima/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The 49th annual [[G7]] summit was held in Hiroshima in May 2023.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.g7hiroshima.go.jp/ |title=G7 Hiroshima 2023 |publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan |access-date=19 May 2023 |archive-date=18 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230518184058/https://www.g7hiroshima.go.jp/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Hiroshima is situated on the [[Ōta River]] delta, on [[Hiroshima Bay]], facing the [[Seto Inland Sea]] on its south side. The river's six channels divide Hiroshima into several islets.
<gallery mode="packed" style="text-align: center;" heights="130" perrow="3" caption="Gallery">
File:Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum 2.jpg|[[Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park]]
File:Atomic Bomb Dome and Motoyaso River, Hiroshima, Northwest view 20190417 1.jpg|alt=Atomic Bomb Dome by night on 8 September 2017|[[Hiroshima Peace Memorial|Atomic Bomb Dome]] by [[Jan Letzel]] and modern Hiroshima
File:Hiroshima Andersen 20200803-1.JPG|[[Andersen Institute of Bread and Life|Andersen Takaki Bakery]]
File:Genbakudome by night.jpg|Atomic Bomb Dome by night
File:Hiroshima A-bomb dome.jpg|Genbaku Dome seen from Orizuru tower in 2019
</gallery>