, sometimes called is a castle

Japanese castle

' were fortresses composed primarily of wood and stone. They evolved from the wooden stockades of earlier centuries, and came into their best-known form in the 16th century...

 in Hiroshima, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 which was the home of the daimyō

Daimyo

is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...

 (feudal lord) of the Hiroshima han

Han (Japan)

The or domain was the name of the estate belonging to a warrior in Japan after the 17th century. The fiefs of the daimyos of the samurai class of Japan during the Edo period were called han.-Edo period:...

 (fief). Originally constructed in the 1590s, the castle was destroyed in the atomic bombing

Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

During the final stages of World War II in 1945, the United States conducted two atomic bombings against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, the first on August 6, 1945, and the second on August 9, 1945. These two events are the only use of nuclear weapons in war to date.For six months...

 in 1945. It was rebuilt in 1958, a replica of the original which now serves as a museum of Hiroshima's history prior to World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

History

Mōri Terumoto

Mori Terumoto

Mōri Terumoto , son of Mōri Takamoto and grandson and successor of the great warlord Mōri Motonari, fought against Toyotomi Hideyoshi but was eventually overcome, participated in the Kyūshū campaign on Hideyoshi's side and built Hiroshima Castle, thus essentially founding Hiroshima.Terumoto was a...

, one of Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Toyotomi Hideyoshi

was a daimyo warrior, general and politician of the Sengoku period. He unified the political factions of Japan. He succeeded his former liege lord, Oda Nobunaga, and brought an end to the Sengoku period. The period of his rule is often called the Momoyama period, named after Hideyoshi's castle...

's council of Five Elders

Council of Five Elders

The council of five elders, also known as the five Tairō , was formed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi to rule Japan in the place of his son, Hideyori, until such time as he came of age. Hideyoshi chose his five most powerful daimyo: Ukita Hideie, Maeda Toshiie, Uesugi Kagekatsu, Mōri Terumoto, and the...

, established Hiroshima castle in 1589 at the delta of the Otagawa river. There was no Hiroshima city or town at the time, and the area was called Gokamura, meaning 'five villages.' Beginning in 1591, Mōri governed nine provinces from this castle, including much of what is now Shimane

Shimane Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region on Honshū island. The capital is Matsue. It is the second least populous prefecture in Japan, after its eastern neighbor Tottori. The prefecture has an area elongated from east to west facing the Chūgoku Mountain Range on the south side and to...

, Yamaguchi

Yamaguchi Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan in the Chūgoku region on Honshū island. The capital is the city of Yamaguchi, in the center of the prefecture. The largest city, however, is Shimonoseki.- History :...

, Tottori

Tottori Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region. The capital is the city of Tottori. It is the least populous prefecture in Japan.- History :Before the Meiji Restoration, Tottori encompassed the old provinces of Hōki and Inaba...

, Okayama

Okayama Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region on Honshū island. The capital is the city of Okayama.- History :During the Meiji Restoration, the area of Okayama Prefecture was known as Bitchū Province, Bizen Province and Mimasaka Province.- Geography :...

 and Hiroshima Prefecture

Hiroshima Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region on Honshu island. The capital is the city of Hiroshima.- History :The area around Hiroshima was formerly divided into Bingo Province and Aki Province. This location has been a center of trade and culture since the beginning of Japan's recorded...

s.

When construction on the castle began, Gokamura was renamed Hiroshima, as a more impressive name was called for. "Hiro" was taken from Ōe no Hiromoto

Oe no Hiromoto

Ōe no Hiromoto was a kuge and vassal of Japan's Kamakura shogunate, and contributed to establishing the shogunate's governmental structure....

, an ancestor of the Mōri family, and "Shima" was taken from Fukushima Motonaga who helped Mōri Terumoto choose the castle site. Some accounts state that the name 'Hiroshima', meaning literally 'wide island', comes from the existence of several large islands in the delta of the Otagawa, near the castle's site.

Following the battle of Sekigahara

Battle of Sekigahara

The , popularly known as the , was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 which cleared the path to the Shogunate for Tokugawa Ieyasu...

 in 1600, Mōri was forced out of the castle, retreating to Hagi

Hagi, Yamaguchi

is a city located in Yamaguchi, Japan and was incorporated as a city on July 1, 1932. Formerly part of Abu District.On March 6, 2005, the former city of Hagi merged with the towns of Susa and Tamagawa, and the villages of Asahi, Fukue, Kawakami and Mutsumi to form the new city of Hagi.Iwami Airport...

 in today's Yamaguchi prefecture

Yamaguchi Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan in the Chūgoku region on Honshū island. The capital is the city of Yamaguchi, in the center of the prefecture. The largest city, however, is Shimonoseki.- History :...

. Fukushima Masanori

Fukushima Masanori

was a Japanese daimyo of the late Sengoku Period to early Edo Period who served as lord of the Hiroshima Domain. A retainer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, he fought in the battle of Shizugatake in 1583, and soon became known as one of Seven Spears of Shizugatake which also included Katō Kiyomasa and...

 became the lord of Aki

Aki Province

or Geishū was a province in the Chūgoku Region of western Honshū, comprising the western part of what is today Hiroshima Prefecture.When Emperor Shōmu ordered two official temples for each province , two temples were founded in Aki Province...

 and Bingo province

Bingo Province

was a province of Japan on the Inland Sea side of western Honshū, comprising what is today the eastern part of Hiroshima Prefecture. It was sometimes called , with Bizen and Bitchu Provinces. Bingo bordered Bitchū, Hōki, Izumo, Iwami, and Aki Provinces....

s (which today comprise Hiroshima prefecture

Hiroshima Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region on Honshu island. The capital is the city of Hiroshima.- History :The area around Hiroshima was formerly divided into Bingo Province and Aki Province. This location has been a center of trade and culture since the beginning of Japan's recorded...

, and of Hiroshima castle). However, the new Tokugawa shogunate

Tokugawa shogunate

The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...

 forbade any castle construction without permission from Edo

Edo

, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...

; this was part of how the shogunate kept the daimyō from gaining power and overthrowing the shogunate. When Fukushima repaired the castle following a flood in 1619, he was dispatched to Kawanakajima in today's Nagano prefecture

Nagano Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of the island of Honshū. The capital is the city of Nagano.- History :Nagano was formerly known as the province of Shinano...

. Asano Nagaakira

Asano Nagaakira

was a Japanese samurai of the early Edo period who served as daimyō of the Wakayama domain, and was later transferred to the Hiroshima Domain.Born Asano Iwamatsu, he was the son of Asano Nagamasa, who was a senior retainer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. In 1594, Nagaakira was made a retainer of Toyotomi...

 became lord of the castle.

From 1619 until the abolition of the feudal system

Abolition of the han system

The was an act, in 1871, of the new Meiji government of the Empire of Japan to replace the traditional feudal domain system and to introduce centralized government authority . This process marked the culmination of the Meiji Restoration in that all daimyo were required to return their authority...

 during the Meiji Restoration

Meiji Restoration

The , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868...

 (1869), the Asano family

Asano family

The ' was a noble samurai family in feudal Japan which controlled the han of Hiroshima centered around Hiroshima Castle for much of the Edo period....

 were lords of Aki

Aki Province

or Geishū was a province in the Chūgoku Region of western Honshū, comprising the western part of what is today Hiroshima Prefecture.When Emperor Shōmu ordered two official temples for each province , two temples were founded in Aki Province...

 and Bingo province

Bingo Province

was a province of Japan on the Inland Sea side of western Honshū, comprising what is today the eastern part of Hiroshima Prefecture. It was sometimes called , with Bizen and Bitchu Provinces. Bingo bordered Bitchū, Hōki, Izumo, Iwami, and Aki Provinces....

s.

After the Meiji Restoration, the castle came to serve as a military facility, and the Imperial General Headquarters

Imperial General Headquarters

The as part of the Supreme War Council was established in 1893 to coordinate efforts between the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy during wartime...

 was based there during the First Sino-Japanese War

First Sino-Japanese War

The First Sino-Japanese War was fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan, primarily over control of Korea...

 in 1894-1895. The foundations of several of the GHQ outbuildings, just a few hundred paces from the castle's main tower, remain today.

The castle was destroyed in the atomic bomb blast of August 6, 1945. For many years, it was believed the castle structure was blown away by the explosion that destroyed Hiroshima, but newly discovered evidence suggests the explosion only destroyed the lower pillars of the castle, and the rest of it collapsed as a result.

The present tower, constructed largely of concrete, was completed in 1958.

Daimyō of Hiroshima

1. Mōri Terumoto
   Mori Terumoto
   Mōri Terumoto , son of Mōri Takamoto and grandson and successor of the great warlord Mōri Motonari, fought against Toyotomi Hideyoshi but was eventually overcome, participated in the Kyūshū campaign on Hideyoshi's side and built Hiroshima Castle, thus essentially founding Hiroshima.Terumoto was a...
   
    (1591-1600)*; 1,120,000 koku
   Koku
   The is a Japanese unit of volume, equal to ten cubic shaku. In this definition, 3.5937 koku equal one cubic metre, i.e. 1 koku is approximately 278.3 litres. The koku was originally defined as a quantity of rice, historically defined as enough rice to feed one person for one year...
   
   
2. Fukushima Masanori
   Fukushima Masanori
   was a Japanese daimyo of the late Sengoku Period to early Edo Period who served as lord of the Hiroshima Domain. A retainer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, he fought in the battle of Shizugatake in 1583, and soon became known as one of Seven Spears of Shizugatake which also included Katō Kiyomasa and...
   
    (1600-1619); 498,223 koku
3. Asano Nagaakira
   Asano Nagaakira
   was a Japanese samurai of the early Edo period who served as daimyō of the Wakayama domain, and was later transferred to the Hiroshima Domain.Born Asano Iwamatsu, he was the son of Asano Nagamasa, who was a senior retainer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. In 1594, Nagaakira was made a retainer of Toyotomi...
   
    (1619-1632); 426,500 koku**
4. Asano Mitsuakira (1632-1672)
5. Asano Tsunaakira
   Asano Tsunaakira
   was a Japanese daimyo of the Edo period, who ruled the Hiroshima Domain.Two of his consorts were daughters of the court noble Kujō Michifusa.-References:...
   
    (1672-1673)
6. Asano Tsunanaga
   Asano Tsunanaga
   was a Japanese daimyo of the Edo period, who ruled the Hiroshima Domain. He held the title of Aki no kami.During the 47 Ronin incident, Tsunanaga sent a messenger to Akō, which was ruled by a branch family of the Hiroshima Asano, and recommended that Ōishi Kuranosuke peacefully surrender the castle...
   
    (1673-1708)
7. Asano Yoshinaga (1708-1752)
8. Asano Munetsune (1752-1763)
9. Asano Shigeakira (1763-1799)
10. Asano Narikata (1799-1830)
11. Asano Naritaka (1831-1858)
12. Asano Yoshiteru (1858-1858)
13. Asano Nagamichi (1858-1869)
14. Asano Nagakoto
    Asano Nagakoto
    was a daimyō of Hiroshima Domain following the Meiji Restoration, was a Japanese politician and diplomat of the Meiji period, and was one of the last surviving Japanese daimyō ....
    
     (1869-1869)

*The years listed are those in which the lord occupied Hiroshima castle, not the years of his life.

**All of the lords after Asano Nagaakira enjoyed the same 426,500 koku.

Structure

The castle was originally constructed in wood, pine primarily, and had attached wings to the east and to the south. It was completed sometime between 1592 and 1599, and was designated a National Treasure

National treasures of Japan

National Treasures are the most precious of Japan's Tangible Cultural Properties, as determined and designated by the Agency for Cultural Affairs...

 in 1931. The reconstructed castle features the main tower (tenshu) only, which is made primarily of reinforced concrete. Its five floors stand 26.6 meters above the stone foundation which, in turn, is 12.4 meters high off the ground. However, in recent years, a gate and a yagura in the ninomaru have been re-constructed out of wood using the original methods.

An excellent example of a hirajiro or flatlands (plains) castle, Hiroshima castle once had three concentric moats in addition to the Otagawa river to the west (now called the Hongawa), which provided an additional natural barrier. The two outer moats were filled in during the late 19th & early 20th centuries, and much of what was once within the castle grounds is now modern urban areas, including homes, schools, offices and shops. A number of secondary castle buildings, towers and turrets once stood, and a Shinto shrine called Hiroshima Gokoku Jinja

Hiroshima Gokoku Shrine

is a Japanese Shinto Shrine in Hiroshima, Japan.-Overview:The original shrine was founded in 1868, the first year of the Meiji period, in Hiroshima...

 is located within the innermost moat, having been moved there after 1945.

Within the castle walls two trees survived the atomic bombing, a Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia...

 and a Willow

Willow

Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...

 at approximately 760m from the Hypocenter

Hypocenter

The hypocenter refers to the site of an earthquake or a nuclear explosion...

. Both specimens are preserved just beyond the Honmaru. Also located inside the Honmaru is the concrete bunker from which the first radio broadcast out of Hiroshima following the atomic bombing was made.

External links

• Hiroshima Castle official site
  (note: students from abroad studying in Japan, show your Japanese school ID, then entrance fee will be free)
• Junji Akechi, "New theory offered for collapse of Hiroshima Castle tower in the bombing" Chugoku Shimbun Website