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Welcome to Hiroshima!
PLACES OF INTEREST:
Peace
Memorial Park (Heiwa Kinen Koen) and the ancient offshore
Shinto 'shrine island' Miyajima or Itsukushima.
FESTIVALS IN HIROSHIMA:
Mibu-no-hana
Taue (Mibu Flower Rice Planting) is an ancient rice planting
festival held June 8th in the Hiroshima Prefecture countryside.
Hiroshima,
located on the Seto Inland Sea in the western part of Honshu,
is nestled among the lush foothills of the picturesque Chugoku
Mountain Range. Several rivers make their way down through the
mountains converging at the mouth of the Ota River forming a rich
delta. Numerous verdant islands dot the gentle blue waters of
the Inland Sea including the beautiful Miyajima or 'shrine island.'
Hiroshima
dates back to the
Momoyama period (1573-1603) with the establishment of 'Hiroshima-jo'
(Hiroshima Castle) by feudal lord Terumoto Mori. During the Edo
period (1603-1868), land reclamation along the sea increased the
amount of arable land and the city began to prosper. A municipal
system of government was implemented in 1889 during the Meiji
period, and Emperor Meiji established his headquarters at Hiroshima
Castle during the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895). Hiroshima continued
to develop into a major industrial center and by the beginning
of World War II, its population was nearly 350,000.
Hiroshima
is best known as the first city to be atomic bombed. On August
6, 1945 Hiroshima was destroyed by a single atomic bomb taking
countless lives. In 1949, the Japanese government enacted the
Hiroshima Peace Memorial City Construction Law which was instrumental
in rebuilding the city and creating Peace Memorial Park (Heiwa
Kinen Koen) making the Hiroshima of today a symbol for peace worldwide.
PEACE MEMORIAL
PARK 
Peace Memorial Park (Heiwa Kinen Koen) encompasses the A-Bomb
Dome, Peace Memorial Museum, the Flame of Peace (Heiwa no To),
Children's Peace Monument (Genbaku no ko no zo) and the Memorial
Cenotaph for A-Bomb Victims. The A-Bomb Dome, once Hiroshima's
Industry Promotion Hall, has been preserved much as it was following
the bombing, and has been designated a World Heritage Site. Millions
of origami
paper cranes, made by children throughout Japan and the world
are offered before the Children's Peace Monument. To learn more
about the park visit http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/virtual/index.html.
MEMORIAL CENOTAPH FOR A-BOMB VICTIMS 
The Memorial Cenotaph for A-Bomb Victims was designed by the architect
Kenzo Tange and is inscribed with the words, "Let all the
souls here rest in peace, for we shall not repeat the evil."
Beneath the arch is a cenotaph containing the names of more than
230,000 A-bomb victims.
ITSUKUSHIMA
Miyajima or 'shrine island' is located just off Hiroshima prefecture
in the Inland Sea. Properly known as Itsukushima, it is one of
Japan's holiest and oldest Shinto
shrines and dates back more than 1,500 years. Itsukushima is comprised
of a scenic park, temple buildings and a pagoda, but is most famous
for the red torii gate located just offshore.
JapanCorner 2005
 
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