Fukuyama (福山市, Fukuyama-shi) is a city located on the Ashida River in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan.

As of January 31, 2010, the city has an estimated population of 465,238 and a population density of 898.02 persons per km². The total area is 461.23 km² (178.08 sq mi).

After Hiroshima City, it is the largest city in Hiroshima Prefecture and is located on the far east side of the prefecture. The city's symbol is the rose and it holds an annual Rose Festival in the month of May. Fukuyama City is a vital commercial, industrial and communications center. It produces machinery, koto (Japanese harps), rubber products, electronics, textiles, and processed foods.

History

What is today the city of Fukuyama was founded as a castle town in 1619 by Mizuno Katsunari, a cousin of shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. Mizuno was given command of a territory in western Japan consisting of southern Bingo Province and southwestern Bitchu Province. He built a new castle-town as his capital and called it Fukuyama.

Hiroshima (広島市, Hiroshima-shi) ( listen ) is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. The city's name, 広島, means "Wide Island" in Japanese. Hiroshima gained city status on April 1, 1889. On April 1, 1980, Hiroshima became a designated city. As of 2006, the city had an estimated population of 1,154,391. Kazumi Matsui has been the city's mayor since April 2011.

Hiroshima is best known as the first city in history to be targeted by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) dropped an atomic bomb on the city at 8:15 a.m. on August 6, 1945, near the end of World War II.

History

Sengoku period (1589–1871)

Hiroshima was established on the river delta coastline of the Seto Inland Sea in 1589 by the powerful warlord Mōri Terumoto, who made it his capital after leaving Kōriyama Castle in Aki Province.Hiroshima Castle was quickly built, and in 1593 Terumoto moved in. Terumoto was on the losing side at the Battle of Sekigahara. The winner of the battle, Tokugawa Ieyasu, deprived Mori Terumoto of most of his fiefs including Hiroshima and gave Aki Province to Masanori Fukushima, a daimyo who had supported Tokugawa.

Hiroshima is a BBC docudrama that premiered as a television special on 5 August 2005, marking the eve of the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The program was aired on the Discovery Channel and BBC America in the United States. The documentary features historical reenactments using firsthand eyewitness accounts and computer-generated imagery of the explosion. The film won an Emmy and three BAFTA awards in 2006.

Summary

The documentary recounts the world's first nuclear attack and examines the repercussions. Covering a three-week period from the Trinity test to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the program chronicles America's political gamble and the planning for the momentous event. Archival film, dramatizations, and special effects depict what occurred aboard the Enola Gay and inside the nuclear blast.

Eyewitness interviews

Five Japanese survivors are interviewed: Kinuko Laskey (a nurse in a communications hospital), Morio Ozaki (an army cadet), Toruko Fujii (16-year-old tram driver), Thomas Takashi Tanemori (an eight-year-old schoolboy), Dr. Shuntaro Hida (a doctor at a military hospital), and Akiko Takakura (a 17-year-old city bank clerk).

Hiroshima is an American jazz fusion/smooth jazz/Asian-American jazz band formed in 1974 by Sansei Japanese American Dan Kuramoto (wind instruments and band leader), Peter Hata (guitar), June Kuramoto (koto), Johnny Mori (percussion and taiko), Dave Iwataki (keyboards) and Danny Yamamoto (drums). Named for the Japanese city of Hiroshima, the band is best known for the fusing of Japanese music and other forms of world music into its playing. Its early jazz-pop R&B Funk sound gave the group a huge following among the African American community and they are regarded as musical pioneers among the Asian American and Japanese American community.

Hiroshima's debut album in 1979, the self-titled Hiroshima, contained the single "Roomful of Mirrors," which caught the ear of the "easy-listening" community.

Hiroshima became popular in the New Adult Contemporary community upon the release of its 1985 album Another Place, which spawned the crossover hit "One Wish."

One of the highlights of Hiroshima's career was serving as the opening act for the Miles Davis 1990 world tour. Since then, despite moving towards new-age music, the group continues to gain a wider audience for its music.