Hiroshima, Chūgoku Region, Japan

🇯🇵 Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. The gross domestic product in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010.

Hiroshima was founded in 1589 as a castle town on the Ōta River delta. Following the Meiji Restoration in 1868, Hiroshima rapidly transformed into a major urban centre and industrial hub. In 1889, Hiroshima officially gained city status. The city was a centre of military activities during the imperial era, playing significant roles such as in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War, and the two world wars.

Hiroshima was the first city targeted by a nuclear weapon. This occurred on August 6, 1945, at 8:15 a.m., when the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) dropped the atomic bomb "Little Boy" on the city. Most of the city was destroyed, and by the end of the year between 90,000 and 166,000 had died as a result of the blast and its effects. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) serves as a memorial of the bombing.

Since being rebuilt after the war, Hiroshima has become the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu.

Economy and infrastructure • Mazda Motor Corporation • Mitsubishi, Kawasaki, JMUcor IHI Kure Works, Mitsui and other shipyards on the area • Mitsubishi HI Kanon and Eba Works, IHI Kure machinery.

Health care • Hiroshima City Hospital • Hiroshima City Asa Hospital • Hiroshima City Funairi Hospital • Hiroshima Prefectural Hospital • Hiroshima Red Cross Hospital & Atomic-bomb Survivors Hospital • Hiroshima University Hospital • Japan Post Hiroshima Hospital • JR Hiroshima Hospital.

Media The Chūgoku Shimbun is the local newspaper serving Hiroshima. It publishes both morning paper and evening editions. Television stations include Hiroshima Home Television, Hiroshima Telecasting, Shinhiroshima Telecasting, and the RCC Broadcasting. Radio stations include Hiroshima FM, Chugoku Communication Network, FM Fukuyama, FM Nanami, and Onomichi FM. Hiroshima is also served by NHK, Japan's public broadcaster, with television and radio broadcasting.

The Maxwell Rayner TV Co. filmed a documentary released in 2012. The documentary contained general information about the city.

Education Hiroshima University was established in 1949, as part of a national restructuring of the education system. One national university was set up in each prefecture, including Hiroshima University, which combined eight existing institutions (Hiroshima University of Literature and Science, Hiroshima School of Secondary Education, Hiroshima School of Education, Hiroshima Women's School of Secondary Education, Hiroshima School of Education for Youth, Hiroshima Higher School, Hiroshima Higher Technical School, and Hiroshima Municipal Higher Technical School), with the Hiroshima Prefectural Medical College added in 1953. But in 1972 the relocation of Hiroshima University was decided from urban areas of Hiroshima City to wider campus in Higashihiroshima City. By 1995 almost all campuses were relocated to Higashihiroshima. But, School of Medicine, School of Dentistry, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Graduate School in these fields in Kasumi Campus and Law School and Center for Research on Regional Economic System in Higashi-Senda Campus are still in Hiroshima City.

Notable art institutions include the Elisabeth University of Music and Actor's School Hiroshima.