The Establishment of Hiroshima-City

2. The Establishment of Hiroshima-City

2.1 The Meiji Restoration

The visit of the American mission under Perry in 1853 undermined the Tokugawa regime which had kept Japan closed to foreign influence, and stimulated people to look in new directions. As the political situation grew strained, the Asano, as an influential clan of the Chugoku district, rapidly rose to higher political position.

As the feudal rulers of Japan, divided between those who wanted to preserve the status quo and those who insisted on change, engaged in heated controversy, the intervention of the traditional nobility in the imperial court moved the focus of political activity from Edo (Tokyo) to Kyoto. In the midst of these rapid changes in the political situation, the strength of the Tokugawa government gradually weakened. At the same time, such influential clans as the Satsuma-han (the Shimazus), the Choshu-han (the Moris) and the Tosa-han (the Yamanouchis) rapidly gained strength. Among them, the Choshu-han took the lead in the movement to overthrow the Tokugawa government with the slogan, "Revere the Emperor! Expel the Barbarians." They had the backing of the Imperial Court, the traditional nobility, and many young samurai. It is said that the Moris led the movement in order to pay off old scores their defeat at the battle of Sekigahara.

Some clans were displeased that the Choshu-han had made such a spectacular advance into the central government. The Satsuma-han and the Aizu-han working together succeeded in expelling the Choshu-han. However, the Choshu-han marched on Kyoto in an attempt to regain power, and finally staged the "Kinmon-no-Hen." Because of this incident, it was called "the emperor's enemy."

2.2 The Last Years of the Hiroshima-han

In 1864, the subjugation of Choshu was undertaken by the combined forces of the the Hiroshima-han Tokugawa government and the anti-Tokugawa clans. Ordered to lead the attack on Choshu, the Hiroshima-han became the focus of political concern. The Tokugawa officials, and the armies of each clan entered Hiroshima, which had become a base for the entire army. Although the situation was critical, peace was restored without a battle when the Choshu-han apologized and beheaded three of its leaders. The heads of the three were received at the Kokutai Temple in Hiroshima (moved to Koi Pass in 1977) and the attack was called off. However, some of the lower warriors in Choshu who were dissatisfied with this settlement organized an attack force of farmers and townsmen with arms imported from England. They concluded a secret agreement with the Satsuma-han to further intensify the movement for overthrowing the shogunate. Knowing of this movement for overthrowing the shogunate was determined to subjugate the Choshu-han. However the clans, in financial dificulty, could not meet the Tokugawa orders to dispatch troops. The Tokugawa government no longer held power as in the past, and rapid changes in the world were bringing about the breakdown of feudalism.

Hiroshima became a military base for the Tokugawa government with the possibility of becoming a dangerous battle field. However, instead the Hiroshima-han had opposed military action to subjugate the Choshu-han and devoted its energies to mediating between the shogunate and the Choshu-han.

On the death of Iemochi on July 20, 1866, Yoshinobu Hitotsubashi succeeded as shogun. Since he saw that the war was not going in his favor, he stopped the attempt to subjugate Choshu. With this, the powerlessness of the Tokugawa government was revealed to the whole country, and the political situation took a sudden turn from restoring power to the Tokugawa government to the establishment of imperial rule. At a meeting held at the Kyoto Imperial Palace in December 1867, the group who wanted to overthrow the shogunate by force of arms had a heated argument with the group supporting the Tosa-han that wanted to settle the situation peacefully. However, the Hiroshima-han arbitrated between the two parties, and nationwide fighting was avoided.

2.3 Establishment of the Meiji Government

Although the Battle of Toba-Fushimi (the Boshin War) and other battles were provoked by discontented vassals of the shogun, they ended in the total defeat of the shogun's forces. In 1868, the new Meiji government was formed. With the inauguration of the new government, the system of the administration of local municipalities was also changed.

In July, 1871, the feudal clan system was abolished and the Hiroshima fief became Hiroshima Prefecture. The castle town of Hiroshima began the process of rebirth as one of the most important cities of Japan.

Outbreak of Rioting

On the pretext of deterring Nagamichi Asano, the former lord, from moving his residence to Tokyo when the rule of feudal clans was abolished and prefectures in history as the Buichi Riot, it was an explosion of the uncertanty which farmers felt toward the new government, and indicated dissatisfaction with the ruling class. Buichiro (from Arita Village in Yamagata County), the leader of the riot, and 8 others were executed.

2.5 Hiroshima Becomes a City

In April, 1872, the system of local administration was completely changed. The old towns and villages were abolished and the entire country was divided into large districts and subdivided into smaller ones. The town of Hiroshima was one large district subdivided into 4 smaller district. Large districts were administered by officers called kocho and fuku kocho. Small districts also had administrative officers. Hiroshima officially became a city on April 1, 1889, under the new system of municipalities. A physician, Akira Miki, was appointed the first mayor. The population at that time was 83,387. On September 21 of that year the new city hall was opened on the site of the grain warehouse of the Hiroshima-han in Nakajima-shin-machi (at present, Peace Boulevard). This was the center of municipal administration for 39 years until 1928 when the city government moved to its present site in Kokutaiji-machi.

2.6 Construction of Ujina Harbor

For some ten years before and after the birth of Hiroshima City, there were major projects and events which determined the direction of Hiroshima as a city. The construction of Ujina Harbor was one of these. Although there had long been a plan to develop a new area on Ujina Bay, objections were raised by former warriors who were opposed to the use of founds appropriated for their rehabilitaion when clans were abolished, and by fishermen who feared losing their fishing grounds. The prefectural governer, Sadaaki Senda who assumed office in 1880, was enthusiastic about the construction of Ujina Harbor and successfully talked them into aggreement. On September 5, 1884, a ground-breaking ceremony was held. The harbor was nearly completed by November 1889, at a total cost of more than 300,000 yen, several times more than the original estimate. With this construction work, the sea from the Minami-Shinkai southward to Ujina Island was reclaimed, forming 2,076,442 m?: of new land.

Ujina Harbor was built to serve as a water gateway (commercial port), which would ensure the prosperity of Hiroshima.

2.7 The Opening of the Sanyo Railway

On June 10, 1894, Sanyo Railway, which had been opened as far as Itozaki, was extended to Hiroshima. Hiroshima Station was built in Higashi-Matsubara in Osuga Village. A month later, when the Sino-Japanese War broke out, Hiroshima Station and Ujina Harbor became very important for military transportation. The construction of a military railway (the Ujina Line) between the station and the harbor was started on the day after war broke out. It was completed in only 16 days.

In September 1897, the Sanyo Railway was extended westward to Tokuyama. Both Yokogawa and Koi stations were constructed at that time. The Kure Line was opened in 1903 for military reasons. The Kabe Line (operated by the Great Japan Railway Corporation) was built in 1910 and the Geibi Line (operated by the Geibi Railway Corporation) in 1915. At this time train transportation superseded shipping on the Ota River.

2.8 The Formation of Hiroshima as a Military City

The Meiji Restoration provided the opportunity for the castle town of Hiroshima to be reborn as an economic and cultural city. However, as the Meiji government pursued its policy of strengthening the military, it soon became apparent that Hiroshima, at the center of the Chogoku district with a good harbor, was ideally situated for military purposes.

After the abolition of clans and the establishment of prefectures, the First Detached Garrison of Western Japan was set up in Hiroshima Castle. In 1873, the Hiroshima Garrison of the Fifth Military District, one of six garrisons in the entire nation, was established with Hiroshima and nine other prefectures under its administration. Thus Hiroshima became a military city. When the 1lth Infantry Regiment was organized, its units were stationed in Hiroshima. In 1886, the Hiroshima Garrison was renamed the Fifth Division. New military installations were built one after another not only in the castle but also outside the castle, steadily strengthening Hiroshima as an army base.

2.9 The Sino-Japanese War and Russo-Japanese War

When the Sino-Japanese War broke out in August 1894, the Fifth Division the Russo-Japanese War was the first to be sent to the front. They were followed by soldiers from all over Japan. Leaving Ujina Harbor daily for active service overseas, Ujina Harbor was a very active port with many military transports coming and going.

On September 15, Emperor Meiji moved the Imperial Headquarters to the Hiroshima Castle where he planned strategy. An extraordinary session of the Imperial Diet was held in the provisional Diet building built in a corner of the west drill ground (around the site of the Hiroshima Castle) with civil and military officials accompanying the emperor.

Hiroshima looked as if it were the national capital. Until the emperor left Hiroshima on April 27, 1895, the city was unprecedentedly prosperous and busy, with high government officials coming and going, soldiers leaving for the front, wounded soldiers returning, and tradespeople and workers coming from all over Japan.

The war brought more people to Hiroshima and resulted in the expansion of military installations. Thus Hiroshima made rapid progress as one of the important military cities of Japan.

In 1904, as the Russo-Japanese War broke out, Hiroshima was again brought to the tore as a targe-scale army base of operations.

Through these wars, the industrial economy of Hiroshima grew rapidly and the establishment of stock exchanges, banks, and industries was promoted. Hiroshima became an economic city as well as a military city. It also had the appearance of an educational city equipped with a number of educational facilities.

Hiroshima, secure in its position as a military city, grew and prospered as wars and incidents occurred throughout the Meiji and Taisho periods. Therefore, Hiroshima was little influenced by the cutback in armaments during the 1920s.

Part 3. The Greater East Asia War and the A-Bomb

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