Hiroshima Castle 広島城

Following the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, which was key to the unification of Japan under the Tokugawa shogunate until 1867, Terumoto was forced to abandon the castle he had established. Fukushima Masanori (1561–1624) subsequently occupied Hiroshima Castle as the daimyo lord of Aki and Bingo Provinces, until he was banished for repairing damage caused to the castle by a flood in 1619 without first gaining permission from the shogunate. Twelve generations of the Asano family then governed from the castle, until the end of Tokugawa rule and the abolishment of feudalism. Hiroshima Castle then became a facility for the Japanese Imperial Army. In 1931, the original main tower was designated a National Treasure.

Toward the end of World War II, troops were stationed here in anticipation of an Allied invasion. On August 6, 1945 the castle was leveled by the atomic bombing; research suggests its lower pillars were destroyed by the blast, causing the rest of the structure to collapse. The present-day Hiroshima Castle tower, now housing a museum that displays mainly artifacts from Hiroshima’s pre–Meiji era (1868–1912) history, is a concrete reconstruction of the wooden original, and was completed in 1958. Still present within the castle walls, however, are three trees that survived the atomic bombing.

Nicknamed “Carp Castle,” this towering fortress was built between 1589 and 1599. With its accompanying castle town, it laid the groundwork for Hiroshima to grow into a thriving industrial city. The castle’s formidable stone walls, keep, and triple moats (only one of which remains) were built by Mohri Terumoto (1553–1625), a powerful warlord who ruled over much of the present-day Chugoku region, which includes Hiroshima. The location for the castle, on the Ota River delta, was chosen because the flat land was relatively easy to build on and defend.

Terumoto was forced to abandon his stronghold following the 1600 Battle of Sekigahara, after which Japan became unified. Hiroshima Castle eventually passed to the Asano family, in whose possession it remained until the end of the Tokugawa period of rule by the samurai class, and the beginning of “modern” Japan, after the Meiji Restoration of 1868. Into the twentieth century, the castle became a key facility for the Japanese Imperial Army. The original tower was designated a National Treasure in 1931, and in the later years of World War II, armies were stationed here in preparation for an Allied invasion.

The atomic bomb of August 1945 destroyed the timber-built castle. In 1958, the castle tower was reconstructed in concrete, and is now a museum displaying mainly pre-modern artifacts and offering hands-on activities such as the chance to try on samurai armor. The sweeping view from the top of the tower is one of Hiroshima’s finest.