Kure (呉市, Kure-shi) is a city in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. As of 30 April 2023[update], the city had an estimated population of 208,024 in 106,616 households and a population density of 590 persons per km2.[1] The total area of the city is 352.80 square kilometres (136.22 sq mi). With a strong industrial and naval heritage, Kure hosts the second-oldest naval dockyard in Japan and remains an important base for the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force.
The Kure Naval District was first established in 1889, leading to the construction of the Kure Naval Arsenal and the rapid growth of steel production and shipbuilding in the city. Kure was formally incorporated on October 1, 1902. From 1889 until the end of World War II, the city served as the headquarters of the Kure Naval District.
Kure dockyards recorded a number of significant engineering firsts including the launching of the first major domestically built capital ship, the battlecruiser Tsukuba (1905)[2] and the launching of the largest battleship ever built, the Yamato (1940).[3]
During the Pacific War, Kure acted as the Imperial Japanese Navy's single-largest naval base and arsenal. Most of the city's industry and workforce were employed in the service of the naval installations, munitions factories and associated support functions. In the later stages of the conflict Kure came under sustained aerial bombardment culminating in the Bombing of Kure in June and July 1945.
From February 1946 until the end of Japan's postwar occupation in 1952, military establishments in Kure served at the operational headquarters for the British Commonwealth Occupation Force.
Since 2005, Kure has attracted attention as a tourism center with the Yamato Museum hosting a 1:10 scale model of the Yamato alongside a waterfront JMSDF museum of Japanese naval history.
The city continues as a major maritime center hosting both the dockyards of Japan Marine United and numerous shore-based facilities of the JMSDF including training centers and a major hospital. The city serves as the home port of an Escort Flotilla (Destroyers), a Submarine Flotilla and the Training Squadron of the JMSDF Regional Kure District.
April 1, 2016 — Kure officially became a Core city with increased local autonomy
Government
Kure has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 31 members. Kure contributes five members to the Hiroshima Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of the Hiroshima 5th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.
List of mayors of Kure (from 1903 to present)
#
Name
Term start
Term end
Japanese name
1
Giichiro Sakuma
4 February 1903
8 June 1903
佐久間義一郎
2-3
Kingo Arao
27 August 1903
28 August 1911
荒尾金吾
4-5
Toshio Sawahara
28 November 1911
6 July 1917
沢原俊雄
6
Kentaro Amano
17 August 1917
16 August 1921
天野健太郎
7
Kahei Shundo
2 February 1922
16 June 1925
春藤嘉平
8
Masaharu Hashimoto
24 April 1925
11 March 1927
橋本正治
9
Toichi Katsuta
13 June 1927
25 November 1930
勝田登一
10
Hideo Sasaki
25 November 1930
21 December 1932
佐々木英雄
11
Atsumu Watanabe
26 December 1932
12 May 1935
渡辺伍
12
Katsutaro Matsumoto
13 June 1935
1 September 1936
松本勝太郎
12-13, 15
Jinjiro Mizuno
4 May 1937 14 January 1946
13 December 1941 15 November 1946
水野甚次郎
14
Noboru Suzuki
11 June 1942
10 January 1946
鈴木登
17-18
Jyutsu Suzuki
5 April 1947
21 March 1954
鈴木術
19-20
Kenichi Matsumoto
18 April 1954
31 October 1961
松本賢一
21-24
Yoshito Okuhara
19 November 1961
18 November 1977
奥原義人
25-28
Ari Sasaki
19 November 1977
18 November 1993
佐々木有
29-31
Shinya Ogasawara
19 November 1993
18 November 2005
小笠原臣也
32-34
Kazutoshi Komura
19 November 2005
18 November 2017
小村和年
35
Yoshiake Shinhara
19 November 2017
Present
新原芳明
Geography
Kure is located 20 kilometres (10 mi) south-east of Hiroshima city and faces the Seto Inland Sea. Surrounded by steep hillsides to the north, the two major commercial and industrial centers of the city are bisected by Mount Yasumi 497 m (1,631 ft). The city is next to the Setonaikai National Park. As well as densely populated urban and industrial centers, the city also incorporates sparsely inhabited outlying islands such as Kurahashi-jima, Shimo-kamagari, Kami-kamagari and Toyoshima.
Kure has 37 public elementary schools, 25 public junior high schools and one public high school operated by the city government, and seven public high school operated by the Hiroshima Prefectural Board of Education. There are also one private middle school and three price high schools. The prefecture also operates two special education schools for the disabled.
^Evans, David (1997). Kaigun:Strategy, Tactics and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941. Annapolis, MD: First Naval Institute Press. p. 159. ISBN978-0-87021-192-8.
^Johnson, William (2006). The Pacific Campaign in World War II: From Pearl Harbor to Guadalcanal. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. p. 17. ISBN978-0-415-70175-4.