Kure (呉市,Kure-shi) is acity inHiroshima Prefecture, Japan. As of 30 April 2023[update], the city had an estimatedpopulation of 208,024 in 106,616 households and apopulation 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 navaldockyard in Japan and remains an important base for theJapan Maritime Self-Defence Force.
TheKure Naval District was first established in 1889, leading to the construction of theKure 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 thePacific War, the city served as the headquarters of theKure Naval District.
Kure dockyards recorded a number of significant engineering firsts including the launching of the first major domestically built capital ship, the battlecruiserTsukuba (1905)[2] and the launching of the largest battleship ever built, theYamato (1940).[3]
During the Pacific War, Kure acted as theImperial 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 thebombing 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 as the operational headquarters for theBritish Commonwealth Occupation Force.
Since 2005, Kure has attracted attention as a tourism center with theYamato Museum hosting a 1:10 scale model of theYamato alongside a waterfront JMSDF museum of Japanese naval history.
The city continues as a major maritime center hosting both the dockyards ofJapan 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.
Kure has amayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and aunicameral 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 thelower house of theDiet of Japan.
Kure City HallPort of Kure seen from Yasumi-yamaJMU Kure shipyard in July 2015JMSDF submarine flotilla in KureExterior view of theYamato Museum and adjacent JMSDF Kure Museum
Kure is located 20 kilometres (10 mi) south-east of Hiroshima city and faces theSeto 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 theSetonaikai National Park. As well as densely populated urban and industrial centers, the city also incorporates sparsely inhabited outlying islands such asKurahashi-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.
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