Hiroshima Local Quiz Practice: Questions and Explanations

Correct answerItsukushima Shrine

Itsukushima Shrine is said to date from 593, and Taira no Kiyomori gave its halls over the sea their present scale in the late Heian period. The vermilion buildings and great torii change expression with the tides, and in 1996 the shrine was inscribed as World Heritage together with the primeval forest of Mount Misen behind it.

Source:宮島の歴史（宮島観光協会）嚴島神社（徹底解剖！ひろしまラボ）

Correct answerOkonomiyaki

Hiroshima okonomiyaki is built, not mixed: a thin crepe of batter is layered with cabbage, pork, and noodles on the griddle. Its roots lie in issen yoshoku, a prewar penny snack, which grew heartier in the food shortages after the war until it became a full meal beloved across the city.

Source:お好み焼の歴史（オタフクソース）

Correct answerHiroshima Toyo Carp

The Hiroshima Toyo Carp was born in 1950 as the city rebuilt from the atomic bombing. A citizens' team with no parent company, it was once saved by donations that fans dropped into sake barrels; 'Toyo' entered the name in 1968 through the founding family of Toyo Kogyo, today's Mazda.

Source:カープHISTORY（広島東洋カープ）

Correct answerAtomic Bomb Dome

The Atomic Bomb Dome began as the Hiroshima Prefectural Products Exhibition Hall, completed in 1915 to a design by Czech architect Jan Letzel. Standing almost directly below the 1945 blast, its shell survived, and in 1996 it was inscribed as a World Heritage Site bearing witness to the devastation of nuclear weapons.

Source:原爆ドーム（広島県産業奨励館）

Correct answerOysters

Oyster farming in Hiroshima Bay is said to reach back some 450 years, and the prefecture now produces roughly 60 percent of Japan's farmed oysters, by far the most in the country. Calm, island-sheltered waters and nutrient-rich rivers favor the crop, celebrated in dishes from kaki-furai to dotenabe.

Source:牡蠣（徹底解剖！ひろしまラボ・広島県）

Correct answerMomiji manju

Momiji manju is a maple-leaf-shaped castella cake said to have been devised in the late Meiji era by Miyajima confectioner Tsunesuke Takatsu, inspired by the Momijidani maple valley. Fillings now range from classic bean paste to cream and cheese, and shops across the region compete over the beloved souvenir.

Source:もみじ饅頭（宮島観光協会）もみじ饅頭（Wikipedia）

Correct answerShimanami Kaidō

The Nishiseto Expressway, better known as the Shimanami Kaido, hops island to island for about 60 kilometers between Onomichi and Imabari, its bridges completed in 1999. Alone among the Honshu-Shikoku crossings it carries a cycling and pedestrian path, making it a world-famous ride through the Inland Sea.

Source:しまなみ海道とは（JB本四高速）

Correct answerJapanese maple

The Japanese maple became Hiroshima's prefectural tree in 1966, chosen with input from a public vote, and it serves as the prefectural flower as well, a rare double designation. In autumn, places such as Miyajima's Momijidani valley and gorges across the prefecture blaze with its colors.

Source:広島県のシンボル（全国知事会）

Correct answerŌta River

The Ota River flows from the Chugoku Mountains into Hiroshima Bay, and the sediment it deposited built the delta on which the city stands. Six channels, including a flood-control diversion completed in 1967, thread the city center, which is why Hiroshima is called the 'City of Water.'

Source:日本の川 太田川（国土交通省）

Correct answerTrue

Hiroshima leads Japan in lemon production, growing roughly half the national crop. The mild, dry slopes of the Inland Sea islands around Onomichi and Kure suit the fruit, which is marketed as 'Setouchi Hiroshima Lemon,' safe to use peel and all, and spun into sweets and seasonings.

Source:瀬戸内 広島レモンとは（広島県）

Correct answerKure City

Kure grew as a naval-port city after the Imperial Navy placed a district headquarters there in 1889, developing alongside its great naval arsenal. The battleship Yamato was built in secret at the Kure Naval Arsenal, and after the war the city's shipyards turned that expertise to giant tankers.

Source:呉市海事歴史科学館（くれとりっぷ）呉市海事歴史科学館（Wikipedia）

Correct answerSaijō

Saijo, in Higashihiroshima, blossomed as a sake-brewing center in the Meiji era and is ranked with Nada and Fushimi among Japan's three great brewing districts. White-walled breweries and brick chimneys line the sake brewery street near Saijo Station, which hosts a sake festival each autumn.

Source:西条酒蔵通り（東広島市）

Correct answerKumano Town

Kumano, a town where brushmaking took root in the late Edo period, produces over 80 percent of Japan's brushes across calligraphy, painting, and cosmetics. Kumano brushes are a nationally designated traditional craft, and the makeup brushes in particular are sought out by artists worldwide.

Source:筆の里工房（熊野筆）

Correct answerYamato Museum

Officially the Kure Maritime History and Science Museum, the Yamato Museum opened in 2005. Its centerpiece is a one-tenth-scale battleship Yamato, 26.3 meters long, displayed alongside artifacts such as a Zero fighter, telling the story of naval Kure and its shipbuilding technology.

Source:呉市海事歴史科学館（大和ミュージアム）（くれとりっぷ）呉市海事歴史科学館（Wikipedia）

Correct answerOnomichi ramen

Onomichi ramen pairs a soy broth drawn from chicken bones and small Inland Sea fish with minced pork back fat floating on top and flattish medium-thin noodles. Rooted in the port's early postwar noodle stalls, the local chuka soba spread nationwide as 'Onomichi ramen' in the 1990s.

Source:尾道ラーメン（Wikipedia）

Correct answerSoupless tantanmen

Soupless tantanmen took hold in Hiroshima through Kisaku, the originator founded in 2001. A small pool of spicy sauce and Sichuan pepper is tossed thoroughly through the noodles before eating, stacking chili heat on numbing tingle. Specialty shops multiplied around 2010, making it the city's new signature noodle.

Source:汁なし担々麺（Wikipedia）

Correct answerA small spatula (hera)

Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki is typically eaten seated around the griddle, cut into bite-sized pieces with a small spatula right on the hot iron plate. The utensil is called a 'hera' in Hiroshima and Tokyo, and a 'teko' or 'kote' in Osaka. Because many shops grew out of food stalls, eating straight off the griddle also cut down on dishwashing and disposable chopsticks, which helped the custom take root.

Source:お好み焼き（Wikipedia）

Correct answerTakehara City

Takehara flourished on Edo-period salt fields and sake brewing, and its streets of merchant mansions and temples were designated a national Important Preservation District for traditional buildings in 1982. Its history as a manor of Kyoto's Shimogamo Shrine earned it the name 'Little Kyoto of Aki.'

Source:町並み保存地区の楽しみ方（ひろしま竹原観光ナビ）

Correct answerShimanami Kaido Cycling Road

The Shimanami Kaido Cycling Road runs 70km from JR Onomichi Station in Hiroshima Prefecture to Sunrise Itoyama in Imabari, Ehime Prefecture, and is said to be Japan's first cycling route to cross a strait. Designated one of the government's "National Cycle Routes," it draws cyclists from Japan and abroad for its views of the Seto Inland Sea's islands and bridges.

Source:しまなみ海道サイクリングロード｜ナショナルサイクルルート｜国土交通省

Correct answerTomonoura

Tomonoura, near the midpoint of the Inland Sea, thrived from ancient times as a 'tide-waiting' port where ships awaited the turning currents. Its Edo-period lantern, stepped quays, and other harbor works survive as a rare ensemble, and it is known as the stage of the Iroha Maru negotiations and an inspiration for 'Ponyo.'

Source:鞆の浦について（福山市）坂本龍馬と鞆（福山市）

Correct answerSanfrecce Hiroshima

'Sanfrecce' fuses the Japanese san, three, with the Italian frecce, arrows, invoking Mori Motonari's parable of three arrows that cannot be broken together. The club traces its roots to the Toyo Kogyo works team, forerunner of Mazda's, and is one of the J.League's ten founding clubs.

Source:クラブ概要（サンフレッチェ広島）

Correct answerKagura

The kagura of northern Hiroshima descends from Shimane's Iwami kagura and flowered after the war with the theatrical 'new dances.' Dazzling costumes, lightning mask changes, and serpent-slaying tales thrill audiences, and Akitakata even has a dome theater built just for kagura performances.

Source:広島神楽（徹底解剖！ひろしまラボ）

Correct answerHiroshima Electric Railway

Hiroshima Electric Railway has run streetcars since 1912 and operates one of Japan's largest tram networks. Because veteran cars acquired from cities across the country still run the streets, it is called a 'moving streetcar museum,' and A-bombed cars that survived 1945 remain in service today.

Source:広島電鉄（Wikipedia）

Correct answerPeace Memorial Ceremony

Formally the Hiroshima City Memorial Service for Atomic Bomb Victims and Peace Memorial Ceremony, it is held every August 6 before the cenotaph in Peace Memorial Park. At 8:15 a.m., the moment of the bombing, attendees observe a minute of silence, and the mayor's Peace Declaration is sent to the world.

Source:平和記念式典（広島市原爆死没者慰霊式並びに平和祈念式）の概要（広島市）

Correct answerOne of the largest arcaded shopping streets in the Chugoku-Shikoku region

Hondori Shopping Street runs as an arcaded shopping street from Hiroshima PARCO to near Peace Memorial Park, and its length ranks among the largest in the Chugoku-Shikoku region. It remains a locally-focused street bustling daily with shoppers of all generations.

Source:広島本通商店街本通商店街（広島商工会議所）

Correct answerMōri Terumoto

In 1589, Mori Terumoto left Yoshida-Koriyama, the mountain stronghold of his grandfather Motonari, and began building a new castle on the Ota River delta. Modeled on Osaka Castle and the Jurakudai, it gave its castle town the new name 'Hiroshima,' the seed of today's city.

Source:築城前の広島/広島城築城（広島城）

Correct answerThe Asano clan

After Fukushima Masanori's dismissal in 1619, Asano Nagaakira arrived from Kishu, and the Asano clan governed the Hiroshima domain for about 250 years across twelve generations. Nagaakira's villa garden, Shukkeien, and successive lords' town-building shaped the framework of modern Hiroshima.

Source:縮景園の歴史（縮景園）広島城（Wikipedia）

Correct answerShinden-zukuri

Around 1168, Taira no Kiyomori rebuilt Itsukushima's halls over the sea in the shinden-zukuri style of Heian aristocratic mansions, linking the buildings with galleries as though the sea were a garden. Much of the complex is designated National Treasure or Important Cultural Property.

Source:宮島の歴史（宮島観光協会）

Correct answerFumiko Hayashi

Fumiko Hayashi spent her formative years, from thirteen to nineteen, in Onomichi, finding her voice as a writer during girls' school. The sea and hillside lanes of the town run through her autobiographical 'Horoki,' and Onomichi preserves her former home and the stone-inscribed Path of Literature.

Source:芙美子の尾道を歩く（Blue Signal・JR西日本）

Correct answerNobuhiko Obayashi

Nobuhiko Obayashi, born in Onomichi, filmed his 'Onomichi Trilogy' in his hometown: 'Exchange Students' (1982), 'The Girl Who Leapt Through Time' (1983), and 'Lonely Heart' (1985). The everyday hillside lanes and ferries drew fans nationwide and fixed Onomichi's identity as a town of cinema.

Source:大林宣彦（Wikipedia）

Correct answerSachio Kinugasa

Sachio Kinugasa anchored the Carp infield through their golden era, and in 1987 broke the world record of the time for consecutive games played, earning the nickname 'Iron Man' and a People's Honor Award. His streak reached 2,215 games, and his number 3 is retired by the club.

Source:カープHISTORY（広島東洋カープ）

Correct answerHatsukaichi

Hatsukaichi uses the character 廿, meaning twenty: in the Kamakura period a market was held on the 20th of each month on the shore opposite Itsukushima. The town thrived on the craftsmen and traders serving the great shrine, and today's city of Hatsukaichi includes Miyajima itself.

Source:廿日市市（Wikipedia）

Correct answerRotary engine

Mazda, then called Toyo Kogyo, took on the Wankel rotary engine pioneered by Germany's NSU and, with the Cosmo Sport launched in 1967, delivered the world's first mass-produced twin-rotor car. The engine that generates power through rotation became an emblem of Hiroshima engineering.

Source:マツダ 歴史（コスモスポーツ）

Correct answerIkuchijima

Setoda, part of Onomichi City, comprises Ikuchijima and neighboring Konejima, with the Shimanami Kaido crossing Ikuchijima. Its warm, sun-drenched terraced groves are ideal for lemons, and Setoda ranks among Japan's foremost lemon districts, underpinning the 'Setouchi Hiroshima Lemon' brand.

Source:瀬戸内 広島レモンとは（広島県）

Correct answerSandankyō Gorge

Sandankyo is a gorge of about 16 kilometers carved by the Shibaki River in the Ota River system, designated a national Special Place of Scenic Beauty in 1953. It is famed for its 'five great spectacles,' including the Sandan Falls, a distinction shared by only a handful of gorges nationwide.

Source:三段峡〔日本の特別名勝〕（あきおおたから）

Correct answerPoison gas

A poison-gas plant of the former Imperial Army operated on Okunoshima from the early Showa era, and the island was at times erased from maps for secrecy. Now beloved as 'Rabbit Island,' it hosts a Poison Gas Museum that quietly documents this history and serves as a site of peace education.

Source:大久野島（休暇村大久野島）

Correct answerKishū Domain

In 1867, the Iroha Maru, operated by Ryoma Sakamoto's Kaientai, collided with the Kishu domain warship Meiko Maru in the Inland Sea and sank. Negotiations began at Tomonoura and concluded in Nagasaki with Kishu paying compensation; sites tied to the talks still dot the port town.

Source:坂本龍馬と鞆（福山市）

Correct answerAmanohashidate

The Three Views of Japan are Miyajima, Matsushima in Miyagi, and Amanohashidate in Kyoto. The grouping traces to the Edo-period Confucian scholar Hayashi Shunsai, who singled out the three in a 1643 work. All are seascapes, and Miyajima's shrine and Mount Misen have been sung in poetry for centuries.

Source:日本三景（Wikipedia）

Correct answerMukaishima → Innoshima → Ikuchijima

From Onomichi, the Shimanami Kaido crosses the Hiroshima-side islands in the order Mukaishima, Innoshima, then Ikuchijima, continuing over the Tatara Bridge to Omishima in Ehime. Each strait is spanned by a different bridge, from the Innoshima Bridge to the Ikuchi Bridge, each a study in engineering form.

Source:しまなみ海道とは（JB本四高速）西瀬戸自動車道（Wikipedia）

Correct answer3 times

The Carp have won the Japan Series three times, in 1979, 1980, and 1984, all under manager Takeshi Koba, the summit of the 'Red Helmet' golden age that began with the 1975 pennant. Their league titles number nine, including three straight from 2016 to 2018.

Source:カープHISTORY（広島東洋カープ）