Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. As of June 1, 2019, the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US $61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui has been the city's mayor since April 2011.
The Allied occupation of Japan at the end of World War II was led by the United States, whose then-President Harry S. Truman appointed General Douglas MacArthur as the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, with support from the British Commonwealth. Unlike in the occupation of Germany, the Soviet Union was allowed little to no influence over Japan. This foreign presence marks the only time in Japan's history that it has been occupied by a foreign power. At MacArthur's insistence, Emperor Hirohito remained on the imperial throne. The wartime cabinet was replaced with a cabinet acceptable to the Allies and committed to implementing the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, which among other things called for the country to become a parliamentary democracy. Under MacArthur's guidance, the Japanese government introduced sweeping social reforms and implemented economic reforms that recalled American "New Deal" priorities of the 1930s under President Roosevelt. The Japanese constitution was comprehensively overhauled and the Emperor's theoretically-vast powers, which for many centuries had been constrained by conventions that had evolved over time, became strictly limited by law. The occupation, codenamed Operation Blacklist, was ended by the San Francisco Peace Treaty, signed on September 8, 1951, and effective from April 28, 1952, after which Japan's sovereignty – with the exception, until 1972, of the Ryukyu Islands – was fully restored.
Hiroshima Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Hiroshima Prefecture has a population of 2,811,410 and has a geographic area of 8,479 km². Hiroshima Prefecture borders Okayama Prefecture to the east, Tottori Prefecture to the northeast, Shimane Prefecture to the north, and Yamaguchi Prefecture to the southwest.
United States Forces Japan (USFJ) is a subordinate unified command of the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). It was activated at Fuchū Air Station in Tokyo, Japan, on 1 July 1957 to replace the Far East Command (FEC). USFJ is commanded by the Commander, US Forces Japan (COMUSJAPAN) who is dual-hatted as commander of the Fifth Air Force. At present, USFJ is headquartered at Yokota Air Base in Tokyo.
The British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) was the British Commonwealth taskforce consisting of Australian, British, Indian and New Zealand military forces in occupied Japan, from 1946 until the end of occupation in 1952.
The history of the Australian Army dates back to colonial forces prior to the Federation of Australia in 1901. Some of the colonial forces, which served the states of Australia at the time, were gradually united into federal units between 1899 and 1903; thus forming the beginning of the Australian Army. The colonial armies were officially united as the Commonwealth Military Forces by the Defence Act 1903 (Cwlth). Since then, the Australian Army as an organisation has changed to suit to needs of the nation, with particular changes occurring during and following the World Wars, Korean War, Vietnam War and Gulf War. In 1916 the title 'Australian Military Forces' was adopted and remained its official name until 1980, after which it became known as the Australian Army.
Allied war crimes include both alleged and legally proven violations of the laws of war by the Allies of World War II against either civilians or military personnel of the Axis powers.
The Australian 34th Brigade was an Australian Army brigade. The brigade was formed in late 1945 following the end of World War II as part of the Australian contribution to the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) in Japan. In late 1948 it was renamed the 1st Brigade.
HMAS Westralia (F95/C61) was an auxiliary cruiser of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Built by Scottish shipbuilder Harland and Wolff and completed in 1929, Westralia was operated by the Huddart Parker company until 1939, when she was requisitioned for service with the RAN as an Armed Merchant Cruiser (AMC). Fitted with guns and commissioned in early 1940, Westralia was initially used to escort convoys in the Pacific and Indian oceans. In November 1940, the largest mutiny in RAN history occurred aboard the ship, with 104 men charged.
Miho Airbase (美保飛行場), also known as Yonago Airport is a Japan Air Defense Force (JASDF) base located 11 km northwest of Yonago in Tottori Prefecture. It is owned and operated by JASDF and shares the runway with civil activities.
Ōkunoshima (大久野島) is a small island in the Inland Sea of Japan. It is considered to be part of the city of Takehara, Hiroshima Prefecture. It is accessible by ferry from Tadanoumi and Ōmishima. There are campsites, walking trails and places of historical interest on the island. It is often called Usagi Shima because of the numerous feral rabbits that roam the island. The rabbits are rather tame and will approach humans.
Kure Naval District was the second of four main administrative districts of the pre-war Imperial Japanese Navy. Its territory included the Inland Sea of Japan and the Pacific coasts of southern Honshū from Wakayama to Yamaguchi prefectures, eastern and northern Kyūshū and Shikoku.
Lyn Philp was a New Zealand professional boxer, and New Zealand's Bantamweight Champion from 1947 - 1954.
The following events occurred in July 1945:
Tsunei Kusunose was the Governor of Hiroshima Prefecture from October 1945 to 1950.
Rapes during the occupation of Japan were war rapes or rapes committed under the Allied military occupation of Japan. Allied troops committed a number of rapes during the Battle of Okinawa during the last months of the Pacific War and the subsequent occupation of Japan. The Allies occupied Japan until 1952 following the end of World War II and Okinawa Prefecture remained under US governance for two decades after. Estimates of the incidence of sexual violence by Allied occupation personnel differ considerably.
J Force was the name given to the New Zealand forces that were allocated to the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) which occupied Japan following the end of the Second World War. The force was deployed between 1946 and 1948, after which it was disbanded and its personnel repatriated to New Zealand.
The Kure Project was a welfare, counseling and educational program run by International Social Service Japan (ISSJ) in the city of Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture, between 1960 and 1977 for the mixed-race offspring of Allied servicemen and Japanese women born during and soon after the postwar Occupation of Japan.
Scott McIntyre is an Australian football commentator formerly employed by SBS. He joined SBS in 2003, and was a sports reporter from 2008 to 2015. He was a presenter of the SBS soccer program The World Game. He has also written for The Guardian.
Tanaka Terumi is a Japanese anti-nuclear and anti-war activist and former professor. He is a hibakusha, a survivor of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, and is the secretary general of Nihon Hidankyo, a Japan-wide organisation of atomic and hydrogen bomb sufferers. He lives in Niiza, Saitama.
