Mayors of Hiroshima


Mayor of Hiroshima 広島市長 is the head of the local government of Hiroshima City. Until 1871, Hiroshima was ruled by a feudal prince from the Asano clan, who ruled from Hiroshima Castle. On April 1, 1889, all cities in Japan were granted a municipality. At this point, all mayors in Japan were appointed by the Ministry of Interior in Tokyo. The first mayor of Hiroshima was Akira Miki, who remained in office for three months.
During the atomic attack on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, mayor Senkichi Awaya was killed, and the municipal council had to appoint transitional mayor Shigetada Morishita, later followed by Shichirō Kihara. In 1947, mayoral elections were held in Hiroshima for the first time, and Shinzō Hamai became the mayor.
Hamai and the mayors of Hiroshima that followed have tried to become leaders of international public opinion on issues such as peace and nuclear disarmament. This activity is partly done by an organization called Mayors for Peace, established by mayor Takeshi Araki in 1982. More recent mayors have directly asked nuclear powers such as the U.S. to dismantle their nuclear arsenals.

Chronological list of the Mayors of Hiroshima

Appointed by Japanese Ministry of Interior

  1. Akira Miki
  2. Sukeyuki Ban
  3. Tadashi Satō
  4. Sukeyuki Ban, 2nd time
  5. Kōichi Takatsuka
  6. Kan'ichi Oda
  7. Matasaburō Watanabe
  8. Kenji Nagaya
  9. Yōzō Toyoshima
  10. Heizō Yoshimura
  11. Masatake Tanabe
  12. Nobuyasu Satō
  13. Ryōki Kawabuchi
  14. Sadaji Itō
  15. Kintarō Yokoyama
  16. Wakami Fujita
  17. Senkichi Awaya
  18. Shigetada Morishita
  19. Shichirō Kihara

    Elected Mayors

  20. Shinzō Hamai
  21. Tadao Watanabe
  22. Shinzō Hamai, 2nd time
  23. Setsuo Yamada
  24. Takeshi Araki
  25. Takashi Hiraoka
  26. Tadatoshi Akiba
  27. Kazumi Matsui