Mayors of Hiroshima

Mayor of Hiroshima 広島市長
Incumbent Kazumi Matsui since 2011
Inaugural holder	Akira Miki

Mayor of Hiroshima 広島市長 (Hiroshima shichō) 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.^[1]