The Hill Where History is Visible

Overview

The Hill Where History is Visible is a fantastic spot to delve into Kure's shipbuilding history. From this hill, you can overlook the former Kure Naval Arsenal dockyards where iconic Japanese battleships like the Yamato and Nagato were built. To maintain military secrecy, the dock was covered by a massive roof measuring 101m long and 49m wide. While the framework remains original, the roof has been renovated, and the dock itself was filled in 1992 and is now used as a steel plate processing factory. However, the view from the hill still evokes the grandeur of the shipyard in its heyday. The area also features monuments including a literary monument from Kure Town. A particularly significant monument is the Shiki haiku stone, bearing a poem composed by Masaoka Shiki. Shiki visited Kure to see off his friend, Kazuo Kojima, a war correspondent during the First Sino-Japanese War, and penned this haiku here. This stone is a precious cultural asset, featuring Shiki's original handwriting. Other historical monuments include the Watanabe Naoki Poem Stone, the Sawahara Tametsuna Monument, the Shipbuilding Dockyard Memorial Monument, the Alas, Battleship Yamato Tower, and the Former Kure Naval Arsenal Foundation Stone Memorial Tower. The Hill Where History is Visible offers not only a chance to learn about and experience the scale of Kure's shipbuilding history but also a peaceful and tranquil setting. Be sure to visit when you're in Kure.