旧海田町役場庁舎

Imagine stepping back in time to a place that once buzzed with activity. The Old Sea Town Hall used to be a bustling center for the community. You can almost hear the echoes of town meetings and the whispers of local gossip. Back in the days of the Mori clan, Hiroshima was a fast-growing town. The Mori lords wanted a new administrative center, and in 1589, Terumoto Mori had a castle built on the delta where Hiroshima now stands. By 1591, the Hiroshima Castle was nearly finished, and the town was attracting people from all over the Chugoku region. The Mori clan was defeated in 1600, and the new lord, Masanori Fukushima, continued to develop the town. The Fukushima clan was later moved, and Nagaakira Asano became the lord in 1619. Hiroshima grew even larger, becoming a center of trade. The Old Sea Town Hall, built in 1978, stood witness to all this. The town hall’s original function is no longer in use today. The town hall was moved in September 2023 to a new location and is now used as an archive for the town’s history. But even though the town hall serves a different purpose, it still keeps alive the memory of Hiroshima’s colorful past. You can almost picture the town councilors debating the future of this growing place. This building is a reminder of the town’s long history and what it has become today.