Iwakuni

Iwakuni: Kintai Bridge

Iwakuni, city, southeastern Yamaguchi ken (prefecture), western Honshu, Japan. It is situated in the delta of the Nishiki River, facing Hiroshima Bay.

A castle town was founded at the site in 1603 by the Kikkawa family of local daimyo (hereditary rulers). Iwakuni has grown into a major industrial city and is the centre of a petrochemical-producing region that extends northward to Ōtake, in Hiroshima prefecture. Iwakuni is noted for its Kintai Bridge over the Nishiki River, which has five gracefully arched spans. The bridge was originally built in 1673 to afford residents an escape from floods of the river. It was destroyed in a flood in 1950 but was rebuilt as before. Its shape leads local inhabitants to call it Soroban (“Abacus”) Bridge. The former army and naval base contains a base for U.S. forces and Iwakuni International Airport. Pop. (2010) 143,857; (2015) 136,757.