My visit to Japan 2020 – Hiroshima (4)

 A Yushio-type submarine outside the "Whale of Iron Museum" = JMSDF Kure Museum 

On the 8^th of March, I visited Kure (吳). Kure was a small town famous for its harbour (and its warship building ability before WWII). I went there from Hiroshima (広島) downtown by bus which took about 45 minutes to arrive. In fact, from Hiroshima downtown one could also travel to Kure by JR or by ferry. After alighted from the bus I walked south towards the shore region of the city where both the Yamato Museum (大和ミュージアム) and the JMSDF Kure Museum were located.

Location map of Yamato Museum and the JMSDF Museum

It was a 5-minute walk from the bus stop (or the JR station) to reach these two museums. En-route you would go pass a tourist information service center. It was a nice place to stop-by to collect some information leaflets about Kure city. Upon arriving at the harbor, the first thing that caught your eyes was a huge submarine parked on-land. This was the “Whale of Iron Museum”.

East side entrance of the JMSDF Kure Museum

The “Whale of Iron Museum” was officially known as the JMSDF Kure Museum (海上自衛隊呉史料館). Due to the new virus Covid-19, on that day the museum was closed and I could not go inside. Based on the leaflet issued by the museum, we knew that it had three floors. The submarine on display was standing in the open space next to this museum building. it was a Yushio-type submarine called “Akishio” that was launched in 1985. After its decommission in March 2004, it was put on display on the present spot.

JMSDF Kure Museum closed due to Covid-19

A leaflet of the Yamato Museum

Yamato Museum (in the foreground is an anchor from battleship Mutsu)

The Yamato Museum was located next to the Whale of Iron Museum. It was also closed due to the new virus. The Yamato Museum printed a leaflet to introduce Kure city in the following words “After the establishment of the Kure Naval Base in 1889 and the Kure Naval Arsenal in 1903, Kure flourished as a naval port city.” About the museum it said, “you can see the design blueprints for Yamato (大和), the largest battleship of all time, including details about its technology and history. The exhibition also features the notes and articles left behind by the crew who went on a special suicide attack mission bound for Okinawa. You can also learn about the life in the city during the war. The air raids on Kure, its postwar reconstruction as a harbor city with peacetime industry, and the history of the present-day Kure as one of the greatest shipbuilding cities in the world. The exhibition features information panels and some preserved documents.”

The 2 museums: Yamato Museum on the right, JMSDF Museum on the left

Inside the Yamato Museum, the most eye-catching was a one-tenth scale model of the battleship Yamato measuring 26.3 meters in length. It was reconstructed to resemble as closely as possible the actual ship based on drawings and photographs. Apart from this model, on display were authentic highly valued items such as Zero fighters, a Kaiten (回天) human torpedo and a Type 93 Torpedo.

A 410 mm gun of battleship Mutsu

Outside the Yamato Museum, several huge military items were also on display in the open air. They were the remaining parts of the Imperial Japan battle ship Mutsu (陸奧) which was sunk in a mysterious explosion in June 1943 in a Japanese navy port. The items salvaged from Mutsu and displayed here included its rudder, an anchor, one propeller, and one of its 410 mm gun.

Imperial Japan Battleship Mutsu in 1936

Next to the Yamato Museum, there was a building called the Kure Port Observatory (呉みなと展望台) that one could enjoy the Kure harbor view where a few naval ships were anchored. Inside this building a few dozen photos on the history of Kure were on display, including a photo of the battleship Yamato taken on 20th September 1941 when it was still under construction.

Battleship Yamato under construction in  1941 in Kure

Kure harbor view in early March 2020