Kure

呉 · The Imperial Navy's home port — Yamato Museum and a real submarine you can walk through

Kure was headquarters of the Kure Naval District from 1889 to 1945 and built the battleship Yamato in 1940 — the largest warship of its era. The Yamato Museum (officially the Kure Maritime Museum), opened 23 April 2005 on the site where the battleship was completed, anchors its main hall around a 1:10 scale Yamato about 26 meters long; the collection includes a Mitsubishi A6M Zero Model 62, a Kaiten human torpedo, a Kairyū-class midget submarine, and the original Kure Naval Arsenal lathe used to machine Yamato's 46cm main guns. Across the plaza, the JMSDF Kure Museum (locally Tetsu no Kujirakan, 'Iron Whale Hall') is built around the Akishio, a 76.2-meter Yūshio-class submarine decommissioned in 2007 and now walked through bow-to-stern at deck level. Kure's other current is everyday: kaigun-curry served at restaurants licensed to the Navy's original recipe, and ferries to Etajima where the JMSDF Officer Candidate School preserves the brick Imperial Naval Academy buildings. Reach via JR Kure Line from Hiroshima Station (~35 minutes by rapid, ~45 by local).

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