Mt. Shiroyama (Castle Mountain) lies at the back of the Kintaikyo Bridge, a symbol of Iwakuni City whose history dates back to 1600 when a warlord, Hiroie Kikkawa, was transferred to Iwakuni from Izumo ( now Shimane Pref.), as a lord of this area after the most decisive war at Sekigahara (Gifu Pref.).

He was grandson of a great warlord, Motonari Mori, who had risen from a common warrior to become a feudal lord and ruled the whole Chugoku region. Hiroie made his family's residential buildings at the foot of Mt. Shiroyama and built a castle on the 210-meter northern peak of this mountain to prepare against wars, putting to good use a natural setting - the Nishiki River which served as an ideal outer moat of the castle flows around the mountain. He also had his followers (samurai warriors) and common people who lived on the other side of the river.

Although the castle had to be destroyed only seven years after its completion because of a "one-province one-castle policy" by the Tokugawa shogunate (1603-1867), the Iwakuni clan prospered for about 260 years until the end of the Tokugawa regime. The present castle was rebuilt in 1962, armor and arms of the time are displayed inside the castle, and the top floor is an observatory from which the view of the city is splendid.

After the Meiji Restoration (1867) the Kikkawa clan's residential area at the foot of the mountain was opened to the public as a beautiful park which is now called Kikko Park.

The five-arched wooden Kintaikyo Bridge was originally built in 1673 by the third lord of the clan, Hiroyoshi Kikkawa. It is said that at that time every time the Nishiki River flooded, bridges linking both sides washed away and caused traffic problems. He determined to build a flood-resistant bridge, getting ideas from the pillarless Saruhashi Bridge at Koshu Highway (now Yamanashi Pref.) and a Chinese priest of the Ming Dynasty who told him about the arch-type stone bridges of China.

The first Kintaikyo Bridge was completed in 1673 through trial and error, and sustained for about 276 years until 1950 when it was carried away by a big typhoon. The present bridge, 210 meters long,5 meters wide, was reconstructed in 1953 without the use of a single nail, using only clamps and wire as it used to be, because it is said that when engineers inspected the original bridge, they found nothing defective in it dynamically or structurally.

This 3-hour hike starts at Nisi-Iwakuni Station on the Gantoku Line. The route heads for Kintaikyo Bridge and crosses the Nishiki River then enters Kikko Park. The mountain trail leads you up to Iwakuni Castle on the mountain.

�ŸGetting there

Take a train westbound on the JR Sanyo Line and change a train at Iwakuni Staion to Gantoku Line,and get off at Nshi- Iwakuni Station. Read the explanation above.

�ŸSuggested Schedule

Hiroshima Sta.(9:08)===(Sanyo Line)===Iwakuni Sta.(9:58)===

===(Gantoku Line )===Nishi-Iwakuni Sta.(10:27)----

------Kikko Park(11:00)------Iwakuni Castle(12:00-13:30)-----

-----Mt. Shiroyama(14:00)----Kikko Park---Kintaikyo Bridge(15:00)===(Bus)===

====Iwakuni Sta.(16:05)===(Sanyo Line)===Hiroshima Sta.(16:52)