Mt. Ōzora Battery Remains

Mt. Ozora Battery was completed in 1903 as part of a network of artillery positions protecting the Kure Naval Base and Hiroshima Port. The Imperial Army originally planned to install 28-centimeter howitzers here, but abandoned the site in the late 1920s as air power replaced naval artillery in military thinking. In 1944, the Imperial Navy repurposed the site with six Type 88 antiaircraft guns, though the Boeing B-29s they faced often flew above the guns' effective range. The stone emplacements, command post, and ammunition depot survive largely intact. The surrounding Mt. Ozora Park is also known for its 1,200 cherry trees.