Country Japan District Mitsugi Local time Tuesday 4:57 PM | Prefecture Hiroshima Area 18.4 km² Population 16,283 (2003) | |
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Weather 11°C, Wind NW at 18 km/h, 63% Humidity | ||
Mukaishima (向島町, Mukaishima-chō) was a town in Mitsugi District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan.
Map of Mukaishimacho, Onomichi, Hiroshima Prefecture 722-0073, Japan
As of 2003, the town had an estimated population of 16,283 and a population density of 884.95 persons per km². The total area was 18.40 km².
On March 28, 2005, Mukaishima, along with the town of Mitsugi (also from Mitsugi District), was merged into the expanded city of Onomichi.
From November 1942 until September 1945, 100 British POWs who had been brought to Japan on the Dainichi Maru hell ship were imprisoned in Mukaishima and forced to work at the Hitachi Zosen shipyard. Twenty-three of these prisoners died due to a combination of disease, malnutrition and lack of adequate clothing (despite the harsh winter conditions). A further 116 American POWs were imprisoned in the same camp from September 1944 that were brought over from the Philippines on the hell ship Noto Maru.