Fukuyama City   Japanese

English　　Symbol of Fukuyama City and its Origin, Flowers and Trees of Fukuyama City

Symbol of Fukuyama City and its Origin The location of Fukuyama castle used to be known as "koumoriyama," literally Bat Mountain. Therefore, the symbol of Fukuyama city is a mountain shaped like a bat. The symbol of Fukuyama City was designated on July 1, 1917. The name of Fukuyama is a round about abbreviation of Koumoriyama. When written in Japanese characters, the word Koumoriyama is made up of three words: Kou蝙Mori蝠Yama山. When written as part of a larger word, the character 蝠 is pronounced mori. However, as a single character, the word is pronounced fuku 蝠. There happens to be another character which is also pronounced fuku. It is this character, which is written 福and means happiness, the people of Fukuyama used to shorten the pronunciation from Koumoriyama to Fukuyama. Flowers and Trees of Fukuyama City ・Flowers of Fukuyama City Roses Roses were designated as the city flower on April 1, 1985. Historically, roses were the flowers Fukuyama citizens loved the most, and promoted as the city flower. Fukuyama citizens hoped the rose would symbolize their goals of enhancing community and the beauty of their town into the 21st century. Chrysanthemum Chrysanthemums, as chosen by public subscription, were designated as the flower of Shinichi-cho on March 17, 1985. On February 3, 2003, when Shinichi-cho and Fukuyama City were united into one city, the Chrysanthemum joined the Rose as one of the flowers of Fukuyama City. The Kanemaru area, in particular, is well known as kikuno-sato (Chrysanthemum village) both domestically and internationally. The Fukuyama Chrysanthemum Exhibition is held at Fukuyama Castle every fall and chrysanthemums were added as the city flower as this was popular amongst the citizens. ・Trees of Fukuyama City Japanese Bead Tree The Japanese Bead Tree was designated as the tree of Fukuyama City on November 10, 1971. The Japanese Bead Tree is a sun tree and grows very fast. This tree is ideally suited as a roadside tree. They boast lavender flowers in spring, followed by beautiful green leaves in summer which turn to yellow in fall. This suits the city concept of a sunny and green town. This tree was selected as a city tree in celebration of Fukuyama City's 55th anniversary. Sweet Osmanthus (Devilwood) Sweet Osmanthus were designated as the tree of Fukuyama City on Oct 1, 1995. Sweet Osmanthus is a garden tree and widely planted as a hedge. Yellow and gold flowers, which have a fragrant aroma, bloom in the fall. Therefore, this tree is loved by Fukuyama citizens. They felt it was the most suitable tree to represent the town and it was chosen as another city tree in celebration of Fukuyama City's 80th Anniversary. Camphor Tree (Laurel) The Camphor Tree was designated as the tree of Fukuyama city on October 1, 1995. The Camphor Tree is a garden tree and widely planted as an orderly column. This tree has a long life and grows very large and therefore has been planted at schools and shrines where it can be seen for many years. It represents the town suitably and is loved by citizens so it was also added as a city tree to celebrate the 80th Anniversary.

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