Hiroshima
Hiroshima City, as a city rebuilt from the August 6, 1945 atomic bombing, is inseparably connected to Mazda Motor Corporation headquarters (Fuchu-cho, Aki-gun, Hiroshima) rotary engine culture. The 2.06 million metropolitan population shares pride in being "the only city to astonish the world with rotary engines"—the 1991 Le Mans 24 Hours victory (Mazda 787B, rotary engine powered) is engraved in Hiroshima citizens' collective memory as "the moment a city devastated by atomic bomb reached world's pinnacle through technology." The RX-7 (FD3S) receives "local hero" treatment in Hiroshima, with sighting frequency overwhelmingly exceeding Tokyo and Osaka.
Mazda head office factory (Ujina, Minami-ku, Hiroshima) is the spiritual center of Hiroshima's motorsport culture. Mazda Museum (reservation required, free admission) displays the actual 787B, rotary engine history, and RX-7/RX-8 development stories, strengthening Hiroshima citizens' perception that "Mazda is part of Hiroshima." Including not only Mazda employees but related parts manufacturers and dealership staff, a considerable proportion of Hiroshima metropolitan employment is Mazda-related—the economic structure of "if Mazda falters, Hiroshima falters" generates attachment to rotary engines. In February 2024, Mazda reinstated the "RE Development Group," declaring rotary engine development continuation—Hiroshima citizens rejoiced: "Hiroshima's soul didn't disappear."
Hiroshima's RX-7 owners possess special solidarity. The "distinctive 13B rotary engine exhaust note" functions as "comrade signal" within Hiroshima city; conversations naturally begin when an RX-7 stops adjacent at traffic lights. Around Mazda Ujina factory late nights (Friday midnight to 2 AM), RX-7s/RX-8s spontaneously gather in unofficial meetings—appearing as "Mazda enthusiast associations" with employee participation. Hiroshima's tuning shops are often rotary-specialized, inheriting craftsman techniques like "13B port machining," "turbo replacement," and "fuel tuning." In Tokyo/Osaka, "RX-7 is endangered species," but in Hiroshima "actively thriving"—this difference tells Hiroshima rotary culture's robustness.
Suzuka Circuit is relatively distant from Hiroshima (approximately 420km via Sanyo/Chugoku/Meishin Expressways, over 5 hours). However, "driving RX-7 at Suzuka" holds "pilgrimage" meaning for Hiroshima rotary enthusiasts—though Suzuka is Honda-operated, it's positioned as "a place to prove rotary engine capability" as legendary successor to Mazda 787B's Le Mans victory. Hiroshima RX-7 owner groups hold collective touring + circuit driving events to Suzuka 2-3 times annually—positioning the 5-hour one-way distance as "rotary engine endurance test." Poor fuel economy (5-7 km/liter) is accepted as "rotary's fate," with the watchword "those who worry about fuel economy shouldn't ride rotaries."
Hiroshima's motorsport culture bears both trauma and pride of "reconstruction from atomic bombing." Behind Mazda's 1961 acquisition of Wankel rotary engine license lay postwar Japan's spirit of "confronting the world with compact lightweight high-output engines." The reason Mazda (Hiroshima) alone persisted with rotaries while other manufacturers abandoned them is locally narrated as psychology that "because Hiroshima is a city once annihilated, there's nothing to lose." Even after RX-7 production end (2002) and RX-8 production end (2012), Hiroshima won't release rotary engines. "Rotary is Hiroshima's soul"—this conviction is the driving force keeping Mazda headquarters in Hiroshima and continuing rotary development. Hiroshima's motorsport is Japan's "heaviest" vehicle culture, with technological obsession and urban reconstruction narrative inseparably intertwined.