Fukuyama City, located in the east of Hiroshima Prefecture, has promoted community development planning through the cultivation of roses by citizens, organizations, and the local government for over sixty years.
On May 21, 2016, Fukuyama became the “City of One Million Roses”, and it is now working toward its goal of becoming known throughout the world as the “City of Roses, Fukuyama.” Acknowledging this goal, the World Federation of Rose Societies has accepted Fukuyama’s bid to host a regional convention. Fukuyama City will host the 2022 World Federation of Rose Societies Regional Convention.
The World Federation of Rose Societies, consisting of organizations from forty countries, aims to facilitate friendship and the interchange of information about the rose between national rose societies as well as encourage research concerning the rose. It hosts a World Rose Convention once every three years, with Regional Conventions held in-between. While the 2006 World Rose Convention was held in Osaka, this will mark the first Regional Convention in Japan.
In preparation of the Regional Convention in Fukuyama, a local committee consisting of rose-related organizations is working to develop the city’s environment surrounding cultivation of roses, increase the city’s appeal, and spread word of Fukuyama both within Japan and around the world.
