Nagasaki
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Where is Nagasaki located in Japan?
Nagasaki is the capital and largest city of the Nagasaki prefecture, located in northwestern Kyushu, Japan. It sits at the mouth of the Urakami River, where it flows into Nagasaki Harbour. The city has an amphitheater shape, with houses and streets built on the hillsides surrounding the inner bay. Nagasaki was Japan’s second-oldest port open to foreign trade and became a major port in the 1850s. Today, Nagasaki is a key tourist center with a rich history and industry based around its shipyards.
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What is Nagasaki known for in history?
Nagasaki is known for being the second city, after Hiroshima, to be targeted by an atomic bomb during World War II. On August 9, 1945, the United States dropped a bomb on Nagasaki, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 40,000 people immediately, with the total rising to approximately 70,000 by the end of the year.
In the early 20th century, Nagasaki was a major shipbuilding center, which contributed to its selection as a target. Since the war, Nagasaki has been rebuilt and is a spiritual center for movements advocating for the abolishment of nuclear weapons. The city is also a tourist destination with historic sites.
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What happened to Nagasaki during World War II?
On August 9, 1945, Nagasaki was the target of the second atomic bomb dropped by the United States during World War II. The bombing of Nagasaki resulted in the destruction of the innermost part of the city, killing an estimated 40,000 people immediately, with the total death toll reaching approximately 70,000 by the end of the year.
Despite the devastation, some historical areas of Nagasaki survived, and the city has since been rebuilt. Nagasaki is now a key tourist destination and a spiritual center for the movement to ban nuclear weapons.
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Why was Nagasaki chosen as a target for the atomic bomb?
Nagasaki was not the primary target for the second atomic bomb. Kokura was the initial target, but it was obscured by thick clouds and haze. As a result, the B-29 bomber Bockscar proceeded to its secondary target, Nagasaki, where the second atomic bomb was dropped on Japan by the United States on August 9, 1945.
In the early 20th century, Nagasaki became a major shipbuilding center, which contributed to its selection as a target. The bombing of Nagasaki destroyed the innermost portion of the city, killing an estimated 40,000 people immediately, with more dying from injuries and radiation exposure by the end of the year.
6 Britannica Sources- World War II: Hiroshima and Nagasaki
- Nagasaki
- Manhattan Project: The first atomic bombs: Trinity, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki
- strategic bombing during World War II: U.S. air campaigns in Europe and the Pacific
- atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: The bombing of Hiroshima
- Atomic Bombing of Nagasaki: Infographic
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How did the bombing of Nagasaki affect its people and city?
On August 9, 1945, the US dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, instantly killing around 40,000 people; by year's end, the death toll reached approximately 70,000, about 36% of the city's population. The bombing caused widespread destruction, with roughly 40% of Nagasaki's buildings destroyed or severely damaged.
Radiation injuries led to confusion, fatigue, and internal bleeding, with long-term effects such as cancer. The city has since rebuilt and become a spiritual center for banning nuclear weapons, featuring the Peace Park under the detonation point and the rebuilt Urakami Cathedral.
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How does Nagasaki remember and promote peace today?
After the devastation of the atomic bombing on August 9, 1945, Nagasaki has become a spiritual center for movements to ban nuclear weapons. Peace Park, established at the bomb's detonation point, and the rebuilt Urakami Roman Catholic Cathedral serve as focal points for reflection and remembrance. Nagasaki hosts the Global Hibakusha meeting, uniting nuclear test victims from around the world. The city continues to be an important tourist center.
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Nagasaki, capital and largest city of Nagasaki ken (prefecture), western Kyushu, Japan, located at the mouth of the Urakami-gawa (Urakami River) where it empties into Nagasaki-kō (Nagasaki Harbor). The harbor is composed of a narrow, deep-cut bay, formed at the meeting point of Nomo-saki (Cape Nomo; south) and Nishisonoki-hantō (Nishisonoki Peninsula; northwest). The city is shaped like an amphitheater, with its crooked streets and tiered houses clinging to the hillsides that enclose the inner bay. Reclaimed land at bayside and the Urakami Basin provide some level land. Although the perception is that the city is totally modern and rebuilt since 1945, actually Nagasaki has a number of areas where old buildings and temples remain.
Nagasaki was Japan’s second oldest port open to foreign trade (after Hirado). It was the only Japanese port permitted by the Tokugawa shogunate (military government) between 1639 and 1859 when all other ports were closed. Portuguese traders (who introduced Roman Catholicism and guns to Japan) first arrived there in the mid-16th century. Soon after the introduction of Catholicism, large groups of Japanese converted to the new religion. Feeling threatened by this new faith, the shogunate began persecuting Christians, including 26 martyrs—6 Franciscan missionaries and 20 Japanese Jesuits and laypeople—who were crucified in Nagasaki in 1597. The martyrs were canonized by the Vatican in 1862, and the Oura Roman Catholic Church, built in Gothic style, was erected in 1864 to commemorate them.
By the 1600s, tensions had risen to such a state that the Portuguese were expelled, along with the Protestant English; trade was then restricted to the Dutch and, to a lesser degree, the Chinese and Koreans. Over the next 200 years, as the rest of Japan was closed to the West, Nagasaki became a center for information on Western technology and science. When Nagasaki was fully reopened to the West in the 1850s, it became a major port for trade. It was a leading East Asian coaling station and served as the winter port of the Russian Asiatic fleet until 1903.
In the early 20th century the city became a major shipbuilding center; it was this industry that led to Nagasaki’s being chosen as a target for the second atomic bomb dropped on Japan by the United States in World War II. The bomb was dropped on August 9, 1945, and destroyed the innermost portion of Nagasaki; between 60,000 and 80,000 persons were killed. Exact figures are difficult, however, for many records were destroyed by the bomb and the overall devastation of the area made accurate accounting for casualties impossible. Still, estimates indicate that some 40,000 people were killed immediately with the rest dying within the next few months because of burns, injuries, or radiation exposure. The terrain and smaller size of Nagasaki reduced the destruction of life and property as compared to that of the atomic bomb explosion over Hiroshima, although the bomb dropped on Nagasaki was significantly more powerful. About 40 percent of the city’s buildings were completely destroyed or severely damaged. Since World War II, the city has been rebuilt and is significant as a spiritual center for movements to ban nuclear weapons.
Nagasaki is an important tourist center; its industry is still based upon its large shipyards, which are grouped along the western and inner parts of the harbor. The city also contains numerous historic sites. The Sofuku-ji (Chinese Temple; 1629) is a fine example of Chinese Ming dynasty architecture, inhabited by Chinese Buddhist monks. A fine view of Nagasaki-kō is offered by the Glover Mansion, the home of a 19th-century British merchant and reputed to be the site of Giacomo Puccini’s opera Madama Butterfly. Peace Park, on the Urakami-gawa, was established under the point of detonation of the bomb. The Roman Catholic cathedral of Urakami (built in 1959 to replace the original 1914 cathedral that was destroyed by the bomb) overlooks the park. Pop. (2015) 429,508; (2020) 409,118.