Nagasaki

At 11:02am on August 9, 1945, an atomic bomb destroyed most of Nagasaki. Nearly 150,000 lives, out of a population of 240,000, were lost. Japan had been warned in July of an attack but had ignored it. When Hiroshima was bombed on August 6, Japan still did not yield, so the Nagasaki bombing took place. Kokura had been the primary target, but cloud conditions diverted the raid to Nagasaki instead. It is argued that the total number of lives lost would have been greater if the allies had been forced to invade Japan. Yet it is difficult to accept the loss of life in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, most of that being civilian life, including many young persons. Even a prisoner-of-war camp was destroyed, including the lives of Chinese, Korean, US, and other soldiers.

A Peace Park was created in 1955, and an Atomic Bomb Museum opened in 1996 as part of a 50th anniversary of the bombing. The tour we took from the Nagasaki port included both. We started at the museum.

Numerous statues and works of art are near the museum. This one honors a teacher and students, with the students demonstrating various ways of calling for peace.

This grim piece emphasizes the horror of the event.

A grove of cherry trees once stood near the museum, and this piece marks that location and serves as a kind of guidepost at the entrance to an area referred to as the hypocenter of the blast.

A black obelisk sits below the spot 500 meters above the ground where the bomb detonated. Standing near that spot was unreal.

Nearby, a portion of a church that had been 500 meters northeast of the hypocenter could be seen. It was relocated to the area as a kind of memorial or exhibit.

Inside the museum were numerous photographs, videos, and evidence of the damage caused. There was also a detailed presentation of the science, politics, events, and individuals that led to the creation of the device. A model of the bomb, which weighed over 4.5 tons, was shown. Called Fat Man, it developed over 21 kilotons of force from its 14 pound plutonium core--only 14 pounds! Don't mean to be obsessed about the bomb technology, but I can't help but be in awe of forces we can barely comprehend. And compared to the destructive power that exists today, this bomb is nothing.

The museum also includes an extensive section devoted to the madness of nuclear proliferation and attempts to educate and argue for peace and elimination of such weapons.

There were lots of Japanese school groups touring the same day we were there. When we reached the Peace Garden, a short drive from the museum, we watched them pose for group photographs. They were delightful, both for their youthfulness and their obvious happiness at being together.

The background for their photographs was the same as this one of Kathie and me. This is the famous "Statue of Peace", a 30-foot high memorial created with donations from all over the world. The right arm points to the sky from which the bomb came, the left hand is extended to symbolize eternal peace, the eyes are closed in prayer, and the right leg is folded to signify meditation, and the left leg is poised to rise to offer rescue. Thus, it is meant to represent both western and eastern art, philosophy, and religion. Our smiles are nice, but in retrospect, it feels a bit wrong for us to have exhibited that emotion in the presence of such a setting and so many memories.

The grounds of the Peace Park contain numerous memorials from countries around the world. This one, from Australia, honors the events in Japan while at the same time remembering unfortunate nuclear testing events in Australia that the United Kingdom once conducted in their outback. We also saw a monument from the city of Saint Paul, Minnesota, which is a city sister to Nagasaki.

The immediate survivors of the blast suffered for a very long time, including severe thirst, due both to the effects on themselves and to destruction of water sources and supplies. Accordingly, a fountain in the park remembers these unfortunates.

I feel privileged to have been able to visit this city and these places and to have had the chance to learn more. It was with more than a little awe that I left Nagasaki behind.