Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum - History Covered in The Museum

History Covered in The Museum

The Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum covers the history the bombing of Nagasaki, Japan. It portrays scenes of the war, the dropping of the atomic bomb, the reconstruction of Nagasaki and present day. Additionally, the museum discusses the development history of nuclear weapons.

The atomic bomb was developed during the Manhattan Project by American scientists. The project was granted funding on December 6, 1941, and viewed by American leaders as a new invention which would be a legitimate weapon in war. By 1943, it was decided that the first bomb would be dropped on Japan and two years later, in 1945, a shortlist of cities for bombing had been created. At the time, the atomic bomb was considered as a way to end the war sooner than expected. Hiroshima was the first atomic bomb target. The first bomb was dropped there to show the power of America's new weapon, and the second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki to show that America had a large arsenal. At 11:02 A.M. local time on August 9, 1945, the atomic bomb, nicknamed the Fat Man after Winston Churchill, was dropped on Nagasaki, forever changing the city's landscape. A mushroom cloud reaching over 45,000 feet high rose from the city.

Within the museum is a history of the city before the bomb was dropped. The hypocenter of the explosion was the Urakami district, which was a traditionally rustic and isolated suburb. However, the population soared after the 1920s when the district was chosen as the site for munitions factories. An industrial zone was quickly created. Additionally, the Urakami district was home to the Nagasaki Medical College. When the bomb was dropped at 11:02 A.M. on August 9, 1945, the 20 neighborhoods within a one-kilometer radius of the hypocenter were completely destroyed by the heat flash and blast winds generated by the explosion. They were then reduced to ashes by the fires which followed. Within 2 km of the hypocenter, roughly 80% of the houses collapsed and burned. When the smoke cleared, the area was strewn with corpses.

Reconstruction of the city proceeded slowly. It was not until the latter half of 1946 that the first emergency dwellings were provided to the communities. The need for buildings far surpassed the availabilities. As late as 1950, applications for corporate dwellings exceeded the availability ninety times. The national government of Japan created a war disaster reconstruction plan in November 1945 which projected a city concept which would abandon the old war industries and focus instead on a revival of foreign trade, shipbuilding, and the fishing industry. Today, the city is considered a peace city and has pledged itself to the mission of world peace.