Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum - Inside The Museum

Inside The Museum

The residents of Nagasaki consider it their duty to make sure the horrors which they experienced due to the atomic bombing are never repeated. Because of this, the museum is designed in such a way that the audience can see just what effect the bomb had on the city, the reconstruction, and the lasting effects of the atomic bomb. The museum opens with a room dedicated to the city as it was just before the bomb decimated Nagasaki. A clock which stopped at 11:02, the precise time the bomb hit the city, is also on display to demonstrate how so many people were killed in an instant.

In the next section, visitors enter a room which shows Nagasaki just after the bombings. Included in this room is a water tank with contorted legs which was located at Keiho Middle School, approximately 800m away from the hypocenter of the bombing. The section "Events leading up to the Nagasaki Atomic Bombiing" isolates historical events from contemporary biases. The permanent exhibition rooms display large materials exposed to the blast, as well as a replica of a sidewall of the Urakami Cathedral which was hit by the bomb.

The purpose is to reproduce the state which the city was in immediately after the bombing. Photographs and facts are shown alongside artifacts left by the deceased. Additionally, the second section contains some of the rosaries found inside the Urkami Cathedral. At the time of the bombing, dozens of people were inside the Cathedral for confession. This section also exhibits a timeline of events which shows a course of events that occurred prior to the bomb being dropped in Nagasaki. Leaflets which American forces dropped on Japan during the early part of 1945 are on display. One gives information on the bombing of Hiroshima and the power of the atomic bomb, warning citizens to leave the city and stop fighting. Also included are melted bottles, the bones of a human hand stuck to a clump of melted glass, burnt clothing, a lunchbox with its contents still charred inside of it, and a helmet with the remains of a victim’s skull on the inner surface. Section B shows damage caused by the radiation, damages caused by the blast, appeals of the atomic bomb survivors, and the rescue and relief activities which were carried out.

After viewing the city scene, museum visitors are invited to think about issues related to war and nuclear non-proliferation. This section of the museum contains the political sections entitled "The Road to the Atomic Bombing" and "The War between China and Japan and the Pacific War". It is there that the experience of militarism in Japan and the demands of war are juxtaposed with arguments for the end of nuclear weapons. Visitors are presented with facts on modern nuclear weapons alongside facts related to victims of the atomic bombing. It is a call for peace and an end of the nuclear age.

The final room in the museum contains videos and documents related to the Nagasaki bombing. Visitors can also find answers to their questions and documents like Nagasaki’s Peace Declaration.