Nagasaki facts for kids
Nagasaki (長崎市, Nagasaki-shi) is the capital city of Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan.
Nagasaki is in the southwest of Kyushu.
It has been recognized as a core city since 1997.
Contents
History
During the Edo period, Nagasaki was the only port in which trade with other countries was permitted because of the national isolation policy (sakoku).
In the 1870's, Nagasaki became the capital city of the prefecture which evolved from the former province.
Atomic bombing of Nagasaki during World War II
On the day of the nuclear strike (August 9, 1945) the population in Nagasaki was estimated to be 263,000, which consisted of 240,000 Japanese residents, 10,000 Korean residents, 2,500 conscripted Korean workers, 9,000 Japanese soldiers, 600 conscripted Chinese workers, and 400 Allied POWs.
That day, the Boeing B-29 Superfortress Bockscar, commanded by Major Charles Sweeney, departed from Tinian's North Field just before dawn, this time carrying a plutonium bomb, code named "Fat Man".
The primary target for the bomb was Kokura, with the secondary target being Nagasaki, if the primary target was too cloudy to make a visual sighting. When the plane reached Kokura at 9:44 a.m. (10:44 a.m. Tinian Time), the city was obscured by clouds and smoke, as the nearby city of Yawata had been firebombed on the previous day. Unable to make a bombing attack on visual due to the clouds and smoke and with limited fuel, the plane left the city at 10:30 a.m. for the secondary target.
After 20 minutes, the plane arrived at 10:50 a.m. over Nagasaki, but the city was also concealed by clouds. Desperately short of fuel and after making a couple of bombing runs without obtaining any visual target, the crew was forced to use radar in order to drop the bomb. At the last minute, the opening of the clouds allowed them to make visual contact with a racetrack in Nagasaki, and they dropped the bomb on the city's Urakami Valley midway between the Mitsubishi Steel and Arms Works in the south, and the Mitsubishi-Urakami Ordnance Works in the north. 53 seconds after its release, the bomb exploded at 11:02 a.m. at an approximate altitude of 1,800 feet.
Less than a second after the detonation, the north of the city was destroyed and 35,000 people were killed.
After the war
The city was rebuilt after the war, albeit dramatically changed.
New structures were also raised as memorials, such as the Atomic Bomb Museum. Nagasaki remains first and foremost a port city, supporting a rich shipbuilding industry and setting a strong example of perseverance and peace.
On January 4, 2005, the towns of Iōjima, Kōyagi, Nomozaki, Sanwa, Sotome and Takashima (all from Nishisonogi District) were officially merged into Nagasaki.
Related pages
Images for kids
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Night view of Nagasaki city seen from Mount Konpira (金比羅山)
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A busy street in Nagasaki
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A plaque and the Peace Statue at the Nagasaki Peace Park
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Monument at the atomic bomb hypocenter in Nagasaki
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Sōfuku-ji (National treasure of Japan)
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Nagasaki Lantern Festival
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Original Shikairō Champon
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Portuguese (green) and Spanish (yellow) trade routes to Macao and Nagasaki
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Nanban trade. The screen shows foreigners arriving at a shore of Japan. Kano Naizen "Nanbanjin Inauguration" (right), circa. 1600
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The Chinese traders at Nagasaki were confined to a walled compound (Tōjin yashiki), circa 1688
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Plan of Nagasaki, Hizen province, 1778
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View of Nagasaki in 1870s
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View of Dejima in Nagasaki Bay by Kawahara Keigo c1836
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Modern Nagasaki, Oura Cathedral on a slope, 2005.
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Nagasaki view from Glover Garden, 2014
See also
In Spanish: Nagasaki para niños
