On August 9th, 1945, an atomic bomb detonated 500 meters above Matsuyama in
Nagasaki City at 11:02am. The area within a 2.5 kilometer radius of the
hypocenter was utterly devastated, and the rest of the city was left in ruins.
After the bombing, which destroyed all plant life around the hypocenter,
people said that no plants would grow there for the next 75 years. However,
one month after the atomic bombing, about 30 kinds of plants started to grow
again. Today, there are about 500 cherry blossom trees in the Hypocenter Park,
as well as flowers and lush greenery that can be seen throughout the year. It
truly captures the power of revival.
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Statue of Sadako Sasaki.
Sadako Sasaki was a Japanese girl who became a victim of the atomic
bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States.
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She was two years of age when the bombs were dropped and was severely
irradiated.
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She survived for another ten years, becoming one of the most widely
known hibakusha—a Japanese term meaning "bomb-affected person".
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She is remembered through the story of the more than one thousand
origami cranes she folded before her death.
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She died at the age of 12 on October 25, 1955 at the Hiroshima Red
Cross Hospital.
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50th Anniversary Memorial Monument.
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The black stone monolith marks the hypocenter.
This memorial indicates the spot where the atomic bomb "Fat Man"
exploded, after it was dropped by the B-29 "Bockcar" on 9 August 1945.
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The inscription on a nearby plaque reads: «At 11:02 A.M., August 9,
1945 an atomic bomb exploded 500 meters above this spot. The black
stone monolith marks the hypocenter. The fierce blast wind, heat rays
reaching several thousand degrees and deadly radiation generated by
the explosion crushed, burned and killed everything in sight and
reduced this entire area to a barren field of rubble. About one-third
of Nagasaki City was destroyed and 150,000 people killed or injured
and it was said at the time that this area would be devoid of
vegetation for 75 years. Now, the hypocenter remains as an
international peace park and a symbol of the aspiration for world
harmony.»
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See also
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