The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were nuclear attacks during
World War II against the Empire of Japan by the
United States of America under US President Harry S. Truman. After six months
of intense firebombing of 67 other Japanese cities, on
August 6, 1945, the nuclear
weapon "Little Boy" was dropped on the city of Hiroshima, followed on August 9, 1945 by the detonation of the "Fat Man" nuclear bomb over Nagasaki. These are the only uses of nuclear weapons in warfare.
As many as 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 80,000 in Nagasaki may have died from the bombings by the end of 1945[1], roughly half on the days of the
bombings. Since then, thousands more have died from injuries or illness due to
radiation.[2] In both cities, the
overwhelming majority of the dead were civilians.[3][4]
On August 15, 1945 Japan announced its surrender to the Allied Powers, signing the Instrument of Surrender on September 2 which
officially ended World War II. Furthermore, the experience of bombing led post-war Japan to adopt Three Non-Nuclear Principles, which forbid Japan from nuclear armament.
The Manhattan Project
-
The United States, with assistance from the United Kingdom and Canada, designed and built the first atomic bombs under what was called the Manhattan Project. "The gadget," which was a trial of the
implosion trigged plutonium device, which would be used on Nagasaki, was detonated during a test called "Trinity" near Alamogordo, New Mexico on July 16, 1945. Together the following bombs were the second and third to be
detonated and as of 2007 the only ones ever in a military action. (See Weapons of
Mass Destruction.)
Choice of targets
Map showing the locations of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan where the two atomic weapons were employed
The Target Committee at Los Alamos on May 10–11, 1945, recommended
Kyoto, Hiroshima, Yokohama, and the arsenal at Kokura as possible targets. The committee rejected
the use of the weapon against a strictly military objective because of the chance of missing a small target not surrounded by a
larger urban area. The psychological effects on Japan were of great importance to the committee members. They also agreed that
the initial use of the weapon should be sufficiently spectacular for its importance to be internationally recognized. The
committee felt Kyoto, as an intellectual center of Japan, had a population "better able to appreciate the significance of the
weapon." Hiroshima was chosen because of its large size, its being "an important army depot" and the potential that the bomb
would cause greater destruction because the city was surrounded by hills which would have a "focusing effect".[5]
Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson struck Kyoto from the list because of its cultural
significance, over the objections of General Leslie Groves, head of the Manhattan Project.
According to Professor Edwin O. Reischauer, Stimson "had known and admired Kyoto
ever since his honeymoon there several decades earlier." On July 25 General Carl Spaatz was ordered to bomb one of the targets: Hiroshima, Kokura, Niigata, or Nagasaki as soon after August
3 as weather permitted and the remaining cities as additional weapons became available.[6]
The Potsdam ultimatum
On July 26, Truman and other allied leaders issued The Potsdam Declaration outlining terms of surrender for Japan. The atomic bomb was not mentioned in the
declaration. On July 28, Japanese papers reported that the declaration had been rejected by the
Japanese government. That afternoon, Prime Minister Kantaro Suzuki declared at a press
conference that the Potsdam Declaration was no more than a rehash (yakinaoshi) of the Cairo Declaration and that the government intended to ignore it (mokusatsu).[7] The statement was
taken by both Japanese and foreign papers as a clear rejection of the declaration. Emperor
Hirohito, who was waiting for a Soviet reply to noncommittal Japanese peace feelers, made no move to change the government
position.[8] On July 31, he made clear to Kido that the Imperial Regalia of Japan had to be
defended at all costs.[9]
In early July, on his way to Potsdam, Truman had re-examined the decision to use the bomb. In the end, Truman made the
decision to drop the atomic bombs on Japan. His stated intention in ordering the bombings was to bring about a quick resolution
of the war by inflicting destruction, and instilling fear of further destruction, that was sufficient to cause Japan to
surrender.
Hiroshima
Hiroshima during World War II
At the time of its bombing, Hiroshima was a city of some industrial and military significance. A number of military camps were
located nearby, including the headquarters of the Fifth Division and Field Marshal Shunroku
Hata's 2nd General Army Headquarters, which commanded the defense of all of southern Japan. Hiroshima was a minor supply
and logistics base for the Japanese military. The city was a communications center, a storage point, and an assembly area for
troops. It was one of several Japanese cities left deliberately untouched by American bombing, allowing an ideal environment to
measure the damage caused by the atomic bomb. Another account stresses that after General Spaatz reported that Hiroshima was the
only targeted city without prisoner of war (POW) camps, Washington decided to assign it
highest priority.
The center of the city contained several reinforced concrete buildings and lighter structures. Outside the center, the area
was congested by a dense collection of small wooden workshops set among Japanese houses. A few larger industrial plants lay near
the outskirts of the city. The houses were of wooden construction with tile roofs, and many of the industrial buildings also were
of wood frame construction. The city as a whole was highly susceptible to fire damage.
The population of Hiroshima had reached a peak of over 381,000 earlier in the war, but prior to the atomic bombing the
population had steadily decreased because of a systematic evacuation ordered by the Japanese government. At the time of the
attack the population was approximately 255,000. This figure is based on the registered population used by the Japanese in
computing ration quantities, and the estimates of additional workers and troops who were brought into the city may be
inaccurate.
The bombing
A postwar "Little Boy" casing mockup
- For the composition of the USAAF mission see 509th Composite
Group.
Hiroshima was the primary target of the first nuclear bombing mission on August 6, with
Kokura and Nagasaki being alternative targets. August 6 was chosen because there had previously been cloud over the target. The
B-29 Enola Gay, piloted and commanded by
509th Composite Group commander Colonel Paul
Tibbets, was launched from North Field airbase on Tinian in the West Pacific, about six hours flight time from Japan. The Enola Gay (named after Colonel Tibbets' mother)
was accompanied by two other B29s, The Great Artiste which carried
instrumentation, commanded by Major Charles W. Sweeney, and a then-nameless aircraft
later called Necessary Evil (the photography aircraft) commanded by Captain
George Marquardt.[10]
After leaving Tinian the aircraft made their way separately to Iwo Jima where they
rendezvoused at 2440 m (8000 ft) and set course for Japan. The aircraft arrived over the target in clear visibility at 9855 m
(32,000 ft). On the journey, Navy Captain William Parsons had armed the bomb,
which had been left unarmed to minimize the risks during takeoff. His assistant, 2nd Lt. Morris Jeppson, removed the safety devices 30 minutes before reaching the target area.[10]
Seizo Yamada's ground level photo taken from approximately 7 km northeast of Hiroshima.
Hiroshima, in the aftermath of the bombing
The release at 08:15 (Hiroshima time) was uneventful, and the gravity bomb known as
"Little Boy", a gun-type fission weapon with
60 kg (130 pounds) of uranium-235, took 57 seconds to fall from the aircraft to the
predetermined detonation height about 600 meters (2,000 ft) above the city. It created a blast equivalent to about 13
kilotons of TNT. (The U-235 weapon was considered very inefficient, with only 1.38% of its material fissioning.)[11] The radius of total destruction was
about 1.6 km (1 mile), with resulting fires across 11.4 km² (4.4 square miles).[12] Infrastructure damage was estimated at 90 percent of Hiroshima's buildings being
either damaged or completely destroyed.
About an hour before the bombing, Japanese early warning radar detected the approach of some American aircraft headed for the
southern part of Japan. An alert was given and radio broadcasting stopped in many cities, among them Hiroshima. At nearly 08:00,
the radar operator in Hiroshima determined that the number of planes coming in was very small—probably not more than three—and
the air raid alert was lifted. To conserve fuel and aircraft, the Japanese had decided not to intercept small formations. The
normal radio broadcast warning was given to the people that it might be advisable to go to air-raid shelters if B-29s were
actually sighted, but no raid was expected beyond some sort of reconnaissance.
Japanese realization of the bombing
The energy released by the bomb was powerful enough to burn through clothing. The dark portions of the garments this victim wore
at the time of the blast were emblazoned on to the flesh as scars, while skin underneath the lighter parts (which absorb less
energy) was not damaged as badly.
The Tokyo control operator of the Japanese Broadcasting
Corporation noticed that the Hiroshima station had gone off the air. He tried to re-establish his program by using another
telephone line, but it too had failed.[13] About twenty minutes later the Tokyo railroad telegraph center realized that the main
line telegraph had stopped working just north of Hiroshima. From some small railway stops within 16 kilometers (10 mi) of the
city came unofficial and confused reports of a terrible explosion in Hiroshima. All these reports were transmitted to the
headquarters of the Japanese General Staff.
Military bases repeatedly tried to call the Army Control Station in Hiroshima. The complete silence from that city puzzled the
men at headquarters; they knew that no large enemy raid had occurred and that no sizable store of explosives was in Hiroshima at
that time. A young officer of the Japanese General Staff was instructed to fly immediately to Hiroshima, to land, survey the
damage, and return to Tokyo with reliable information for the staff. It was generally felt at headquarters that nothing serious
had taken place and that it was all a rumor.
The staff officer went to the airport and took off for the southwest. After flying for about three hours, while still nearly
100 miles (160 km) from Hiroshima, he and his pilot saw a great cloud of smoke from the bomb. In the bright afternoon, the
remains of Hiroshima were burning. Their plane soon reached the city, around which they circled in disbelief. A great scar on the
land still burning and covered by a heavy cloud of smoke was all that was left. They landed south of the city, and the staff
officer, after reporting to Tokyo, immediately began to organize relief measures.
Tokyo's first knowledge of what had really caused the disaster came from the White House
public announcement in Washington, D.C., sixteen hours after the nuclear attack on
Hiroshima.[14]
By August 8, 1945, newspapers in the US were reporting that
broadcasts from Radio Tokyo had described the destruction observed in Hiroshima. "Practically all living things, human and
animal, were literally seared to death," Japanese radio announcers said in a broadcast captured by Allied sources.[15]
Post-attack casualties
According to most estimates, the bombing of Hiroshima killed approximately 70,000 people due to immediate effects of the
blast. Estimates of total deaths by the end of 1945 range from 90,000 to 140,000, due to burns, radiation and related disease,
aggravated by lack of medical resources.[16] [1] Some estimates state up to 200,000 may have died by 1950, due to cancer and other long-term
effects.[2] [17] [18] At least eleven known prisoners of war died from the
bombing.[19]
Survival of some structures
Some of the reinforced concrete buildings in Hiroshima were very strongly constructed because of the earthquake danger in Japan, and their framework did not collapse even though they were fairly close to the
center of damage in the city. Akiko Takakura was among the closest survivors to the hypocenter of the blast. She had been in the
strongly built Bank of Hiroshima only 300m from ground-zero at the time of the attack.[20] Since the bomb detonated in the air, the blast was more downward than sideways,
which was largely responsible for the survival of the Prefectural Industrial Promotional Hall, now commonly known as the
Genbaku, or A-bomb Dome designed and built by the Czech architect Jan Letzel, which was only 150 meters (490 feet) from ground zero (the
hypocenter). The ruin was named Hiroshima Peace
Memorial and made a UNESCO World Heritage
site in 1996 over the objections of the U.S. and China.[21]
Events of August 7-9
After the Hiroshima bombing, President Truman announced, "If they do not not accept our terms, they may expect a rain of ruin
from the air the likes of which has never been seen on this earth." On August 8
1945, leaflets were dropped and warnings were given to Japan by Radio
Saipan. (The area of Nagasaki did not receive warning leaflets until August 10, though
the leaflet campaign covering the whole country was over a month into its operations.)[22][23]
The Japanese government still did not react to the Potsdam Declaration. Emperor
Hirohito, the government and the War council were considering four conditions for surrender:
the preservation of the kokutai (Imperial institution and national polity), assumption by the Imperial Headquarters of
responsibility for disarmament and demobilization, no occupation and delegation to the Japanese government of the punishment of
war criminals.
The Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov informed Tokyo of the Soviet Union's
unilateral abrogation of the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact on
April 5. At two minutes past midnight on August 9,
Tokyo time, Soviet infantry, armor, and air forces launched an invasion of Manchuria. Four hours later, word reached Tokyo that the Soviet Union had
declared war on Japan. The senior leadership of the Japanese Army began
preparations to impose martial law on the nation, with the support of Minister of War
Korechika Anami, in order to stop anyone attempting to make peace.
Responsibility for the timing of the second bombing was delegated to Colonel Tibbets as commander of the 509th Composite Group on Tinian. Scheduled for August 11 against
Kokura, the raid was moved forward to avoid a five day period of bad weather forecast to begin on August 10.[24] Three bomb
pre-assemblies had been transported to Tinian, labeled F-31, F-32, and F-33 on their exteriors. On August 8 a dress rehearsal was conducted off Tinian by Maj. Charles Sweeney using Bockscar as the drop airplane. Assembly F-33 was expended testing the components and F-31 was designated
for the mission August 9.[25]
Nagasaki
Nagasaki during World War II
Urakami Tenshudo (Catholic Church in Nagasaki) in January, 1946, destroyed by the
atomic bomb, the dome of the church having toppled off.
The city of Nagasaki had been one of the largest sea ports in
southern Japan and was of great wartime importance because of its wide-ranging industrial activity, including the production of
ordnance, ships, military equipment, and other
war materials.
In contrast to many modern aspects of Hiroshima, the bulk of the residences were of old-fashioned Japanese construction,
consisting of wood or wood-frame buildings, with wood walls (with or without plaster), and tile roofs. Many of the smaller
industries and business establishments were also housed in buildings of wood or other materials not designed to withstand
explosions. Nagasaki had been permitted to grow for many years without conforming to any definite city zoning plan; residences
were erected adjacent to factory buildings and to each other almost as closely as possible throughout the entire industrial
valley.
Nagasaki had never been subjected to large-scale bombing prior to the explosion of a nuclear weapon there. On August 1, 1945, however, a number of conventional high-explosive bombs were
dropped on the city. A few hit in the shipyards and dock areas in the southwest portion of the city, several hit the
Mitsubishi Steel and Arms Works and six bombs landed at the Nagasaki Medical School
and Hospital, with three direct hits on buildings there. While the damage from these bombs was relatively small, it created
considerable concern in Nagasaki and many people—principally school children—were evacuated to rural areas for safety, thus
reducing the population in the city at the time of the nuclear attack.
To the north of Nagasaki there was a camp holding British Commonwealth
prisoners of war, some of whom were working in the coal mines and only found out about the bombing when they came to the surface.
At least eight known POWs died from the bombing.[26]
The bombing
A post-war "Fat Man" model
- For the composition of the USAAF mission see 509th Composite
Group.
On the morning of August 9, 1945, the U.S. B-29 Superfortress Bockscar, flown by the crew of 393rd
Squadron commander Major Charles W. Sweeney, carried the nuclear bomb code-named
"Fat Man", with Kokura as the primary target and
Nagasaki the secondary target. The mission plan for the second attack was nearly identical to
that of the Hiroshima mission, with two B-29's flying an hour ahead as weather scouts and two additional B-29's in Sweeney's
flight for instrumentation and photographic support of the mission. Sweeney took off with his weapon already armed but with the
electrical safety plugs still engaged.[27]
Illustration of the implosion concept employed in "Fat Man".
Observers aboard the weather planes reported both targets clear. When Sweeney's aircraft arrived at the assembly point for his
flight off the coast of Japan, the third plane (flown by the group's Operations Officer, Lt. Col. James I. Hopkins, Jr.) failed
to make the rendezvous. Bockscar and the instrumentation plane circled for forty minutes without locating Hopkins. Already
thirty minutes behind schedule, Sweeney decided to fly on without Hopkins.[27]
Nagasaki before and after bombing
By the time they reached Kokura a half hour later, a 7/10 cloud cover had obscured the city, prohibiting the
visual attack required by orders. After three runs over the city, and with fuel running low because a transfer pump on a reserve
tank had failed before take-off, they headed for their secondary target, Nagasaki.[27] Fuel consumption calculations made en route indicated that Bockscar
had insufficient fuel to reach Iwo Jima and they would be forced to divert to Okinawa. After initially deciding that if Nagasaki were obscured on their arrival they would carry
the bomb to Okinawa and dispose of it in the ocean if necessary, the weaponeer Navy Commander
Frederick Ashworth decided that a radar approach would be used if the target was
obscured.[28]
At about 07:50 Japanese time, an air raid alert was sounded in Nagasaki, but the "all clear" signal was given at 08:30. When
only two B-29 Superfortresses were sighted at 10:53, the Japanese apparently assumed that the planes were only on reconnaissance
and no further alarm was given.
A few minutes later, at 11:00, the support B-29 flown by Captain Frederick C. Bock
dropped instruments attached to three parachutes. These instruments also contained an unsigned letter to Professor Ryokichi
Sagane, a nuclear physicist at the University of
Tokyo who studied with three of the scientists responsible for the atomic bomb at the University of California, Berkeley, urging him to tell the public about the danger
involved with these weapons of mass destruction. The messages were found by
military authorities but not turned over to Sagane until a month later.[29] In 1949 one of the authors of the letter, Luis
Alvarez, met with Sagane and signed the document.[30]
A Japanese report on the bombing characterized Nagasaki as "like a graveyard with not a tombstone standing".
At 11:01, a last minute break in the clouds over Nagasaki allowed Bockscar's bombardier, Captain Kermit Beahan, to visually sight the target as ordered. The "Fat Man"
weapon, containing a core of ~6.4 kg (14.1 lbs.) of plutonium-239, was dropped over the city's
industrial valley. 43 seconds later it exploded 469 meters (1,540 ft) above the ground exactly halfway between the Mitsubishi
Steel and Arms Works in the south and the Mitsubishi-Urakami Ordnance Works (Torpedo Works) in the north. This was nearly 3
kilometers (2 mi) northwest of the planned hypocenter; the blast was confined to the Urakami
Valley and a major portion of the city was protected by the intervening hills.[31] The resulting explosion had a blast yield equivalent to 21 kilotons of
TNT. The explosion generated heat estimated at 7000 degrees Fahrenheit and winds that
were estimated at 624 mph.
Casualty estimates for immediate deaths range from 40,000 to 75,000.[32] [33] [34] Total deaths by the end of 1945 may have reached
80,000.[1] The radius of total
destruction was about 1.6 km (1 mile), followed by fires across the northern portion of the city to 3.2 km (2 miles)
south of the bomb.[35] [36]
An unknown number of survivors from the Hiroshima bombing made their way to Nagasaki and were bombed again.[37][38]
Plans for more atomic attacks on Japan
The United States expected to have another atomic bomb ready for use in the third week
of August, with three more in September and a further three in October.[39] On August 10, Major General Leslie Groves, military director of the Manhattan Project, sent
a memorandum to General of the Army George
Marshall, Chief of Staff of the United States Army, in
which he wrote that "the next bomb . . should be ready for delivery on the first suitable weather after 17 or 18 August." On the
same day, Marshall endorsed the memo with the comment, "It is not to be released over Japan without express authority from the
President."[39] There was already
discussion in the War Department about conserving the bombs in production until Operation
Downfall, the projected invasion of Japan, had begun. "The problem now [13 August] is whether or not, assuming the
Japanese do not capitulate, to continue dropping them every time one is made and shipped out there or whether to hold them . . .
and then pour them all on in a reasonably short time. Not all in one day, but over a short period. And that also takes into
consideration the target that we are after. In other words, should we not concentrate on targets that will be of the greatest
assistance to an invasion rather than industry, morale, psychology, and the like? Nearer the tactical use rather than other
use."[39]
The surrender of Japan and subsequent occupation
-
Up to August 9, the war council was still insisting on its four conditions for surrender. On
that day Hirohito ordered Kido to "quickly control the situation" "because Soviet Union has
declared war against us". He then held an Imperial conference during which he authorized minister Togo to notify the Allies that Japan would accept their terms on one condition, that the declaration
"does not compromise any demand which prejudices the prerogatives of His Majesty as a Sovereign ruler".[40]
On August 12, the Emperor informed the imperial family of his decision to surrender. One of
his uncles, Prince Asaka, then asked whether the war would be continued if the
kokutai could not be preserved. Hirohito simply replied "of course".[41] As the Allied terms seemed to leave intact the principle of the
preservation of the Throne, Hirohito recorded on August 14 his capitulation announcement which
was broadcast to the Japanese nation the next day despite a short rebellion by fanatic militarists opposed to the surrender.
In his declaration, Hirohito referred to the atomic bombings :
| “ |
Moreover, the enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which
to do damage is, indeed, incalculable, taking the toll of many innocent lives. Should we continue to fight, not only would it
result in an ultimate collapse and obliteration of the Japanese nation, but also it would lead to the total extinction of human
civilization.
Such being the case, how are We to save the millions of Our subjects, or to atone Ourselves before the hallowed spirits of Our
Imperial Ancestors? This is the reason why We have ordered the acceptance of the provisions of the Joint Declaration of the
Powers.
|
” |
In his "Rescript to the soldiers and sailors" delivered on 17 August, he stressed the
impact of the Soviet invasion and his decision to surrender, omitting any mention of the bombs.
During the year after the bombing, approximately 40,000 U.S. occupation troops were in Hiroshima. Nagasaki was occupied by
27,000 troops.[42] More that 40,000 members of the
British Commonwealth Occupation Force were also in Japan.
Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission
In the spring of 1948, the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (ABCC) was
established in accordance with a presidential directive from Harry S. Truman to the
National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council to conduct investigations of the late effects of
radiation among the survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. One of the early studies conducted by the ABCC was on the outcome of
pregnancies occurring in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and in a control city,
Kure located 18 miles south from Hiroshima, to discern the conditions and outcomes
related to radiation exposure. Some would say ABCC was not in a position to offer medical treatment to the survivors except in a
research capacity. One author has claimed that the ABCC refused to provide medical treatment to the survivors for better research
results.[43] In 1975, the Radiation Effects Research
Foundation was created to assume the responsibilities of ABCC.
The Hibakusha
Monument at ground zero in Nagasaki.
The surviving victims of the bombings are called Hibakusha (被爆者, Hibakusha?), a Japanese word
that literally translates to "explosion-affected people". The suffering of the bombing is the root of Japan's postwar
pacifism [citation needed], and the nation has sought the abolition of nuclear weapons from the world
ever since. As of 31 March 2007, there were 251,834 hibakusha recognized by the Japanese
government; most live in Japan.[44] The government of
Japan recognizes about 1% of these as having illnesses caused by radiation.[45] The memorials in Hiroshima and Nagasaki contain lists of the names of the hibakusha who are
known to have died since the bombings. Updated annually on the anniversaries of the bombings, as of August
2007 the memorials record the names of almost 400,000 hibakusha — 253,008[46] in Hiroshima, and 143,124[47] in Nagasaki. News accounts often mistake these figures for the numbers of people who have died
because of the bombings.[citation needed]
Korean survivors
During the war Japan brought many Korean conscripts to both Hiroshima and Nagasaki to work as forced labor. According to
recent estimates, about 20,000 Koreans were killed in Hiroshima and about 2,000 died in Nagasaki. It is estimated that one in
seven of the Hiroshima victims was of Korean ancestry.[48] For many years Koreans had a difficult time fighting for recognition as atomic bomb victims and
were denied health benefits.[citation needed] Though such issues have been addressed in recent years, issues regarding
recognition linger.[citation needed]
Debate over bombings
-
Those who argue in favor of the decision to drop the bombs generally assert that the bombings ended the war months sooner than
would otherwise have been the case, thus saving many lives. It is argued that there would have been massive casualties on both
sides in the Operation Downfall invasion of Japan,[49] and that even if Operation Downfall was postponed, the status quo of
conventional bombings and the Japanese occupations in Asia were causing tremendous loss of life.
A number of notable individuals and organizations have criticized the bombings, many of them characterizing them as
war crimes or crimes against humanity and/or
state terrorism. Two early critics of the bombings were Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard, who had together spurred the first
bomb research in 1939 with a jointly written letter to President Roosevelt.
Szilard, who had gone on to play a major role in the Manhattan Project, argued:
- "Let me say only this much to the moral issue involved: Suppose Germany had developed two bombs before we had any bombs. And
suppose Germany had dropped one bomb, say, on Rochester and the other on
Buffalo, and then having run out of bombs she would have lost the war. Can anyone
doubt that we would then have defined the dropping of atomic bombs on cities as a war crime, and that we would have sentenced the
Germans who were guilty of this crime to death at Nuremberg and hanged them?"[50]
Cultural references
- The book Hiroshima Mon Amour, by Marguerite Duras, and the related film, were partly inspired by the bombing. The film version, directed
by Alain Resnais, has some documentary footage of burn victims and the aftereffects of
devastation.
- The above book served as as inspiration for the like-titled 1977 song by the British New
Wave band Ultravox.
- The Japanese manga "Hadashi no Gen" ("Barefoot Gen") is
a manga which deals with the bombing in Hiroshima.
- The musical piece "Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima" by
Krzysztof Penderecki (sometimes also called Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima
for 52 Strings, and originally 8'37" as a nod to John Cage) was written in 1960 as
a reaction to what the composer believed to be a senseless act. On the 12th of October, 1964, Penderecki wrote: "Let the Threnody
express my firm belief that the sacrifice of Hiroshima will never be forgotten and lost."
- Composer Robert Steadman has written a musical
work for voice and chamber ensemble entitled Hibakusha Songs. Commissioned by the Imperial War Museum
North, Manchester, it was premiered in 2005.
- Artists Stephen Moore and Ann Rosenthal examine 60 years of living in the shadow of the bomb in their decade-long art project
"Infinity City." Their web site http://infcty.net documents
their travels to historical sites on three continents and explores their art installations and web works reflecting on America's
nuclear legacy.
- The Canadian progressive rock band Rush performed a song called "The Manhattan Project" depicting the events of and leading up to the bombing
of Hiroshima.
- The story of Sadako Sasaki, a young Hiroshima survivor diagnosed with leukemia, has been recounted in a number of books and films. Two of the best known of these works are
Karl Bruckner's Sadako will leben
(1961), translated into 22 languages and Eleanor Coerr's Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes (Putnam, 1977). Sasaki, confined to a
hospital because of her leukemia, created 644 origami cranes, in reference to a Japanese legend which granted one wish to whoever
could fold 1,000 cranes.
- Native American novelist Gerald Vizenor`s "kabuki
novel", Hiroshima Bugi (2003), compares the aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing to the
aftermath of the conquest of the Americas.
- The Japanese author Fumiyo Kouno wrote her graphic
novel about a story of a family after the atomic bomb, Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms (2004), and
translated into some languages.
- The rock band Wishful Thinking had a hit in 1971 with "Hiroshima", a song about the bombing.
- The Japanese rock band L'Arc~en~Ciel recorded the song "Hoshizora" ("Starlit Sky") on
the 2005 "Awake" album using Hiroshima as a metaphor of the devastation of war. The song was also dedicated to the victims of war
in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Films about the events
- Fat Man and Little Boy
- Imamura, Shohei (Director). (1989) Kuroi ame (Black Rain)
[Feature-length drama]. Japan: Toei Co. Ltd.. - The story of the aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing, based on Masuji Ibuse's novel.
- Kurihara, Koreyoshi and Roger Spottiswoode (Director). (1995) Hiroshima [Feature-length docudrama]. Canada/Japan: Hallmark Home Entertainment. - A
detailed, semi-documentary dramatisation of the political decisions involved with the atomic bombings.
- Kurosawa, Akira (Director). (1991) Hachi-gatsu no kyôshikyoku (Rhapsody in
August) [Feature-length drama]. Japan: MGM Home Entertainment. - Fictional drama that takes place in Nagasaki at
the time of the bombing.
- Sato, Junya (Director). (2005) Hadashi no Gen (Barefoot Gen) [Feature-length, animated movie]. Japan: Tara Releasing. - Animated dramatization
of the bombing of Hiroshima based on the writer's own experiences and the documented experiences of other survivors.
- Okazaki, Steven (Director). (2007) White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki [Documentary].
Japan: Home Box Office (HBO), Siglo Ltd., Zazie Films Inc.. - Factual accounts of the events from Japanese survivors and American
military.
See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Hiroshima
Nagasaki
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Nuclear warfare and other topics
References
- Sadao Asada (1997). "The Mushroom Cloud and National Psyches: Japanese and
American Perceptions of the Atomic-Bomb Decision, 1945-1995", in Laura Hein and Mark Selden, eds.: Living with the Bomb: American and Japanese Cultural Conflicts in the Nuclear Age.
East Gate Book, 186. ISBN 1-56324-967-7.
- Herbert Bix (1996). "Japan's Delayed
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