OVERVIEW

At 11:02 am, August 9th, 1945: an atomic bomb detonated 500 meters above Matsuyama in Nagasaki City. Large numbers of people were killed immediately, while others died later from illness or injury - by the end of December, some 74,000 people had died while around 75,000 more suffered from injuries associated with the event. The area within a 2.5 kilometer radius of the hypocenter was utterly devastated, and the rest of the city was left in ruins.

In 1968, a memorial monolith was built in the hypocenter park to mark ground zero of the atomic explosion. Beside the monolith, a part of the relics of the former Urakami Cathedral is preserved. A layer of the ground at that time is exhibited at the site, where visitors can see the remains of destroyed houses: roof tiles, bricks, ceramic and pieces of glass that boiled in the 3000℃ atomic heat.

After the bombing, which destroyed all plant life around the hypocenter, people said that no plants would grow there for the next 70 years. However, one month after the atomic bombing, about 30 kinds of plants started to grow again.

Today, there are bout 500 cherry blossom trees in the hypocenter park. The park is a favorite spot among local people for cherry blossom viewing in the spring time and as a green-filled oasis throughout the year. It truly captures the power of revival.

Take a stroll around the many sites in the area: the Atomic Bomb Museum, the National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims, the Peace Park, Urakami Cathedral with its atomic-bombed statue of the Virgin Mary, the Dr. Nagai Museum (a doctor and survivor of the atomic bombing), the local elementary school affected by the bombing with its own peace museum, the one-legged torii gate of Sanno Shrine and its surrounding camphor trees that survived the bombing. These are all located within walking distance.