Hours later, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb, this time on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. Following these events, Emperor Hirohito intervened and ordered the Supreme Council for the Direction of the War to accept the terms the Allies had set down in the Potsdam Declaration for ending the war. After several more days of behind-the-scenes negotiations and a failed "coup d'état", Emperor Hirohito gave a recorded radio address across the Empire on August 15. In the radio address, called the , he announced the surrender of Japan to the Allies. On August 28, the occupation of Japan led by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers began.
Introduction
Surrender of Japan
Surrender of Japan | Introduction
Hours later, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb, this time on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. The United States dropped a second atomic bomb, on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. On 9 August 1945, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Sorry. I cannot find the answer based on the context.
date of japanese surrender in world war ii
user
September 2, 1945
assistant
what were the divisions within their leadership?
user
Suzuki's military-dominated cabinet favored continuing the war. For the Japanese, surrender was unthinkable—Japan had never been successfully invaded or lost a war in its history. Only Mitsumasa Yonai, the Navy minister, was known to desire an early end to the war.
assistant
why did they surrender then?
user
August 28, 1945 Japanese Instrument of Surrender was signed
assistant
what happened at hiroshima in this context?
user
United States detonated an atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
assistant
and nagasaki?
user
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." 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 militarists opposed to the surrender.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Surrender of Japan and subsequent occupation
This ultimatum stated if Japan did not surrender, it would face "prompt and utter destruction". Some debaters focus on the presidential decision-making process, and others on whether or not the bombings were the proximate cause of Japanese surrender. Over the course of time, different arguments have gained and lost support as new evidence has become available and as new studies have been completed. A primary and continuing focus has been on the role of the bombings in Japan's surrender and the U.S.'s justification for them based upon the premise that the bombings precipitated the surrender. This remains the subject of both scholarly and popular debate.
Debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Introduction
The Emperor then requested Tōgō to communicate his wishes to the Prime Minister.
Debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Nagasaki bombing unnecessary
For months afterward, large numbers of people continued to die from the effects of burns, radiation sickness, and injuries, compounded by illness and malnutrition. Most of the dead were civilians, although Hiroshima had a sizable military garrison.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Introduction
Truman felt that the effects of Japan witnessing a failed test would be too great of a risk to arrange such a demonstration. It emerged after the war that, had Japan not surrendered in August 1945, it was planning to attack the United States with biological weapons in September.
Debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Other
Instead, the ambient wind at the time pushed the fire spread along the valley.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Events on the ground
The Little Boy atomic bomb was detonated over the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. Exploding with a yield equivalent to 12,500 tonnes of TNT, the blast and thermal wave of the bomb destroyed nearly 50,000 buildings (including the headquarters of the 2nd General Army and Fifth Division) and killed approximately 75,000 people, among them 20,000 Japanese soldiers and 20,000 Koreans. Detonation of the "Fat Man" atomic bomb exploded over the Japanese city of Nagasaki three days later on 9 August 1945, destroying 60% of the city and killing approximately 35,000 people, among them 23,200-28,200 Japanese civilian munitions workers and 150 Japanese soldiers.
Nuclear weapons debate | Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The 1946 United States Strategic Bombing Survey in Japan, whose members included Paul Nitze, concluded the atomic bombs had been unnecessary to win the war. They said: This conclusion assumed conventional fire bombing would have continued, with ever-increasing numbers of B-29s, and a greater level of destruction to Japan's cities and population. One of Nitze's most influential sources was Prince Fumimaro Konoe, who responded to a question asking whether Japan would have surrendered if the atomic bombs had not been dropped by saying resistance would have continued through November or December 1945.
Debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Militarily unnecessary
The debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki concerns the ethical, legal, and military controversies surrounding the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 August and 9 August 1945 at the close of World War II (1939–45). The Soviet Union declared war on Japan an hour before 9 August and invaded Manchuria at one minute past midnight; Japan surrendered on 15 August. On 26 July 1945, United States President Harry S. Truman, United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Chairman of the Chinese Nationalist Government Chiang Kai-shek issued the Potsdam Declaration, which outlined the terms of surrender for the Empire of Japan as agreed upon at the Potsdam Conference.
Debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Introduction
With the text of this leaflet reading in Japanese "...we cannot promise that only these cities will be among those attacked..." Hiroshima was not listed.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Leaflets
The complete silence from that city puzzled the General Staff; 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 was instructed to fly immediately to Hiroshima, to land, survey the damage, and return to Tokyo with reliable information for the staff. It was felt that nothing serious had taken place and that the explosion was just a rumor. The staff officer went to the airport and took off for the southwest. After flying for about three hours, while still nearly from Hiroshima, he and his pilot saw a great cloud of smoke from the bomb.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Japanese realization of the bombing
Therefore, many Japanese and in particular the military members of the government refused to believe the United States had built an atomic bomb, and the Japanese military ordered their own independent tests to determine the cause of Hiroshima's destruction. Admiral Soemu Toyoda, the Chief of the Naval General Staff, argued that even if the United States had made one, they could not have many more. American strategists, having anticipated a reaction like Toyoda's, planned to drop a second bomb shortly after the first, to convince the Japanese that the U.S. had a large supply.
Surrender of Japan | August 6: Hiroshima
After circling the city to survey the damage they landed south of the city, where the staff officer, after reporting to Tokyo, began to organize relief measures. Tokyo's first indication that the city had been destroyed by a new type of bomb came from President Truman's announcement of the strike, sixteen hours later.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Japanese realization of the bombing
The results of the bombing are then explained, with footage and descriptions of how various buildings were affected by the blast at different distances from ground zero. Afterwards, an interview with Father John A. Siemes, a Jesuit priest who was living at the Novitiate of the Society of Jesus in Nagatsuka, is shown to give the audience a firsthand account of the bombing. Near the end of the interview, the priest is seen reading from a prepared statement. Nagasaki is then mentioned, with the narrator pointing out how much armament and other military supplies were being produced there, as well as the fact that even civilian homes were used for war work.
The Atom Strikes! | Introduction
Japan could legally enter into a peace agreement only with the unanimous support of the Japanese cabinet, and in the summer of 1945, the Japanese Supreme War Council, consisting of representatives of the Army, the Navy, and the civilian government, could not reach a consensus on how to proceed.
Debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Japan's leaders refused to surrender
With the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, and an invasion of the home islands imminent, Japan surrendered.
Military history of the United States during World War II | Introduction
They were then reduced to ashes by the fires which followed. Within 2 km of the hypocenter, roughly 80% of the houses collapsed and burned. When the smoke cleared, the area was strewn with corpses.
Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum | History covered in the museum
The role of the bombings in Japan's surrender and the U.S.'s ethical justification for them has been the subject of scholarly and popular debate for decades. J. Samuel Walker suggests that "the controversy over the use of the bomb seems certain to continue".
Nuclear weapons debate | Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The United States detonated two nuclear weapons over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively. The two bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the only uses of nuclear weapons in armed conflict. In the final year of World War II, the Allies prepared for a costly invasion of the Japanese mainland. This undertaking was preceded by a conventional and firebombing campaign that devastated 67 Japanese cities. The war in Europe concluded when Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945, and the Allies turned their full attention to the Pacific War.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Introduction
Kyūma's comments were similar to those made by Emperor Hirohito when, in his first ever press conference given in Tokyo in 1975, he was asked what he thought of the bombing of Hiroshima, and answered: "It's very regrettable that nuclear bombs were dropped and I feel sorry for the citizens of Hiroshima but it couldn't be helped (shikata ga nai) because that happened in wartime."
Debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Part of total war
American historian Gabriel Kolko said certain discussion regarding the moral dimension of the attacks is wrong-headed, given the fundamental moral decision had already been made:
Debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Continuation of previous behavior
On August 6, 1945, the "Little Boy" enriched uranium atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima, followed on August 9 by the detonation of the "Fat Man" plutonium core atomic bomb over Nagasaki. Both cities were destroyed with enormous loss of life and psychological shock. On August 15, Emperor Hirohito announced the surrender of Japan, stating:
Air warfare of World War II | Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Replacing the pump would take hours; moving the Fat Man to another aircraft might take just as long and was dangerous as well, as the bomb was live. Tibbets and Sweeney therefore elected to have "Bockscar" continue the mission.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Bombing of Nagasaki
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 non-committal Japanese peace feelers, made no move to change the government position. Japan's willingness to surrender remained conditional on the preservation of the "kokutai" (Imperial institution and national polity), assumption by the Imperial Headquarters of responsibility for disarmament and demobilization, no occupation of the Japanese Home Islands, Korea or Formosa, and delegation of the punishment of war criminals to the Japanese government. At Potsdam, Truman agreed to a request from Winston Churchill that Britain be represented when the atomic bomb was dropped.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Potsdam Declaration
At the time of the attack, the population was approximately 340,000–350,000. Residents wondered why Hiroshima had been spared destruction by firebombing. Some speculated that the city was to be saved for U.S. occupation headquarters, others thought perhaps their relatives in Hawaii and California had petitioned the U.S. government to avoid bombing Hiroshima. More realistic city officials had ordered buildings torn down to create long, straight firebreaks. These continued to be expanded and extended up to the morning of August 6, 1945.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Hiroshima during World War II
Until August 9, Japan's war council still insisted on its four conditions for surrender. The full cabinet met on 14:30 on August 9, and spent most of the day debating surrender. Anami conceded that victory was unlikely, but argued in favour of continuing the war nonetheless. The meeting ended at 17:30, with no decision having been reached. Suzuki went to the palace to report on the outcome of meeting, where he met with Kōichi Kido, the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan. Kido informed him that the emperor had agreed to hold an imperial conference, and gave a strong indication that the emperor would consent to surrender on condition that "kokutai" be preserved.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Surrender of Japan and subsequent occupation
New structures were also raised as memorials, such as the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, which was opened in the mid-1990s.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Nagasaki
President Harry S. Truman warned the Japanese that he would use more nukes if they didn't surrender. The Nagasaki mission is described, showing the two plants that were the basic targets, and the valley that they planned to bomb, and then shows the mushroom cloud, "The baptism of the aggressor nation".
A Tale of Two Cities (1946 film) | Introduction
casualties, with U.S. dead in the range from 25,000 to 46,000. Delivered on June 15, 1945, after insight gained from the Battle of Okinawa, the study noted Japan's inadequate defenses due to the very effective sea blockade and the American firebombing campaign. The Chief of Staff of the United States Army, General of the Army George Marshall, and the Army Commander in Chief in the Pacific, General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, signed documents agreeing with the Joint War Plans Committee estimate. The Americans were alarmed by the Japanese buildup, which was accurately tracked through Ultra intelligence. Secretary of War Henry L.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Preparations to invade Japan
Recalling Kaiser Wilhelm II's account of his duty to bring World War I to a swift end—"everything must be put to fire and sword; men, women and children and old men must be slaughtered and not a tree or house be left standing." Pal observed:
Debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Bombings as war crimes
"Its story became a part of our ceaseless thinking about world wars and nuclear holocaust," "New Yorker" essayist Roger Angell wrote in 1995.
Hiroshima (book) | Introduction
These two bombs killed approximately 120,000 people in a matter of minutes, and as many as a result of nuclear radiation in the following weeks, months and years. The bombs killed as many as 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 80,000 in Nagasaki by the end of 1945. At the Yalta agreement, the US, the UK, and the USSR had agreed that the USSR would enter the war on Japan within three months of the defeat of Germany in Europe. This Soviet–Japanese War led to the fall of Japan's Manchurian occupation, Soviet occupation of South Sakhalin island, and a real, imminent threat of Soviet invasion of the home islands of Japan.
Empire of Japan | Surrender
On August 6 at 8:15 AM local time, the "Enola Gay", a Boeing B-29 Superfortress piloted by Colonel Paul Tibbets, dropped an atomic bomb (code-named Little Boy by the U.S.) on the city of Hiroshima in southwest Honshū. Throughout the day, confused reports reached Tokyo that Hiroshima had been the target of an air raid, which had leveled the city with a "blinding flash and violent blast". Later that day, they received U.S. President Truman's broadcast announcing the first use of an atomic bomb, and promising: The Japanese Army and Navy had their own independent atomic-bomb programs and therefore the Japanese understood enough to know how very difficult building it would be.
Surrender of Japan | August 6: Hiroshima
invasion of Japan gave a demonstration of how deadly and costly it would be. President Harry S. Truman realized he could not afford such a horrendous casualty rate, especially since over 400,000 American combatants had already died fighting in both the European and the Pacific theaters of the war.
Nuclear warfare | Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
It is most regrettable but nevertheless true".
Debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Dehumanization
"This article incorporates information from the Japanese Wikipedia."
Timeline of Nagasaki | References
In 2005, in an overview of historiography about the matter, J. Samuel Walker wrote, "the controversy over the use of the bomb seems certain to continue". Walker stated, "The fundamental issue that has divided scholars over a period of nearly four decades is whether the use of the bomb was necessary to achieve victory in the war in the Pacific on terms satisfactory to the United States."
Debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Introduction
This is a list of cultural products made about the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It includes literature, film, music and other art forms.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in popular culture | Introduction
The air attacks on Japan had crippled her ability to wage war but the Japanese had not surrendered. On July 26, 1945, United States President Harry S. Truman, United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Chairman of the Chinese Nationalist Government Chiang Kai-shek issued the Potsdam Declaration, which outlined the terms of surrender for the Empire of Japan as agreed upon at the Potsdam Conference. This ultimatum stated if Japan did not surrender, she would face "prompt and utter destruction." The Japanese government ignored this ultimatum ("Mokusatsu", "kill by silence"), and vowed to continue resisting an anticipated Allied invasion of Japan.
Air warfare of World War II | Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Tired and disoriented, he walked over to the tunnel of Mitsubishi Sumiyoshi Tunnel Arms Factory located about 200 meters away from where he was at the time of the blast, where a female survivor assisted in cutting off loose portions of skin and rubbed machine oil on his damaged arm..
Sumiteru Taniguchi | Atomic bombing of Nagasaki
In the Dutch East Indies, there was a "forced mobilization of some 4 million—although some estimates are as high as 10 million—"romusha" (manual labourers) ... About 270,000 romusha were sent to the Outer Islands and Japanese-held territories in Southeast Asia, where they joined other Asians in performing wartime construction projects. At the end of the war, only 52,000 were repatriated to Java." Supporters also point to an order given by the Japanese War Ministry on August 1, 1944, ordering the execution of Allied POWs, "when an uprising of large numbers cannot be suppressed without the use of firearms" or when the POW camp was in the combat zone, in fear that "escapees from the camp may turn into a hostile fighting force".
Debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Speedy end of war saved lives
Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, the closest surviving building to the location of the bomb's detonation, was designated the Genbaku Dome (原爆ドーム) or "Atomic Dome", a part of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum was opened in 1955 in the Peace Park.
Hiroshima | Postwar period (1945–present)
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.
Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum | Inside the Museum
(10:44 am. Tinian Time), the city was obscured by clouds and smoke, as the nearby city of Yahata had been firebombed on the previous day – the steel plant in Yahata also had their workforce intentionally set fire to containers of coal tar, to produce target-obscuring black smoke. 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 to drop the bomb.
Nagasaki | Atomic bombing of Nagasaki during World War II
Faced with a planned invasion of the Japanese home islands scheduled to begin on 1 November 1945 and with Japan not surrendering, President Harry S. Truman ordered the atomic raids on Japan. On 6 August 1945, the U.S. detonated a uranium-gun design bomb, Little Boy, over the Japanese city of Hiroshima with an energy of about 15 kilotons of TNT, killing approximately 70,000 people, among them 20,000 Japanese combatants and 20,000 Korean slave laborers, and destroying nearly 50,000 buildings (including the 2nd General Army and Fifth Division headquarters). Three days later, on 9 August, the U.S. attacked Nagasaki using a plutonium implosion-design bomb, Fat Man, with the explosion equivalent to about 20 kilotons of TNT, destroying 60% of the city and killing approximately 35,000 people, among them 23,200–28,200 Japanese munitions workers, 2,000 Korean slave laborers, and 150 Japanese combatants.
Nuclear weapons of the United States | Manhattan Project
At 08:09, Tibbets started his bomb run and handed control over to his bombardier, Major Thomas Ferebee. The release at 08:15 (Hiroshima time) went as planned, and the Little Boy containing about of uranium-235 took 44.4 seconds to fall from the aircraft flying at about to a detonation height of about above the city. "Enola Gay" traveled before it felt the shock waves from the blast.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Bombing of Hiroshima
Colonel Harry F. Cunningham, an intelligence officer of the Fifth Air Force, noted that in addition to civilians producing weapons of war in cities, the Japanese government created a large civilian militia organization in order to train millions of civilians to be armed and to resist the American invaders. In his official intelligence review on July 21, 1945, he declared that: Supporters of the bombings have emphasized the strategic significance of the targets. Hiroshima was used as headquarters of the Second General Army and Fifth Division, which commanded the defense of southern Japan with 40,000 combatants stationed in the city.
Debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Part of total war
casualties, including 380,000 dead. JWPC 369/1 (prepared June 15, 1945) which provided planning information to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, estimated an invasion of Japan would result in 40,000 U.S. dead and 150,000 wounded. Delivered on June 15, 1945, after insight gained from the Battle of Okinawa, the study noted Japan's inadequate defenses resulting from a very effective sea blockade and the Allied firebombing campaign. Generals George C. Marshall and Douglas MacArthur signed documents agreeing with the Joint War Plans Committee estimate.
Debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Prevention of many U.S. military casualties
"This article incorporates information from the Japanese Wikipedia."
Timeline of Hiroshima | References
Tolman. The Target Committee nominated five targets: Kokura (now Kitakyushu), the site of one of Japan's largest munitions plants; Hiroshima, an embarkation port and industrial center that was the site of a major military headquarters; Yokohama, an urban center for aircraft manufacture, machine tools, docks, electrical equipment and oil refineries; Niigata, a port with industrial facilities including steel and aluminum plants and an oil refinery; and Kyoto, a major industrial center. The target selection was subject to the following criteria: These cities were largely untouched during the nightly bombing raids, and the Army Air Forces agreed to leave them off the target list so accurate assessment of the damage caused by the atomic bombs could be made.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Choice of targets
The city was fire-bombed in World War II in early August 1945 around the same time that factory workers in Kokura suspected their city would be a target for the atomic bombs and decided to release large amounts of black smoke into the air. The resulting combined smoke clouds obscured the nearby town of Kokura, causing the planes "en route" to turn and head to their secondary target, Nagasaki, where the bomber "Bockscar" would drop the atomic weapon "Fat Man".
Yahata, Fukuoka | Introduction
The bomb was ultimately dropped on the city of Nagasaki, the secondary target, at 11:02 JST.
Kitakyushu | World War II
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Nagasaki, Japan.
Timeline of Nagasaki | Introduction
Leaflet texts were prepared by recent Japanese prisoners of war because they were thought to be the best choice "to appeal to their compatriots". In preparation for dropping an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, the Oppenheimer-led Scientific Panel of the Interim Committee decided against a demonstration bomb and against a special leaflet warning. Those decisions were implemented because of the uncertainty of a successful detonation and also because of the wish to maximize shock in the leadership. No warning was given to Hiroshima that a new and much more destructive bomb was going to be dropped. Various sources gave conflicting information about when the last leaflets were dropped on Hiroshima prior to the atomic bomb.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Leaflets
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. Among the deaths were 6,200 out of the 7,500 employees of the Mitsubishi Munitions plant, and 24,000 others (including 2,000 Koreans) who worked in other war plants and factories in the city, as well as 150 Japanese soldiers.
Nagasaki | Atomic bombing of Nagasaki during World War II
Several days after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese government agreed to unconditional surrender.
Shigenori Tōgō | Wartime service
In total, an estimated 40,000 Japanese military personnel were stationed in the city. Hiroshima was a supply and logistics base for the Japanese military. The city was a communications center, a key port for shipping, and an assembly area for troops. It was a beehive of war industry, manufacturing parts for planes and boats, for bombs, rifles, and handguns. 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 timber workshops set among Japanese houses. A few larger industrial plants lay near the outskirts of the city.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Hiroshima during World War II
Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, the closest surviving building to the location of the bomb's detonation, was designated the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum was opened in 1955 in the Peace Park. Hiroshima also contains a Peace Pagoda, built in 1966 by Nipponzan-Myōhōji.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Hiroshima
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Hiroshima, Japan.
Timeline of Hiroshima | Introduction
"These are the bells that did not ring for weeks or months after the disaster. May there never be a time when they do not ring! May they ring out this message of peace until the morning of the day on which the world ends." Initially, the book was refused publication by the American forces occupying Japan, until an appendix was added describing Japanese atrocities in the Philippines. This appendix was later removed.
The Bells of Nagasaki | Introduction
In the decades after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the United States would threaten to use its nuclear weapons many times.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Legacy
Both were lies; McDilda was not involved or briefed on the Manhattan Project and simply told the Japanese what he thought they wanted to hear. One day before the bombing of Nagasaki, the Emperor notified Foreign Minister Shigenori Tōgō of his desire to "insure a prompt ending of hostilities". Tōgō wrote in his memoir that the Emperor "warned [him] that since we could no longer continue the struggle, now that a weapon of this devastating power was used against us, we should not let slip the opportunity [to end the war] by engaging in attempts to gain more favorable conditions".
Debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Nagasaki bombing unnecessary
The bomb was then fully armed. Jeppson monitored the bomb's circuits. The bomb was dropped at approximately 08:15 (JST) 6 August 1945. After falling for 44.4 seconds, the time and barometric triggers started the firing mechanism. The detonation happened at an altitude of . It was less powerful than the Fat Man, which was dropped on Nagasaki, but the damage and the number of victims at Hiroshima were much higher, as Hiroshima was on flat terrain, while the hypocenter of Nagasaki lay in a small valley. According to figures published in 1945, 66,000 people were killed as a direct result of the Hiroshima blast, and 69,000 were injured to varying degrees.
Little Boy | Bombing of Hiroshima
Varying opinions exist on the question of what role the bombings played in Japan's surrender, and some regard the bombings as the deciding factor, but others see the bombs as a minor factor, and yet others assess their importance as unknowable. The mainstream position in the United States from 1945 to the 1960s regarded the bombings as the decisive factor in ending the war, which has been termed by commentators as the "traditionalist" view or pejoratively as the "patriotic orthodoxy." Some, on the other hand, see the Soviet invasion of Manchuria as primary or decisive. In the US, Robert Pape and Tsuyoshi Hasegawa have particularly advanced this view, which some have found convincing, but others have criticized it.
Debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Impact on surrender
In 1945 he was a student of the Hiroshima Vocational School in Senda-machi. On the morning of August 6 he had just eaten breakfast at a dining hall named "Shima no Kaori" and was invited to have a second breakfast with some other students. He declined as he was concerned that the young woman behind the counter would think him a glutton. When the bomb exploded soon afterwards he was walking to school and he was badly burned. Everyone in the dining room was killed. () The school was abandoned and catching fire, so he went to an aunt's house nearby.
Sunao Tsuboi | Atomic bombing of Hiroshima
With the support of most of his aides, Truman approved the schedule of the military's plans to drop atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Hiroshima was bombed on August 6, and Nagasaki three days later, leaving approximately 135,000 dead; another 130,000 would die from radiation sickness and other bomb-related illnesses in the following five years. Japan agreed to surrender on August 10, on the sole condition that Emperor Hirohito would not be forced to abdicate; after some internal debate, the Truman administration accepted these terms of surrender.
Presidency of Harry S. Truman | End of World War II
Ryuichi Shimoda et al. v. The State was an unsuccessful case brought before the District Court of Tokyo by a group of five survivors of the atomic attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, who claimed the action was illegal under the laws of war and demanded reparations from the Japanese government on the ground that it waived the right for reparations from the U.S. government under the Treaty of San Francisco.
Ryuichi Shimoda v. The State | Introduction
In contrast to Hiroshima, almost all of the buildings were of old-fashioned Japanese construction, consisting of timber or timber-framed buildings with timber walls (with or without plaster) and tile roofs. Many of the smaller industries and business establishments were also situated in buildings of timber 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. On the day of the bombing, an estimated 263,000 people were in Nagasaki, including 240,000 Japanese residents, 10,000 Korean residents, 2,500 conscripted Korean workers, 9,000 Japanese soldiers, 600 conscripted Chinese workers, and 400 Allied prisoners of war in a camp to the north of Nagasaki.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Nagasaki during World War II
The failure to drop the Fat Man at the precise bomb aim point caused the atomic blast to be confined to the Urakami Valley. As a consequence, a major portion of the city was protected by the intervening hills, but even so, the bomb was dropped over the city's industrial valley midway between the Mitsubishi Steel and Arms Works in the south and the Mitsubishi-Urakami Ordnance Works in the north. An estimated 35,000 people were killed and 60,000 injured during the bombing at Nagasaki. Of those killed, 23,200–28,200 were Japanese munitions workers, 2,000 were Korean slave laborers, and 150 were Japanese soldiers.
Bockscar | Kokura and Nagasaki
The dropping of atomic weapons on two Japanese cities and the Soviet invasion of Japanese Manchuria, however, caused the Japanese government to surrender without an armed invasion being necessary.
Volcano and Ryukyu Islands campaign | Introduction
Assistant Secretary Bard was convinced that a standard bombardment and naval blockade would be enough to force Japan into surrendering. Even more, he had seen signs for weeks that the Japanese were actually already looking for a way out of the war. His idea was for the United States to tell the Japanese about the bomb, the impending Soviet entry into the war, and the fair treatment that citizens and the Emperor would receive at the coming Big Three conference. Before the bombing occurred, Bard pleaded with Truman to neither drop the bombs (at least not without warning the population first) nor to invade the entire country, proposing to stop the bloodshed.
Debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Militarily unnecessary
On 30 June 2007, Japan's defense minister Fumio Kyūma said the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan by the United States during World War II was an inevitable way to end the war. Kyūma said: "I now have come to accept in my mind that in order to end the war, it could not be helped (shikata ga nai) that an atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki and that countless numbers of people suffered great tragedy." Kyūma, who is from Nagasaki, said the bombing caused great suffering in the city, but he does not resent the U.S. because it prevented the Soviet Union from entering the war with Japan.
Debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Part of total war
The Survey dedicates a separate section of the reports to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They noted that although the blast wave was of about the same pressure as that of a high-explosive bomb, the duration of the effect was longer and that brick buildings were collapsed as far as 7,300 feet at Hiroshima and 8,500 feet at Nagasaki, while traditional wood houses were about the same, while reinforced-concrete structures suffered structural damage or collapse up to 700 feet at Hiroshima and 2,000 feet at Nagasaki. In Hiroshima, approximately 60,000 to 70,000 people were killed, and 50,000 were injured.
United States Strategic Bombing Survey | Atomic bombing
Historian James J. Weingartner sees a connection between the American mutilation of Japanese war dead and the bombings. According to Weingartner both were partially the result of a dehumanization of the enemy. "[T]he widespread image of the Japanese as sub-human constituted an emotional context which provided another justification for decisions which resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands." On the second day after the bombing of Nagasaki, President Truman had stated: "The only language they seem to understand is the one we have been using to bombard them. When you have to deal with a beast you have to treat him like a beast.
Debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Dehumanization
military." [pages 245-246]
First Into Nagasaki | Title claim, who was first
Stimson successfully tried to get "Little Boy" (the Hiroshima bomb) dropped within hours of its earliest possible availabiliy. Japan was to be forced to surrender, and the bombing of Hiroshima August 6 was likely a finishing blow for Tokyo. Stimson ultimately concluded that if the US had guaranteed the Japanese preservation of the imperial constitutional monarchy, Japan might have surrendered and prevented the use of atomic bombs.
Henry L. Stimson | Atomic bomb
Those who argue in favor of the decision to drop the atomic bombs on enemy targets believe massive casualties on both sides would have occurred in Operation Downfall, the planned Allied invasion of Japan. The bulk of the force invading Japan would be American although the British Commonwealth would contribute three divisions of troops (one each from the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia). The U.S. anticipated losing many combatants in Downfall, although the number of expected fatalities and wounded is subject to some debate. U.S. President Harry S. Truman stated in 1953 he had been advised U.S. casualties could range from 250,000 to one million combatants.
Debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Prevention of many U.S. military casualties
The center of the blast occurred horizontally and vertically from the Dome. Everyone inside the building was killed instantly. The building's durability can also be attributed to its earthquake-resistant design; it has held up to earthquakes before and since the bombing.
Hiroshima Peace Memorial | Atomic bombing
Historical accounts indicate the decision to use the atomic bombs was made in order to provoke a surrender of Japan by use of an awe-inspiring power. These observations have caused Michael Walzer to state the incident was an act of "war terrorism: the effort to kill civilians in such large numbers that their government is forced to surrender. Hiroshima seems to me the classic case." This type of claim eventually prompted historian Robert P. Newman, a supporter of the bombings, to say "there "can" be justified terror, as there can be just wars". Certain scholars and historians have characterized the atomic bombings of Japan as a form of "state terrorism".
Debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | State terrorism
Although some Japanese soldiers were taken prisoner, most fought until they were killed or committed suicide. Nearly 99 percent of the 21,000 defenders of Iwo Jima were killed. Of the 117,000 Okinawan and Japanese troops defending Okinawa in April to June 1945, 94 percent were killed; 7,401 Japanese soldiers surrendered, an unprecedentedly large number. As the Allies advanced towards Japan, conditions became steadily worse for the Japanese people. Japan's merchant fleet declined from 5,250,000 gross tons in 1941 to 1,560,000 tons in March 1945, and 557,000 tons in August 1945. Lack of raw materials forced the Japanese war economy into a steep decline after the middle of 1944.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Pacific War
Regardless, these efforts did not succeed in persuading the Japanese military to surrender. In mid-August 1945, the United States dropped nuclear weapons on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These atomic bombings were the first and only used against another nation in warfare. These two bombs killed approximately 120,000 to 140,000 people in a matter of minutes, and as many as a result of nuclear radiation in the following weeks, months and years. The bombs killed as many as 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 80,000 in Nagasaki by the end of 1945.
Japan during World War II | Air raids on Japan
The role of the bombings in Japan's surrender, and the ethical, legal, and military controversies surrounding the United States' justification for them have been the subject of scholarly and popular debate. On one hand, it has been argued that the bombings caused the Japanese surrender, thereby preventing casualties that an invasion of Japan would have involved. Stimson talked of saving one million casualties. The naval blockade might have starved the Japanese into submission without an invasion, but this would also have resulted in many more Japanese deaths. Japanese historian Tsuyoshi Hasegawa argued that the entry of the Soviet Union into the war against Japan "played a much greater role than the atomic bombs in inducing Japan to surrender because it dashed any hope that Japan could terminate the war through Moscow's mediation".
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Debate over bombings
Some historians see ancient Japanese warrior traditions as a major factor in the resistance in the Japanese military to the idea of surrender. According to one Air Force account, Japanese militarism was aggravated by the Great Depression, and had resulted in countless assassinations of reformers attempting to check military power, among them Takahashi Korekiyo, Saitō Makoto, and Inukai Tsuyoshi. This created an environment in which opposition to war was a much riskier endeavor. According to historian Richard B. Frank, The United States Department of Energy's history of the Manhattan Project lends some credence to these claims, saying that military leaders in Japan While some members of the civilian leadership did use covert diplomatic channels to attempt peace negotiation, they could not negotiate surrender or even a cease-fire.
Debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Japan's leaders refused to surrender
This modified the previous order that the target cities were to be attacked with atomic bombs "as made ready". There was already discussion in the War Department about conserving the bombs then in production for Operation Downfall, and Marshall suggested to Stimson that the remaining cities on the target list be spared attack with atomic bombs. Two more Fat Man assemblies were readied, and scheduled to leave Kirtland Field for Tinian on August 11 and 14, and Tibbets was ordered by LeMay to return to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to collect them. At Los Alamos, technicians worked 24 hours straight to cast another plutonium core.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Plans for more atomic attacks on Japan
As a result of this and other factors, far fewer died in the initial blast at Nagasaki as compared to those who were not taught to duck and cover. The general population however was not warned of the heat or blast danger following an atomic flash, due to the new and unknown nature of the atomic bomb. Many people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki died while searching the skies, curious to locate the source of the brilliant flash.
Duck and cover | History
By July 1945, the Allies' Manhattan Project had produced two types of atomic bombs: "Fat Man", a plutonium implosion-type nuclear weapon; and "Little Boy", an enriched uranium gun-type fission weapon. The 509th Composite Group of the United States Army Air Forces was trained and equipped with the specialized Silverplate version of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, and deployed to Tinian in the Mariana Islands. The Allies called for the unconditional surrender of the Imperial Japanese armed forces in the Potsdam Declaration on July 26, 1945, the alternative being "prompt and utter destruction". Japan ignored the ultimatum and the war continued. The consent of the United Kingdom was obtained for the bombing, as was required by the Quebec Agreement, and orders were issued for atomic bombs to be used against Hiroshima, Kokura, Niigata and Nagasaki on July 25.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Introduction
During the 1950s, civilian use of the nuclear was also developed. This period was characterized by the phrase "Atoms for peace" (by Dwight Eisenhower).
Nuclear history of the United States | Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Before the assault could be launched, Japan surrendered in August 1945, following the use of nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
IX Corps (United States) | Planning
The houses were constructed of timber with tile roofs, and many of the industrial buildings were also built around timber frames. The city as a whole was highly susceptible to fire damage. It was the second largest city in Japan after Kyoto that was still undamaged by air raids, primarily because it lacked the aircraft manufacturing industry that was the XXI Bomber Command's priority target. On July 3, the Joint Chiefs of Staff placed it off limits to bombers, along with Kokura, Niigata and Kyoto. 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.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Hiroshima during World War II
The Tokyo control operator of the Japan 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. About 20 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 of the city came unofficial and confused reports of a terrible explosion in Hiroshima. All these reports were transmitted to the headquarters of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff. Military bases repeatedly tried to call the Army Control Station in Hiroshima.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Japanese realization of the bombing
Part One: The Hiroshima Experience 50 Years Later Chapter 1: Memoirs of A-bomb survivors Chapter 2: Concerned Citizens' Voices
Hiroshima: In Memoriam and Today | Structure
The aircraft arrived over the target in clear visibility at . Parsons, who was in command of the mission, armed the bomb in flight to minimize the risks during takeoff. He had witnessed four B-29s crash and burn at takeoff, and feared that a nuclear explosion would occur if a B-29 crashed with an armed Little Boy on board. His assistant, Second Lieutenant Morris R. Jeppson, removed the safety devices 30 minutes before reaching the target area. During the night of August 5–6, Japanese early warning radar detected the approach of numerous American aircraft headed for the southern part of Japan.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Bombing of Hiroshima
The intensity of the fighting and the high number of casualties during the Battle of Okinawa formed the basis of the casualty estimates projected for the invasion of Japan that led to the decision to launch the atomic bombing of Japan. Atomic bombs were deployed in order to avoid having “an[nother] Okinawa from one end of Japan to the other.” The atomic age on Japan's southern islands began during the final weeks of the war when the U.S. Army Air Force launched two atomic attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki from bases on Tinian in the Marianas Islands. Bockscar, the B-29 that dropped the Fat Man nuclear weapon on Nagasaki, landed at Yontan Airfield on Okinawa on August 9, 1945.
Japan and weapons of mass destruction | U.S. nuclear weapons and Japan
On the morning of 9 August 1945, the 16-year-old Taniguchi was approximately north from the hypocenter, delivering mail on his bicycle without a shirt on due to the warm summer weather, when "Fat Man" exploded in the sky over Urakami. The bomb's heat flash heavily injured Taniguchi with near instant burns resulting, but the blast that arrived afterward did not cause any severe injuries to him, as he clung to the ground while buildings were blown down around him. Heavy burns melted skin from his back and left arm, but Taniguchi states that he did not bleed or feel any pain due to the nerve endings being burned away.
Sumiteru Taniguchi | Atomic bombing of Nagasaki
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy had decried the use of the atomic bombs as adopting "an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages", but in October 1947, he reported a military requirement for 400 bombs. The American monopoly on nuclear weapons lasted four years before the Soviet Union detonated an atomic bomb in September 1949. The United States responded with the development of the hydrogen bomb, a nuclear weapon a thousand times as powerful as the bombs that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Such ordinary fission bombs would henceforth be regarded as small tactical nuclear weapons.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Legacy
For example, the mushroom cloud from the bomb dropped on Hiroshima reached a height of six kilometers (middle troposphere) within a few minutes and then dissipated due to winds, while the individual fires within the city took almost three hours to form into a firestorm and produce a pyrocumulus cloud, a cloud that is assumed to have reached upper tropospheric heights, as over its multiple hours of burning, the firestorm released an estimated 1000 times the energy of the bomb.
Nuclear winter | Mechanism
On August 6, the B-29 "Enola Gay" dropped a Little Boy on Hiroshima, an embarkation port and industrial center that was the site of a major military headquarters. Three days later, to take advantage of favorable weather, the B-29 "Bockscar" dropped a Fat Man on Nagasaki, a major military port, one of Japan's largest shipbuilding and repair centers, and an important producer of naval ordnance. Over the next two to four months, the effects of the atomic bombings killed between 90,000 and 146,000 people in Hiroshima and 39,000 and 80,000 people in Nagasaki; roughly half occurred on the first day.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Introduction
The city was also a communication center, an assembly area for combatants, a storage point, and had major industrial factories and workshops as well, and its air defenses consisted of five batteries of 7-cm and 8-cm (2.8 and 3.1 inch) anti-aircraft guns. Nagasaki was of great wartime importance because of its wide-ranging industrial activity, including the production of ordnance, warships, military equipment, and other war material. The city's air defenses consisted of four batteries of 7 cm (2.8 in) anti-aircraft guns and two searchlight batteries. An estimated 110,000 people were killed in the atomic bombings, including 20,000 Japanese combatants and 20,000 Korean slave laborers in Hiroshima and 23,145–28,113 Japanese factory workers, 2,000 Korean slave laborers, and 150 Japanese combatants in Nagasaki.
Debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Part of total war
The radius of total destruction was about , followed by fires across the northern portion of the city to south of the bomb. About 58 percent of the Mitsubishi Arms Plant was damaged, and about 78 percent of the Mitsubishi Steel Works. The Mitsubishi Electric Works suffered only 10 percent structural damage as it was on the border of the main destruction zone. The Nagasaki Arsenal was destroyed in the blast. Although many fires likewise burnt following the bombing, in contrast to Hiroshima where sufficient fuel density was available, no firestorm developed in Nagasaki as the damaged areas did not furnish enough fuel to generate the phenomenon.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Events on the ground
Yoshio Nishina and other atomic physicists arrived at the city, and carefully examined the damage. They then went back to Tokyo and told the cabinet that Hiroshima was indeed destroyed by a nuclear weapon. Admiral Soemu Toyoda, the Chief of the Naval General Staff, estimated that no more than one or two additional bombs could be readied, so they decided to endure the remaining attacks, acknowledging "there would be more destruction but the war would go on". American Magic codebreakers intercepted the cabinet's messages.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Events of August 7–9