WHERE IN THE WORLD: NAGASAKI, JAPAN

By George Fontana

With the exception of Kyoto which was spared Allied bombing in WWII due to its importance as a cultural center and its lack of military industries or bases, the Japanese cities we visited, Osaka and Kagoshima, were heavily damaged during the War. But Nagasaki, along with Hiroshima, has become synonymous with the total devastating destruction wrought by an atomic bomb. At 11:02 on the morning of August 9, 1945, “Fatboy” an atomic bomb containing 15.4 lb of plutonium plunged from a B-29 bomber and exploded over the city. The intended target was the massive Mitsubishi Arms Works, but poor visibility intervened, and, by a cruel twist of fate, the Christian Urakami Cathedral became the mistaken target. Today, an unadorned, simple but dignified black marble column marks the “hypo center”, the point above which the bomb exploded.The moving Atomic Bomb Museum and Peace Park are poignant reminders to “Never Forget”. On a hill overlooking the harbor is the former home of Thomas Glover, a Scotsman who became a highly successful entrepreneur in Nagasaki. Glover married a geisha who inspired Puccini, a visitor to Glover’s home, to compose his popular opera “Madama Butterfly”.

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