May 27, 2016

Earlier today, Barack Obama became the first sitting United States president to visit Hiroshima, Japan, site of the world’s first atomic bombing in 1945. Accompanied by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the president visited the haunting Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum before laying a wreath at the Memorial Cenotaph at the center of the Peace Memorial Park. The park—situated near the bombing’s hypocenter (area immediately below the atomic explosion)—was once the site of the city’s bustling commercial district. The saddle-shaped cenotaph bears the names of people killed in the attack.

U.S. President Barack Obama, right, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shake hands after laying wreaths at the cenotaph in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Japan on May 27, 2016. President Obama was the first sitting president to visit the site of the world’s first atomic bomb attack. Credit: © Kimimasa Mayama, Pool Photo/AP Photo

President Obama then addressed a large, somber, and silent crowd: “Seventy-one years ago, on a bright cloudless morning, death fell from the sky and the world was changed,” he began. “A flash of light and a wall of fire destroyed a city, and demonstrated that mankind possessed the means to destroy itself.” He later added: “We come to mourn the dead, including over 100,000 Japanese men, women and children, thousands of Koreans, and a dozen Americans held prisoner. Their souls speak to us.” The president did not apologize for the bombing, which was done by the United States near the end of World War II. He painted the Japanese as neither victims nor aggressors, but merely called for an end to senseless wars. He also reiterated the need to rid the world of nuclear weapons.

Following his speech, President Obama met with survivors of the bombing. He embraced a visibly moved Shigeaki Mori, a 79-year-old survivor who helped create a memorial to the 12 American prisoners of war killed in the bombing.

On Aug. 6, 1945, a U.S. Army plane, the Enola Gay, dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The explosion and aftermath killed an estimated 140,000 people. Three days later, on August 9, another atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. These were the first and last times that nuclear weapons were used in warfare. The United States dropped the bombs to convince Japan to surrender—and it worked. World War II unofficially ended a few days later with Japan’s agreement to stop fighting on August 14. The official surrender came on September 2.

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome) was the only structure left standing at the site where the first atomic bomb exploded on Aug. 6, 1945. It has been left in its state of ruin as a constant reminder of the losses experienced with nuclear warfare. The memorial was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1996. Credit: © Luciano Mortula, Shutterstock

April 11, 2016

This morning, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in Japan. Kerry is the first U.S. secretary of state to visit the memorial, which honors the victims of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in August 1945. He called the visit a “gut-wrenching” reminder of the need to rid the world of nuclear weapons. Kerry is among the international foreign ministers in Hiroshima to begin the Group of Seven (G7) annual summit. In late May, U.S. President Barack Obama will attend further G7 meetings elsewhere in Japan, and he may visit Hiroshima as well. No sitting U.S. president has ever visited the city.

On Aug. 6, 1945, a U.S. Army plane, the Enola Gay, dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Three days later, on August 9, another atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. These were the first and last times that nuclear weapons were used in warfare. The United States dropped the bombs to convince Japan to surrender—and it worked. World War II (1939-1945) unofficially ended a few days later with Japan’s agreement to stop fighting on August 14. The official surrender came on September 2.

Other World Book article

• Japan (1945-a Back in time article)
• World War II (1945-a Back in time article) 

Today, Japanese and world leaders held a solemn ceremony to mark the 70^th anniversary of the dropping of an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Tens of thousands of people stood for a minute of silence, broken only by the tolling of a single bell, at Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park, near the epicenter of the 1945 bombing. Japan’s Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, and Hiroshima’s mayor, Kazumi Matusi, were joined by United States Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy at the event.

An atomic blast demolished the center of Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945.  UPI/Corbis-Bettmann

On Aug. 6, 1945, a U.S. Army plane, the Enola Gay, dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Three days later, on August 9, another atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. These were the first and last times that nuclear weapons were used in warfare. The United States dropped the bombs to convince Japan to surrender—and it worked. World War II (1939-1945) unofficially ended a few days later with Japan’s agreement to stop fighting on August 14. The official surrender came on September 2.

Much controversy has surrounded U.S. President Harry S. Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb, but his decision came after years of bloody conflict and continued fighting, even after it was clear that Japan’s war was lost. Without the atomic bomb, the Allies almost certainly would have invaded the Japanese home islands, with heavy estimated casualties on both sides. There is some evidence, however, that Japan might have surrendered even had the bomb not been used.

There is no debate, however, on the atomic bombs’ destruction. In Hiroshima, the explosion killed from 70,000 to 140,000 people. The single bomb destroyed about 5 square miles (13 square kilometers) of the city. After Japanese leaders failed to respond to the bombing, the United States dropped another bomb on Nagasaki on August 9. It killed about 40,000 people. Later, thousands more died of injuries and radiation from the two bombings.

Of the more than one million hibakusha, as Japan calls those who survived the bombings, around 180,000 are still alive today. In 2011, Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Museum began a project of pairing a survivor with a volunteer, called a denshosha, who memorizes the survivor’s story in great depth and detail. The average age of the remaining survivors is more than 80, and the hope is to allow someone to keep a memory and connection with people who lived through the unimaginable.

Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park in Japan honors the victims of the first atomic bomb used in war. The monument, center, marks the place where the bomb exploded on Aug. 6, 1945. The Atomic Bomb Dome (seen at the far end of the park), a building that was left unreconstructed after the war, has become a symbol of the peace movement. (c) Chuck Fishman, Woodfin Camp, Inc.

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