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Atomic Bomb Museum, Ground Zero, Peace Memorial Park, Nagasaki Japan - Cruise Review of the Sapphire Princess

Any decent cruise review would provide a little history about a subject as important as the atomic bomb, so here it is.


On August 9, 1945, at 11:02AM the American B-29 bomber BOCKSCAR dropped a plutonium bomb called Fatboy on Nagasaki.  It is ironic that Nagasaki was not the intended target when BOCKSCAR took off from Tinien Air Base that morning, but clouds covered the original target Kokura and so they proceeded to the secondary target of Nagasaki. 

Clouds also covered much of Nagasaki, but a small break in the cloud cover allowed them to drop the bomb.  It exploded 500 meters above the surface, hence the designation of Ground Zero as a "hypocenter" as opposed to an epicenter.  The bomb exploded with the force of 21,000 tons of TNT. 

There seems to be no agreement on exactly how many died that day and how many died as a result of the bomb. Some literature says 40,000 died that day,  our guide says 75,000 and we also saw a statistic of 59,000.  Most agree that about 150,000 died by the end of 1945 from some effect of the bomb. 

Peace Memorial Park

Our first stop on our tour was at the Peace Memorial Park.  The beautiful Peace Statue was complete in 1955, 10  years after the bombing.  The statue's right hand points to the sky to signify where the bomb came from while the left hand is outstretched in a gesture of peace.  The right leg is bent under and the eyes are closed to symbolize tranquility and meditation while the statues left leg is planted ready for action to assist humanity.  It is quite beautiful  The park is lined with statures donated by various sister-cities of Nagasaki and countries of the world.

Atomic Bomb Museum

From the Peace Memorial Park we drove to the Atomic Bomb Museum.  You will find not interior pictures because camera's were not allowed.  It is quite moving, but it is about what you expect, a tribute to the horror of the bombing through many photographs and twisted or scorched artifacts. 

There is a decided emphasis on the suffering of mothers and children, but when one realized that the men were off fighting a war, this is not too surprising.  The museum makes much of the fact that many scientists and politicians advised the US not to drop the bomb and I did not see mention of the fact that Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor. 

The day we were there, there were hundreds of Senior High School Students there and our guide told us it was part of the countries Senior High School curriculum.  It did make for extremely crowded conditions.

Hypocenter - ground zero

From the museum it is a short, but steep walk across the road and down a flight of steps to the "Hypocenter" or ground zero. which is marked with a black obelisk.  There is a beautiful statue in the area which was placed there to commemorate the 50 year anniversary of the bomb.  It depicts a mother holding a stricken child in her arms.  One group of the Senior High School students had a ceremony to honor the victims at ground zero while we were there.  They sang some songs and then placed paper cranes in memorial for the victims.  It was interesting to see.

Here are the pictures from these venues:

The Peace Statue - Sapphire Princess cruise review pictures in Nagasaki Japan
The Peace Statue.
pictures of The plaza in front of the Peace Statue at Peace Memorial Park in Nagasaki
The plaza in front of the Peace Statue
Peace Memorial Park - the Plaza - Pictures at ground zero
The Plaza
     
The statues and memorials all have plaques explaining everything
Plaques were informative.
The remains of the Urakami Prison - These concrete foundation strips were all that was left of the prison
The remains of the Urakami Prison that was close to the hypocenter.
The Urakami Branch Prison was destroyed in the blast. All 134 employees and residents, convicts and accused prisoners were killed.
About the Urakami Prison. The Urakami Branch Prison was destroyed in the blast. All 134 employees and residents, convicts and accused prisoners were killed.
     
pictures of donated statues at Peace Memorial Park in Nagasaki Japan
One of the statues donated.
More of the Statues in the Peace Memorial Park in Nagasaki
More of the Statues in the Peace Memorial Park in Nagasaki
Photos from our Sapphire Princess cruise to the Orient - Peace Memorial Park
This one was charming
     
The Peace fountain - picture from Peace Memorial Park
The Peace fountain.
The Peace fountain, ground zero, Nagasaki, Japan
The Peace Fountain

Another statue.
     

More information
View from the Peace Park
View from the Peace Park
     
pictures of statues in Peace Memorial Park in Nagasaki Japan
The red represents hope, the haphazard blocks represent the chaos after the bomb hit
 
Another statue.
View from Peace Park - nagasaki Japan
View from Peace Park
     

A water slide in Nagasaki from the peace park
Peace park statues - Ground zero
Very interesting statue.. needed no explanation

 

     
These poor guys were trying to hand load a palette of bricks.
     
pictures of statues in Peace Park in Nagasaki Japan at Ground Zero Statue in Peace Park in Nagasaki Japan
Isn't this one beautiful.
picture of statue in peace park
     
kathy lund in Peace Park in Nagasaki Japan at Ground Zero Photo of Kathy Lund and statue at Peace Park in Nagasaki Japan
     
     
Picture of William J. Lund in Peace Park at ground zero in Nagasaki Japan peace park
Peace Statue from the distance.
     

Another view of the Urakami Prison remains.
Statue in Peace Park, Nagasaki Japan
We bid farewell to the peace statue.

On the way to the Museum we pass the small house of an American Doctor that survived the blast but not he after effects. He wrote a book "I Have to Leave my Two Children" which is quite famous in Nagasaki.
     
picture of Atomic Bomb Museum
At the Atomic Bomb Museum
Atomic Bomb Museum
More outside the Museum
High school children at the Atomic Bomb Museum
The High School Seniors pouring into the Museum from a conference center
     
Atomic Bomb Museum -  picture
The Entry to the Museum
Atomic Bomb Museum
Outside the museum .. these students were everywhere
Picture of bridge to the Hypocenter
The bridge to the Hypocenter
     

These guys were sweeping and raking the river.  Thirst was huge after the blast but people had no idea that they should not drink the water and it was fatal to them also.
Taxi cab picture Nagasaki Japan - Ground zero
Couldn't resist this picture of the "Lucky Taxi" in Nagasaki.

A view from the museum.
     
Pictures of The plaza surrounding the hypocenter.
The plaza surrounding the hypocenter.
Picture of The 50 year commemorative statue - wjlkll
The 50 year commemorative statue.

Another view of the 50 year commemorative statue.
     

Ground zero.

A picture of the original obelisk erected in 1945 at ground zero.
Ground Zero pictureGround Zero
     
Picture of Ground Zero
Ground Zero
William J. Lund at Ground Zero in Nagasaki Japan - Atomic Bomb
Bill at Ground Zero
picture of Kathy Lund at Ground Zero in Nagasaki Japan
Kathy at Ground Zero
     
Picture of Bill and Kathy at ground zero of the Atomic Bomb Fat Boy, Nagasaki Japan
Bill & Kathy at ground zero.
pictures of visiting students at ground zero - Beyond the tourists you can see the Sr High School Choir.
Beyond the tourists you can see the Sr High School Choir.
Picture of A remnant of the Catholic Church which was near ground zero
A remnant of the Catholic Church which was near ground zero
     
Ground level information- picture ground level at the time of the blast
Ground level information At ground level at the time.
Strata's of the earth from ground level at the time of the bomb
Strata's of the earth from ground level at the time of the bomb
     

Close up of the ground level

It was lower than it is now.
Picture of a turtle A turtle wandering along the river at the ground zero park
A turtle wandering along the river at the ground zero park
     

Did I mention the stairs were steep .. did I mention there was an elevator .
Cruise review pictures from the Sapphire Princess at Ground zero in Nagasaki Japan
View from the Museum
Picture of the outside of the Ground Zero museum
The exterior of the Museum
     

More Exterior of the Museum.
   
    .