Part 2 The Atomic Bomb
Section 2 Damage
Chapter 1：Power of the Atomic Bomb
1.Power of the Atomic Bomb
2. Number of Completely Destroyed/Burned and Partially Burned Neighborhoods
3. Damage to Prominent Buildings
(1) Public offices
(2) Factories
(3) Schools
(4) Hospitals
(5) Buddhist Temples and Shintō Shrines
(6) Communications and Media
(7) Companies
(8) Military facilities
(9) Other facilities
Damage
Nagasaki City suffered tremendous damage as a result of the explosion of a single atomic bomb.
The estimated death toll and number of casualties and damaged houses, listed below, serve as an indicator of the damage.
Dead: 73,884
Injured: 74,909
Total: 148,793
Surviving victims: 120,820 (number of family members living in completely burned/demolished houses within a four kilometer radius of the hypocenter)
Damaged houses: 18,409 (houses within a four kilometer radius of the hypocenter, or about 36% of all houses in the city)
Completely burned houses: 11,574 (houses within a four kilometer radius of the hypocenter, or about one-third of all houses in the city)
Completely demolished houses: 1,326 (houses within a one kilometer radius of the hypocenter, classified as completely demolished)
Half demolished houses: 5,509 (houses within a four kilometer radius of the hypocenter, except completely burned/demolished houses, and classified as half demolished)
These numbers are based on the report by the Committee for the Preservation of Atomic Bomb Artifacts, issued in July 1950, and are commonly believed to be correct.
According to Report No. 11 issued by the governor of Nagasaki Prefecture, a total of 19,743 deaths had been reported as of September 1, 1945, most of them in the afflicted area during the chaotic period immediately after the bombing. People who died where they fell and were recorded as name and/or sex unknown numbered as many as 2,000. These numbers reflect the fact that there was no way to identify the charred and badly damaged bodies lying in heaps in the ruins. Moreover, a total of 1,927 people were reported missing and all were considered to have died.
After the explosion of the atomic bomb, the Nagasaki Prefecture Air-Defense Headquarters immediately commenced investigations into the power of the bomb and reported its findings in a fourth report entitled “Atomic Bombing Damage Report.” Later, authorities broadened the investigation in cooperation with the Nagasaki City Defense Headquarters and issued the following general report:
1) Within a radius of 500 meters of the hypocenter
1. Hardly any utility poles and trees have tilted or toppled over in the area near the estimated center point.
2. Private residences in this area have been demolished.
3. In this area, no survivors were observed, either inside or outside buildings.
4. Although the situation regarding indoor shelters is still unknown, there were no destroyed outdoor shelters (roofed, pit-type) or incomplete tunnel-type shelters in this area.
5. Concrete-paved roads showed cracks at several points.
6. Reinforcing rods, utility poles and trees have toppled over, leaning away from the center point.
7. Shiroyama Elementary School, a three-story reinforced building is so damaged that it has partially lost its original shape from top to basement.
8. An approximately 100-meter length portion of the one-meter-high, five-centimeter-thick concrete wall along the river in Shiroyama-machi was blown about three meters away onto the road.
9. The reinforced concrete bridge leading to Shiroyama-machi from Matsuyama-machi had a crack in its west side, the riverbanks had receded about 10 cm, and the parapets were slanted approximately 45 degrees to the west.
10. The opening for removal of night soil from Shiroyama Elementary School’s modified pit latrine was compressed about 5 cm and the 0.5-cm-thick cast-iron lid of the opening was destroyed. The bomb blast seems to have penetrated the latrine via the uncovered opening; the concrete ceiling of the cesspit appears to be raised up.
11. With regard to the trees around Shiroyama Elementary School, trees of up to two shaku (60 cm) in diameter were all uprooted.
12. The Shiroyama Elementary School building, a sturdy reinforced concrete structure, suffered severe damage on the upper floors (second and third floors).
13. The surface of the paved road (concrete, approx. 30-cm thick) to Shiroyama Elementary School was crushed.
14. As to the four-story reinforced concrete building of Chinzei School, basement window frames were bent, peripheral walls on the third floor had cracks, and the rooftop had partially collapsed onto the third floor.
15. The wooden building of the Nagasaki Prison Urakami Branch was demolished. Although the building’s concrete fence was destroyed, no abnormalities were observed either inside or outside the semi-basement roofed, pit-type earthen shelter located in front of the prison branch.
2) Within a radius of 1,000 meters of the hypocenter
1. Nagasaki Prefectural Keihō Middle School (wooden construction) was crushed out of shape.
2. No wooden private residences retained their original shape.
3. Trees of up to about 90 cm in diameter were severed at the roots or uprooted.
4. The exposed parts of farm crops (sweet potato, rice etc.) were burned black, but the underground parts remained intact. Only the banks of rice paddies and the upper part of the crops were scorched.
5. No abnormalities were observed either inside or outside the tunnel-type air-raid shelters (equipped with simple windshields) built around the yard at Yamazato Elementary School.
6. At the Nagasaki Medical College Hospital, all windowpanes were shattered, and one of the concrete chimneys had broken in the center portion and leaned approximately 10 degrees to the southeast.
7. Some gas tanks (steel frame and plate) in Ōhashi-machi were totally demolished above a line about one-third their total height from the ground; the steel frames were bent to such a degree that they no longer retained their original shape.
3) Within a radius of 1,500 meters of the hypocenter
1. The electrical substation in Takenokubo seemed to have been directly hit by the blast. Although the iron poles and steel frames on the north side leaned toward the south or west, the reinforced concrete building sustained no damage, either inside or outside, except for broken windowpanes.
2. At the Mitsubishi Nagasaki Steelworks, all iron frames leaned to the south, and all the roofs were blown off. The iron frames on the north edge of the factory building were bent to such a degree that they no longer retained their original shape.
4) Within a radius of 2,000 meters of the hypocenter
1. In the precincts of Fuchi Shintō Shrine, Japanese chinquapin trees up to about 90 cm in diameter were uprooted. The shrine itself was crushed, its original shape hardly recognizable. In addition, two 15 or 16 year-old boys in school uniform seem to have been burned to death in the shrine compound.
2. With regard to the steel-frame gymnasium at Inasa Elementary School, the steel frames on the north side, which were directly exposed to the blast, were severely bent, and those on the south side leaned to the south.
3. Damages to the three-story reinforced concrete main building at Inasa Elementary School were confined to shattered windowpanes. Throughout the building the steel window frames were bent to the inside.
4. All wooden houses in this area were destroyed.
5. Neither the inside nor outside of the tunnel-type air-raid shelters suffered any damage.
5) Outside a radius of 2,000 meters of the hypocenter
1. The 1/3 cm-thick steel door on the west side of the warehouse building of Nippon Express’s Nagasaki branch office in Ōhato was bent at the middle and blown about five meters inside the building.
2. Crewmembers working inside ships in Nagasaki Harbor escaped uninjured, but those on the deck suffered slight burns.
3. Damage to private residences began to decrease gradually beyond a distance of about 2,000 meters from the hypocenter.
4. Damage to private residences outside a radius of 3,000 meters of the hypocenter and not directly exposed to the blast was mostly limited to the destruction of fittings and roof tiles. However, some residences showed demolished, curved and cracked walls.
5. From Mt. Iwaya to Megamizaki, trees on the mountainside facing the hypocenter were all burned black, while the trees on the opposite mountainside, which had not been directly exposed to the explosion, remained undamaged.
6) Other Damages
1. Although more than one-third of the gas tanks located at Ōhashi-machi had been crushed, weeds in the shade of the tanks remained mostly intact except for a few scorched patches. The stacks of lumber and other materials from buildings demolished to provide firebreaks were also intact.
2. The blast seems to have been amplified when it traveled through gorges, as shown by the fact that about 100 cedar trees in the forests near Takenokubo-machi were all uprooted and flattened in the same direction.
3. The effects of the blast reached as far as 40 km from the hypocenter. Farmers working in the fields felt the pressure of the blast in the villages of Kamedake, Nishisonogi County (present-day Saikai City) and Wakimisaki (part of present-day Nagasaki City).
4. The flash of heat also extended over an extensive area. One worker at the Kawanami Shipyard on Kōyagishima (approx. 9 km from the hypocenter) sustained slight burns on his face after witnessing the explosion.
The general situation can be assessed as follows, based on surveys of surviving buildings, plant debris and damage levels:
1) Damage in zones classified according to distance from the hypocenter
Zone within one kilometer of the hypocenter
Most people and animals were instantly killed by the powerful blast and flash of heat. Houses and other wooden buildings and wooden pillars were completely destroyed. Those in the hypocenter area were instantly incinerated, and the debris caught fire and burned fiercely throughout the zone. Gravestones were knocked over in rows. All vegetation, regardless of size, was crushed and burned in a direction away from the hypocenter, and tree trunks and branches snapped off and burned.
Zone within two kilometers of the hypocenter
Some people and animals were instantly killed; others sustained minor to serious injuries from the strong blast and heat. Approximately 80% of houses and other buildings, as well as wooden pillars, were destroyed, and the debris gradually caught fire here and there and eventually burned to ashes. No concrete or iron poles were destroyed. Some plants were burned and some damaged.
Zone between two and four kilometers of hypocenter
Some people and animals sustained minor to serious injuries from flying objects and the strong blast; others sustained burns from the flash of heat.
Black objects burst into flames. Most of the houses and other buildings were partially demolished; some wooden pillars burned. Some buildings burned. The surface of wooden pillars facing the hypocenter showed burn marks.
Zone between four and eight kilometers of the hypocenter
Some people and animals sustained minor to serious injuries from flying objects and blast. Houses were half or partially demolished.
Zone within 15 kilometers of the hypocenter
A considerably strong blast destroyed window panes, doors and shōji (sliding paper doors).
2) Bomb Blast
The blast, radiating from the hypocenter, flattened objects on the ground. Within a radius of 1 km, almost every tree toppled away from the hypocenter. Reinforced concrete buildings were twisted out of shape at a distance of 2 km from the hypocenter.
3) Damage by region and geographical features
Ground facilities located on hillsides facing away from the hypocenter or in eastern low-lying parts of Mt. Kompira, which flanked the central part of the city, and Mt. Kazagashira and Mt. Atago in the eastern part of the city sustained only slight damage despite their relatively short distance (2 – 5 kilometers) from the hypocenter. On the other hand, in the direction of Nishiurakami, some portions of mountains more than five kilometers from
the hypocenter were scorched.
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2. Number of Completely Destroyed/Burned and Partially Burned Neighborhoods
According to surveys on the power generated by the atomic bomb, 20 neighborhoods within a radius of one kilometer from the hypocenter in Matsuyama-machi were completely destroyed by the blast and flash of heat and eventually burned to ashes in a general conflagration. In addition, approximately 80% of the two dozen neighborhoods within a radius of two kilometers from the hypocenter were destroyed and completely burned.
In January 1971, Nagasaki City launched the “Project to Survey and Restore Areas Damaged by the Atomic Bomb” in order to determine the overall scope of damages, the findings being published in 1979. The project targeted the 48 neighborhoods listed below, including the hypocenter area of Yamazato-machi and Matsuyama-machi, both of which were located entirely within a radius of 2 km of the hypocenter.
Fires broke out and completely destroyed these neighborhoods, except for a few locations that escaped the fires. Some of the neighborhoods extend beyond the 2 km radius but are included here for geographical reasons. The area comprising the neighborhoods will be referred to hereafter as the “restoration survey zone.”
The 48 neighborhoods are as follows, listed according to their original names:
Matsuyama-machi, Yamazato-machi, Komaba-machi, Oka-machi, Hamaguchi-machi, Hashiguchi-machi, Ōhashi-machi, Moto’o-machi, Ueno-machi, Shiroyama-machi 1-chōme, Shiroyama-machi 2-chōme, Takenokubo-machi, Iwakawa-machi, Sakamoto-machi, Ebira-machi, Takao-machi, Motohara-machi 1-chōme, Motohara-machi 2-chōme, Motohara-machi 3-chōme, Aburagi-machi, Nishigō (Nishi-machi), Ieno-machi, Yonogō (Shōwa-machi), Tōhokugō (Sumiyoshi-machi), Nishikitagō (Nishikita-machi), Mori-machi, Mezame-machi, Urakami-machi, Zenza-machi 1-chōme, Zenza-machi 2-chōme, Hamahira-machi, Inasa-machi 3-chōme, Asahi-machi 1-chōme, Saiwai-machi, Fukutomi-machi, Tamanami-machi, Yanase-machi, Takara-machi, Kotobuki-machi, Ibinokuchi-machi, Funagura-machi, Ofunagura-machi, Sezaki-machi, Yachiyo-machi, Mifune-machi, Takasago-machi, Onoue-machi and Nishizaka-machi; total 48 neighborhoods.
*A Residential Map Restoration Committee was established in each neighborhood in order to implement the Project to Survey and Restore Areas Damaged by the Atomic Bomb.
The completely or partially burned neighborhoods 2 - 3 km from the hypocenter are as follows:
Funatsu-machi, Motofuna-machi 1-chōme, Kanaya-machi, Hori-machi, Motohakata-machi, Manzai-machi, Ōmura-machi, Hirado-machi, Hokaura-machi, Imashita-machi, Daikoku-machi, Nishinaka-machi, Nishiuwa-machi, Shimochikugo-machi, Motokōya-machi, Zaimoku-machi, Motoshita-machi, Ebisu-machi, Tsuki-machi (completely burned neighborhoods); Daiba-machi 2-chōme, Gotō-machi, Ima-machi, Kōzen-machi, Sakura-machi, Shin-machi, Hikichi-machi, Fukuro-machi, Bungo-machi, Sakaya-machi, Iwayagō and Nishisonogi County Nagayo-chō Kōdagō (partially burned neighborhoods); total 31 neighborhoods.
The total burned area was 2,031,000 tsubo (6,712,455 square meters).
3. Damage to Prominent Buildings
The following list recounts the damage to public offices, factories, schools, hospitals, temples and shrines, communications and media facilities, companies, military installations and other structures in the restoration survey zone and surrounding area. Only those in operation at the time of the bombing are listed. Moreover, those located within the restoration survey zone are shown with an asterisk.
1) Public offices
Completely burned:
Nagasaki Prefecture Office (Hokaura-machi), Former Nagasaki Appellate Court (Manzai-machi), Nagasaki District Court and Prosecutor’s Office (Manzai-machi), Nagasaki Ward Court and Prosecutor’s Office (Manzai-machi), Urakami Branch of Nagasaki Prison* (Oka-machi), Nagasaki City Waterworks Section (Fukuro-machi), Nagasaki Railroad Station* (Onoue-machi), Nagasaki Motohakata Post Office (Motohakata-machi), Kumamoto Local Monopoly Bureau Nagasaki Branch (Daikoku-machi).
Completely demolished:
Urakami Railroad Station* (Iwakawa-machi)
Half demolished:
Nagasaki City Nishiurakami Branch Office* (Tōhokugō)
Partially demolished:
Nagasaki Post Office Telephone Bureau (Irie-machi)
2) Factories
Completely demolished:
Mitsubishi Nagasaki Arms Factory Ōhashi Plant* (Ōhashi-machi)
Completely demolished and half burned:
Mitsubishi Nagasaki Arms Factory Morimachi Plant*(Mori-machi)
Completely burned:
Mitsubishi Nagasaki Arms Factory Municipal Commercial School Plant* (Aburagi-machi)
Completely demolished:
Mitsubishi Nagasaki Steelworks* (Mori-machi)
Completely burned:
Mitsubishi Nagasaki Steelworks Chinzei Plant* (Takenokubo-machi)
Half demolished:
Mitsubishi Nagasaki Shipyard Ship Type Test Station* (Yonogō)
Completely demolished:
Mitsubishi Nagasaki Shipyard Saiwaimachi Factory* (Saiwai-machi)
Completely burned:
Mitsubishi Nagasaki Shipyard Ōhashi Components Factory* (Ōhashi-machi)
Completely demolished and burned:
Mitsubishi Nagasaki Shipyard “Ha” Factory* (Hamaguchi-machi), Mitsubishi Nagasaki Shipyard Takenokubo Sawmilling Factory* (Takenokubo-machi)
Completely burned:
Mitsubishi Nagasaki Shipyard Fuchi Elementary School Factory* (Takenokubo-machi)
Completely demolished and completely burned:
Mitsubishi Nagasaki Shipyard “Mo” Factory* (Ueno-machi)
Half demolished:
Mitsubishi Electric Nagasaki Works Hiradogoya Factory (Hiradogoya-machi)
Completely demolished:
Mitsubishi Electric Nagasaki Works Foundry* (Iwakawa-machi)
Completely demolished and completely burned:
Mitsubishi Electric Nagasaki Works Sheet Metal Plant* (Inasa-machi 3-chōme), Mitsubishi Electric Nagasaki Works Blueprinting Factory* (Matsuyama-machi)
Completely burned:
Mitsubishi Electric Nagasaki Works Fuchi Elementary School Factory* (Takenokubo-machi), Mitsubishi Electric Nagasaki Works Chinzei School Factory* (Takenokubo-machi)
Completely demolished and completely burned:
Unzen Firebrick Factory (Komaba-machi 1-chōme), 85 cooperative factories located in Komaba-machi, Matsuyama-machi, Ieno-machi and other neighborhoods, as well as No. 85 Factory*
3) Schools
Completely burned:
Nagasaki Medical College* (Sakamoto-machi), Nagasaki Medical College Medical Course Building* (Sakamoto-machi), Nagasaki Medical College Pharmaceutical Course Building* (Sakamoto-machi), Nagasaki Teachers College* (part of the main building and auditorium remained (Yonogō), Nagasaki Prefectural Technical School* (Ueno-machi)
Completely demolished:
Nagasaki Prefectural Keihō Middle School* (Takenokubo-machi)
Completely burned:
Nagasaki Commercial School* (Aburagi-machi), Chinzei School* (Takenokubo-machi), Junshin Women’s High School* (Ieno-machi), Jōsei Women’s Vocational High School* (Ueno-machi), Nagasaki Women’s Commercial School (Shin-machi), Mitsubishi Nagasaki Technical School for Youth* (Hamaguchi-machi), Nagasaki Prefectural School for the Blind and Nagasaki Prefectural School for the Deaf * (Ueno-machi), Nishizaka Elementary School* (Ofunagura-machi), Zenza Elementary School* (Zenza-machi 1-chōme), Yamazato Elementary School* (Hashiguchi-machi), Shiroyama Elementary School* (Shiroyama-machi 1-chōme), Fuchi Elementary School* (Takenokubo-machi).
Half demolished: Inasa Elementary School* (Inasa-machi 3-chōme)
Completely demolished:
Asahi Elementary School (Hiradogoya-machi), Nishiurakami Elementary School* (Yonogō)
Completely burned:
Nagasaki City Kindergarten (Fukuro-machi), Keika Kindergarten (Ima-machi)
4) Hospitals
Completely burned:
Nagasaki Medical College Hospital* (Sakamoto-machi), Mitsubishi Hospital Urakami Branch* (Mori-machi), Mitsubishi Hospital Funatsu-machi Branch (Funatsu-machi), Nagasaki Municipal Nagasaki Hospital* (Takenokubo-machi), Nagasaki City Sanitation Laboratory* (Takenokubo-machi), Medical Corporation Nagasaki Tuberculosis Sanatorium* (Takenokubo-machi)
Half demolished:
Ekisaikai Hospital (Kabashima-machi)
Completely demolished:
Urakami Daiichi Hospital* (Motohara-machi 2-chōme)
Completely burned: Nakamura Hospital (Ōmura-machi)
5) Buddhist Temples and Shintō Shrines
Completely burned:
Gokoku Shintō Shrine (Shiroyama-machi 1-chōme), Fuchi Shintō Shrine (Takenokubo-machi), Hōsenji Temple (Shimochikugo-machi), Fukusaiji Temple (Shimochikugo-machi), Shōmudōji Temple (Shimochikugo-machi), Honrenji Temple (Nishiuwa-machi)
Shōtokuji Temple* (Zenza-machi 1-chōme), Shōenji Temple* (Nishigō)
Completely demolished and burned:
Urakami Catholic Cathedral* (Moto’o-machi), Nishinakamachi Catholic Cathedral (Nishinaka-machi)
Completely burned:
Tenrikyō Hinaga Great Branch Church* (Ofunagura-machi)
Seriously damaged:
Shin-shū(Shin Sect) Ōtani Branch Nagasaki Religious Affairs Office Nishizaka Preaching House (Nishizaka-machi)
Completely burned:
Sakanoue Tenmangu Shrine (Motohakata-machi), Sannō Shintō Shrine* (Sakamoto-machi)
Completely demolished:
Sumiyoshi Shintō Shrine* (Tōhokugō)
6) Communications and Media
Completely burned:
Nagasaki Shimbun Office (Ōmura-machi), Asahi Shimbun Nagasaki Bureau (Hokaura-machi), Nishinihon Shimbun Nagasaki Bureau (Ōmura-machi)
Partially demolished:
NHK Nagasaki Broadcasting Station* (Nishizaka-machi)
7) Companies
Partially demolished:
Kyūshū Electric Distribution Company Nagasaki Branch (Gotō-machi)
Completely demolished and burned:
Kyūshū Electric Distribution Company Nagasaki Thermal Power Plant* (Inasa-machi 3-chōme)
Completely demolished:
Kyūshū Electric Distribution Company Zenza Substation* (Zenza-machi 2-chōme), Kyūshū Electric Distribution Company Takenokubomachi Substation* (Takenokubo-machi), Kyūshū Electric Distribution Company Urakami Substation* (Ieno-machi), Kyūshū Electric Distribution Company Asahimachi Substation* (Asahi-machi)
Completely burned:
Saibu Gas Nagasaki Branch* (Yachiyo-machi 1-chōme), Saibu Gas Ōhashi Factory* (Ōhashi-machi)
Partially demolished:
Nippon Express Nagasaki Branch (Daiba-machi 4-chōme)
Completely demolished and burned:
Nippon Express Nagasaki Railroad Station Office (Onoue-machi), Nippon Express Urakami Station Office* (Iwakawa-machi), Nagasaki Electric Tramway Company Ōhashi Office (Oka-machi)
Completely burned:
Kangyō Bank Nagasaki Branch (Ōmura-machi), Meiji Insurance Company Nagasaki Branch (Ōmura-machi), Nagasaki Soybean Food Products Mifunemachi Factory* (Mifune-machi), Nagasaki Soybean Food Products Sakamotomachi Factory* (Sakamoto-machi)
Completely demolished and burned:
Nagasaki Soybean Food Products Komabamachi Factory* (Komaba-machi 1-chōme)
8) Military facilities (The Western Unit 8064 (also known as the 134th Anti-aircraft Regiment))
Completely demolished: Four barracks in Kompira Gun Units* (Hamahira-machi), one barrack in Kompira Antiaircraft Units* (Hamahira-machi), one barrack in Aburagi Antiaircraft Units* (Aburagi-machi)
Half demolished: Five barracks in Inasa Gun Units* (Inasa-machi), one barrack in Inasa Antiaircraft Units* (Inasa-machi)
Completely demolished: Three barracks in Nakanoshima Gun Units* (Takasago-machi), one barrack in Nakanoshima Anti-aircraft Units* (Takasago-machi)
9) Other facilities
Completely demolished: Nagasaki Municipal Crematory* (Takenokubo-machi)
Completely burned: Nagasaki City Public Hall (Fukuro-machi), Nagasaki Fish Market* (Onoue-machi)
Partially burned: Tsukimachi Public Wholesale Market (Tsuki-machi)
Completely burned: Mitsubishi Nagasaki Shipyard Seimei Dormitory* (former premises of St. Mary’s School, Shiroyama-machi 1-chōme), Mitsubishi Nagasaki Shipyard Urakami Dormitory* (Hamaguchi-machi), Mitsubishi Nagasaki Steelworks Shisei Dormitory* (Shiroyama-machi 1-chōme), Mitsubishi Nagasaki Steelworks Kongō Dormitory* (Ōhashi-machi), Mitsubishi Arms Factory Nishigō Dormitory* (Nishigō), Mitsubishi Arms Factory Sumiyoshi Dormitory* (Tōhokugō), Mitsubishi Arms Factory Hamaguchi Dormitory* (Hamaguchi-machi), Mitsubishi Arms Seifū Dormitory* (Yamazato-machi), Mitsubishi Arms Factory Sannō Dormitory* (Sakamoto-machi), Uenoya Ryokan Hotel (Ōmura-machi), Fukuya Ryokan Hotel (Ōmura-machi), Japanese Restaurant “Ichifuji” (Hokaura-machi), Japanese Restaurant “Mangetsu" (Manzai-machi)
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“Nagasaki Prefecture Atomic Bombing Damage Report”,and Nagasaki shisei rokujūgonenshi (The Sixty-Five-Year History of the Nagasaki Municipal Administration)(Nagasaki,1959)
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