Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Hypocenter Park

The Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Hypocenter Park in Matsuyama-machi marks the point directly beneath the explosion of the plutonium bomb "Fat Man" on 9 August 1945. The B-29 Bockscar, flown by Major Charles Sweeney, had been sent against Kokura as its primary target, but poor visibility there led the crew to divert to the secondary target, Nagasaki, where the bomb was released over the Urakami district at 11:02 a.m.

The bomb exploded about 500 metres (an estimated 503 metres) above the ground. Urakami was the heart of Nagasaki's Catholic community, and Urakami Cathedral, about 500 metres from the hypocenter and then described as the largest church in East Asia, collapsed. The Mitsubishi arms and steel works along the Urakami River were severely damaged. Of a population of roughly 240,000, about 74,000 people had died by the end of 1945 and a similar number were injured; about 36 percent of the city's buildings were burned or destroyed.

At the centre of the park stands a black stone pillar, the hypocenter monument erected in 1968, surrounded by concentric circles set into the ground that evoke the destruction spreading outward. One corner preserves a section of wall relocated from the ruins of Urakami Cathedral, its stone saints still scarred. Beside the Shimonokawa stream, a preserved section of the 1945 ground layer shows roof tiles, glass and melted household objects embedded in the soil.

The park adjoins the Peace Park on the hill to the north and the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum and the National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims to the south, together forming the city's principal area of remembrance. The Peace Statue points its right hand to the sky to signify the threat of the bomb and extends its left hand horizontally for peace. Each year on 9 August the city holds its memorial ceremony in the Peace Park, with a silent prayer at 11:02 a.m.