On August 6th, 1945, the world changed forever. The first nuclear weapon was used on a civilian population in Hiroshima, Japan, with devastating effect, and just three days later, it would happen again, this time in the Japanese city of Nagasaki. These bombings instantly killed tens of thousands, with total death tolls eventually reaching an estimated high of 246,000 as radiation sickness and long-term health effects claimed more lives in the following months and years.
Even to this day, many survivors get more diseases and illnesses than the general population. Before the bombing, Nagasaki was a major city for Japanese shipbuilding for the war effort. In the mind of the American high command, this fact justified the bombing as not purely attacking a civilian target but a strategic military target.
The result was wiping away a city of rich history, both for Japan and the world, as it was the first and only city opened to foreign traders and merchants in Early Japan.
While Hiroshima had been a centerpiece of Japanese industry since the Meiji Restoration and was the headquarters of multiple Japanese Army Groups and their Army Marines, providing a justification for bombing, only an estimated 10% of the casualties in Hiroshima were members of the Japanese Military.
Yet even in the face of unimaginable tragedy and loss of major cultural history, many people and two major cities, the resilience of the Japanese people came on full display. Just months after the bombings, signs of recovery began to emerge. New buildings were constructed, infrastructure slowly returned, and both cities began to heal.
Within five to ten years, Hiroshima and Nagasaki had regained their pre-bombing population levels. The cities’ recovery after experiencing one of history’s most devastating events stands as a powerful model and reminder of what human strength, determination, and the desire to overcome can rebuild.