The atomic bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki was called the "Fat Man", was this an attempt to lessen the horror?
At 11:02 a.m., August 9, 1945 an atomic bomb exploded 500 meters above ground level. About one-third of Nagasaki City was destroyed and about 150,000 people killed or injured, and it was said at the time that this area would be devoid of vegetation for 75 years.
Levelled Area................................................6.7 million square meters
(Large numbers of people died in the following years from the effects of radioactive poisoning.)
"On August 6 every year, the seven rivers of Hiroshima are filled with lanterns. Painted with the names of mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers... they float on their way to the sea. Almost there, pushed back. Flames snuffed out. Darkly coming back in pieces. Tossed by ocean waves. Years ago, the rivers were filled... not with floating lanterns, but with the corpses of those mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers."
DAMAGE CAUSED BY THE ATOMIC BOMB EXPLOSION
Damaged Houses
Completely Burned..................... 11,574
Completely Destroyed....................1,326
Badly Damaged.............................5,509
Total................................................8,409
Casualties
Killed.............................................73,884
Injured...........................................74,909
Total............................................148,793
This black stone monolith marks the hypocenter. The fierce blast of wind, heat rays reaching several thousand degrees, and deadly radiation generated by the explosion crushed, burned and killed everything in sight and reduced this entire area to a barren field of rubble. About one-third of Nagasaki City was destroyed and 150,000 people killed or injured, and it was said at the time that this area would be devoid of vegetation for 75 years.
Shimada Tsuruhiko created the artwork and he described what he had seen in the following manner: "One week after the bombing, the body of a horse was lying on its back in the vicinity of the Urakami Railway Station - Mid-August."
