Due to the hilly geography of Nagasaki and the bombing focus being away from the city centre, the excessive damage from the bombing was limited to the Urakami Valley and part of downtown Nagasaki. The centre of Nagasaki, the harbour, and the historic district were shielded from the blast by the hills around the Urakami River.

The nuclear bombing did nevertheless prove devastating, with approximately 22.7% of Nagasaki's buildings being consumed by flames, but the death toll and destruction was less than in Hiroshima. Estimates of casualties from Nagasaki have generally ranged between 50,000 and 100,000.

The fact that the Nagasaki bomb was more powerful (see The Atomic Bomb) and also the narrowing effect of the surrounding hills did mean that physical destruction in the Urakami Valley was even greater than in Hiroshima. Virtually nothing was left standing.

Story from Nagasaki

How can we remember?

Image source:http://www.sadako.org/

The city of Hiroshima invites people from around the world to participate in making paper cranes to remember those who died in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This action started in memory of Sadako who was two years old when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and later died of leukaemia caused by the exposure to nuclear radiation. Believing that folding paper cranes would help her recover, she kept folding them until she passed away on October 25th, 1955, after an eight-month struggle with the disease.

Sadako's death inspired a campaign to build a monument to pray for world peace. The Children's Peace Monument was built with funds donated from all over Japan. Now, approximately 10 million cranes are offered each year before the Children's Peace Monument.

Anyone may place paper cranes before the Children's Peace Monument in Peace Memorial Park. If you can't go to the park yourself you can send cranes to the following address:

Peace Promotion Division
The City of Hiroshima
1-5 Nakajima-cho Naka-ku
Hiroshima 730-0811 JAPAN

You are asked to include your name, the name of your organization (if you are participating as a school or any other group), your address (or the address of the organization), your E-mail address, the number of cranes, and any message you wish to submit. This way your information can be submitted to the Paper Crane database and your desire for peace will be recorded.

For instructions on how to fold paper cranes visit one of the following sites:
http://www.sadako.org/foldingcranes.htm
http://www.hiroshima-is.ac.jp/Hiroshima/foldcrai.htm
http://rosella.apana.org.au/~mlb/cranes/startup.htm

For more information click on the following links:
http://www.nuclearfiles.org/redocuments/unit4.html
http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/peacesite/English/Stage1/S1-3E.html

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