A VIRTUAL TOUR OF HIROSHIMA (Chapter 9) Return to Unit List
The Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the only places in the world that have suffered a wartime nuclear weapons attack. Both cities were bombed by the United States during World War II. When the four ton "Little Boy" bomb exploded over the city of Hiroshima, the majority of the city was leveled within seconds due to the powerful blast, while intense heat fires burned what was remaining. In all, 90 percent of the city was destroyed and some 140,000 people were killed. Those who managed to survive the blast and the fires were exposed to large doses of radiation, many of them suffering painful deaths weeks, months, and years following the bombing. Three days after the Hiroshima bombing, the "Fatman" bomb exploded over the city of Nagasaki, killing some 75,000 and destroying the city. Japan surrendered a few days later.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki have since recovered and now promote themselves as International Cities of Peace and Culture. In many respects, these cities have become "sacred spaces" memorializing the horror of war and the devastation that humans are capable of wreaking upon each other. They have built elaborate museums devoted to keeping records of the atomic bombings as well as promoting peaceful solutions to the world's on-going problems. Both cities also maintain comprehensive on-line museums that offer visitors the opportunity to virtually tour the sacred spaces of the cities.
Visit the City of Hiroshima's homepage. From there, you can follow the link, or go directly to the Hiroshima Peace Site.
As you tour Hiroshima's Peace Site (you might also want to follow the link to Nagasaki's similar site), make a list of the various ways Hiroshima's geography is marked as "sacred space." This geography is made up of particular landscapes as well as the city's activities, practices, and declarations.