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Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima prefecture in the Chugoku region of
Japan.
As of 2003, the city has an estimated population of 1,136,684 and the
density of 1,532.44 persons per km². The total area is 741.75 km².
The city gained a city status on April 1, 1889.
History
The city was heavily damaged in World War II by the nuclear weapon Little
Boy, which was the second such device to be detonated, and the first ever
used in military action. The nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were
major factors leading to the surrender of the Japanese Government several
days later.
 Hiroshima was founded in 1589, on the coast of the Seto inland sea, and
became a major urban center during the Meiji period. The city is located on
the broad, flat delta of the Ota River, which has 7 channel outlets dividing
the city into six islands which project into Hiroshima Bay. The city is
almost entirely flat and only slightly above sea level; to the northwest and
northeast of the city some hills rise to 700 feet.
After the nuclear attack, Hiroshima was rebuilt as a "peace memorial
city." The city government continues to advocate for the abolition of
nuclear weapons, and more broadly for world peace.
World War II Bombing
During World War II, Hiroshima was a city of considerable military
importance. It contained the 2nd Army Headquarters, which commanded the
defense of all of southern Japan. The city was a communications center, a
storage point, and an assembly area for troops. To quote a Japanese report,
"Probably more than a thousand times since the beginning of the war did the
Hiroshima citizens see off with cries of 'Banzai' the troops leaving from
the harbor."
The center of the city contained a number of reinforced concrete
buildings as well as lighter structures. Outside the center, the area was
congested by a dense collection of small wooden workshops set among Japanese
houses; a few larger industrial plants lay near the outskirts of the city.
The houses were of wooden construction with tile roofs. Many of the
industrial buildings also were of wood frame construction. The city as a
whole was highly susceptible to fire damage.
 Some of the reinforced concrete buildings were of a far stronger
construction than is required by normal standards in America, because of the
earthquake danger in Japan. This exceptionally strong construction
undoubtedly accounted for the fact that the framework of some of the
buildings which were fairly close to the center of damage in the city did
not collapse. Another is that the blast was more downward than sideways;
this has much to do with the "survival" of the Prefectural Promotional Hall
(pictured), which was only a few meters from the aiming point. (The ruin was
made a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1996 over the objections of the US and
China.)
The population of Hiroshima had reached a peak of over 380,000 earlier in
the war but prior to the atomic bombing the population had steadily
decreased because of a systematic evacuation ordered by the Japanese
government. At the time of the attack the population was approximately
255,000. This figure is based on the registered population, used by the
Japanese in computing ration quantities, and the estimates of additional
workers and troops who were brought into the city may not be highly
accurate. Hiroshima thus had approximately the same number of people as the
city of Providence, Rhode Island, or Dallas, Texas.
Hiroshima was the primary target of the first U.S. nuclear attack
mission. The mission went smoothly in every respect. The weather was good,
and the crew and equipment functioned perfectly. In every detail, the attack
was carried out exactly as planned, and the bomb performed exactly as
expected.
 The bomb exploded over Hiroshima at 8:15 on the morning of August 6,
1945. About an hour previously, the Japanese early warning radar net had
detected the approach of some American aircraft headed for the southern part
of Japan. The alert had been given and radio broadcasting stopped in many
cities, among them Hiroshima. The planes approached the coast at a very high
altitude. At nearly 8:00 A.M., the radar operator in Hiroshima determined
that the number of planes coming in was very small - probably not more than
three - and the air raid alert was lifted. The normal radio broadcast
warning was given to the people that it might be advisable to go to shelter
if B-29's were actually sighted, but no raid was expected beyond some sort
of reconnaissance. At 8:16 A.M., the B-29 Enola Gay dropped the atomic bomb
called "Little Boy" over the central part of the city and the bomb exploded
with a blast equivalent to 12,000 tons of TNT, killing 80,000 outright.
At the same time, Tokyo control operator of the Japanese Broadcasting
Corporation noticed that the Hiroshima station had gone off the air. He
tried to use another telephone line to reestablish his program, but it too
had failed. About twenty minutes later the Tokyo railroad telegraph center
realized that the main line telegraph had stopped working just north of
Hiroshima. From some small railway stops within ten miles of the city there
came unofficial and confused reports of a terrible explosion in Hiroshima.
All these reports were transmitted to the Headquarters of the Japanese
General Staff.
Military headquarters repeatedly tried to call the Army Control Station
in Hiroshima. The complete silence from that city puzzled the men at
Headquarters; they knew that no large enemy raid could have occurred, and
they knew that no sizeable store of explosives was in Hiroshima at that
time. A young officer of the Japanese General Staff was instructed to fly
immediately to Hiroshima, to land, survey the damage, and return to Tokyo
with reliable information for the staff. It was generally felt at
Headquarters that nothing serious had taken place, that it was all a
terrible rumor starting from a few sparks of truth.
 The staff officer went to the airport and took off for the southwest.
After flying for about three hours, while still nearly 100 miles from
Hiroshima, he and his pilot saw a great cloud of smoke from the bomb. In the
bright afternoon, the remains of Hiroshima were burning.
Their plane soon reached the city, around which they circled in
disbelief. A great scar on the land, still burning, and covered by a heavy
cloud of smoke, was all that was left of a great city. They landed south of
the city, and the staff officer immediately began to organize relief
measures, after reporting to Tokyo.
Tokyo's first knowledge of what had really caused the disaster came from
the White House public announcement in Washington, sixteen hours after the
nuclear attack on Hiroshima. By the end of 1945, it is estimated that 60,000
more people died due to nuclear fallout sickness. However, this total does
not include longer term casualties from radiation exposure.
Starting almost immediately after the conclusion of World War II, and
continuing to the present day, the dropping of atomic bombs on the cities of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki has been questioned. Their use has been called
barbarian since, besides destroying a military base and a military
industrial center, tens of thousands of civilians were killed. Some have
claimed that the Japanese were already essentially defeated, and that use of
the bombs was unnecessary. Some have also suggested that a demonstration of
an atomic bomb in an uninhabited region should have been attempted.
In reply, defenders of the decision to use the bombs say that it is
almost certain that the Japanese would not have surrendered without their
use, and that hundreds of thousands - perhaps millions - would have perished
in the planned U.S. invasion of Japan. To support their argument, they point
out that the Japanese agreed to surrender only after the second bomb was
dropped, when it was evident that the first was not an isolated event, and
future prospects were for a continuing rain of such bombs. (In actuality,
the U.S. did not have another atomic bomb ready after the bombing of
Nagasaki due the difficulty of producing fissile material.) Regarding the
suggestion of a demonstration, they maintain that, given the mind-set of the
Japanese at the time, it is unlikely that any conceivable benign
demonstration would have induced surrender.
Others contend that Japan had been trying to surrender for at least two
months, but the US refused by insisting on an unconditional surrenderwhich
they did not get even after the bombing, the bone of contention being
retention of the Emperor.
Tens of thousands of people marked the 40th anniversary of the atomic
bombing of the city on August 6, 1985.
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