Reconstruction of Nagasaki City

After the A-bombing the Urakami district was devastated; there was nothing but burnt-out ruins. The district was also expected to remain barren for the next 70 years. In September, however, a few plants and trees were seen to bud, and people saw insects coming back. This gave hope for the future.
Not before long, people began to put up small huts to live in, using wood and other materials collected from collapsed buildings. In 1946, municipal housing construction commenced, and the city of Nagasaki gradually began to regain its vitality.

Having experienced the tragedy of the A-bombing, Nagasaki citizens had very strong hopes for peace. They began to reconstruct Nagasaki into an international culture city, under the slogan "Peace Begins in Nagasaki."

In 1995, Peace Park was constructed. There the International Culture Hall (now Atomic Bomb Museum) was built, to exhibit A-bombing-related materials and enlighten visitors as to the horror of the atomic bomb and the preciousness of peace.

The Peace Statue, the symbol of the Park, took five years to complete from commencement of construction in 1951. The Statue was created with contributions from people wishing for world peace.

Those who survived the war held memorial services in various places to honor the memory of family members and friends who were victims of the atomic bomb. Initially, such memorial services were conducted by the survivors’ respective town association, school and workplace. On August 9, 1948, the third anniversary of the A-bombing, Nagasaki City organized a memorial service and cultural festival in Matsuyama-machi, the hypocenter of the bombing. At the memorial service, held in 1949, Mr. Hiroshi Ohashi, then Mayor of Nagasaki, gave a Peace Declaration. In 1952, memorial services that had formerly been held individually were integrated into the Nagasaki memorial services for A-bomb dead and the Nagasaki Peace Ceremony, which have been held annually ever since.