Rebuilding and remembering | Nagasaki

1948
A public memorial service
Nagasaki held a Culture Festival on the anniversary that included a service for the victims. The city developed reconstruction and commemoration alongside each other.
1955
The Peace Statue is unveiled
The statue was dedicated on August 9, ten years after the bombing. The annual Peace Ceremony is held near it.
1959
Urakami Cathedral is rebuilt
The people of Urakami rebuilt their cathedral. A surviving fragment of the earlier church can be seen near the hypocenter.
2021
A memorial to Korean victims
A monument honoring Korean victims was erected in Nagasaki after years of advocacy.
2024
Recognition for survivor testimony
Nihon Hidankyo received the Nobel Peace Prize for its work to abolish nuclear weapons and carry survivors’ testimony forward.

Broken walls of the former Urakami Cathedral after the bombing — The ruins of Urakami Cathedral, circa August 1945. Photographer unknown. Archive and credit

Three places to read together

At Hypocenter Park, the ground marker locates the point below the airburst and a fragment of the old cathedral is nearby. The present Urakami Cathedral tells the story of a congregation that rebuilt. Farther through the memorial landscape, the Peace Statue and its annual ceremony mark a broader civic act of mourning.

The National Peace Memorial Hall preserves testimonies and objects associated with the victims and their families. Placing a recording in this landscape can help a visitor understand what a survivor means when they name a school, a street or a familiar landmark.

Water and surviving trees

At Sannō Shrine, one support of a torii remained standing and the damaged camphor trees survived. At the National Peace Memorial Hall, water in the basin recalls the thirst of those who died. Both are places to read slowly alongside testimony. The architecture and landscape make details that recur in survivors’ accounts physically present to a visitor.