Nagasaki Peace Park

A park spreads on the hill in Matsuyama-town, Nagasaki-city. At 11:02 a.m. on August 9, 1945, the bomb was dropped over this park. This park was established in 1951 to learn about the threat of an atomic bomb, to pray for the souls of victims, and to wish for eternal world peace.

This park is 18.5ha in width and the Peace Statue, Fountain of Peace, and atomic bomb hypocenter are located. The Peace Statue was created by Seibo Kitamura and is 9.7m high. The statue’s right hand pointing upward depicts the threat of the atomic bomb, the left hand stretching horizontally symbolizes eternal world peace. The peace memorial service for atomic-bomb victims is held every year in front of the Peace Statue. The Fountain of Peace is located in front of the statue with a diameter of 18 meters. These fountain jets beautifully which are characterized by the doves and the wings of the crane and are devoted to the victims who wanted water because of blasts from the bomb and died a painful death.

The bomb was exploded at a height of 500ｍ from the atomic bomb hypocenter. The memorial black granite stone was placed to show the hypocenter, and the relic of the former Urakami Cathedral is displayed nearby. This area was devastated by the blast from the bomb but currently became a relaxation park filled with green nature and has insisted the preciousness of peace.