What Two Japanese Cities Were Bombed?

The United States dropped atomic bombs on two Japanese cities during wartime in August of 1945. The two Japanese cities which were bombed are named Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

The bombings of the two cities - Nagasaki and Hiroshima - played a major role in history.

These bombings, which were inflicted within three days of each other, are often credited as the act that ended World War II, since they incited the signing of Japan’s instrument of surrender within one month of the bombings taking place.

These two acts of military power have been debated throughout history, with many questioning whether or not they were indeed justified, mainly because of the effect the bombings had. 

Why the Two Japanese Cities Were Bombed

Earlier in the year of 1945, an ultimatum to surrender was offered to Japan by the United States, the Republic of China, and the United Kingdom. This decree was called the Potsdam Declaration.

Upon Japan’s refusal of the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, continuous firebombing of the country ensued for almost six months before President Truman ordered the two nuclear weapons to be deployed.

The bombs were given individual names:

• Little Boy was dropped on the city of Hiroshima on August 6th of 1945.
• Fat Man was unleashed on August 9th, devastating the Japanese city of Nagasaki.

The strategy behind the placement of the bombings was derived from information that pointed to the two cities as military storage sites as well as the headquarters for Japan’s Second Army.

The second bombing came after President Truman offered Japan another opportunity for surrender, which was swiftly denied. This denial prompted the deployment of Fat Man, which all but leveled the city of Nagasaki. 

Effect of the Bombing of the Japanese Cities

The deployment of the two nuclear weapons had a severe and immediate effect on the two Japanese cities, killing over 120,000 people within 24 hours.

• The death tolls which were attributed to the initial impact of the bombings reached over 240,000 people, with an undeclared number dying over the course of the next month due to illness or complications from the lasting effects of the radiation caused by the bombings.
• These totals caused many debates over the justification of such a display of power, due to the fact that the vast majority of the people who were killed in the bombings were in fact civilians. 

As a result of the devastation that Japan suffered from the two bombs being deployed over the two cities, the country shortly thereafter adopted a policy of anti-nuclear war tactics, strictly forbidding the creation or research of nuclear armament by implementing its Three Non-Nuclear Principles.