Nagasaki
Japan's sole Western window (1641-1853) became atomic target (Aug 9, 1945); rebuilt around Peace Park, shipyards still operating. 2026: memorial tourism rivals industry.
Nagasaki exists because it was Japan's only window to the West—and that window made it a target. For 200 years of Japanese isolation (1641-1853), only Nagasaki's Dutch trading post at Dejima connected Japan to European science and commerce. The Portuguese had founded the port; Dutch traders maintained it. When Japan reopened, Nagasaki's Mitsubishi shipyards (evolved from an 1857 iron foundry) became vital to the Imperial Navy. That shipbuilding capacity put Nagasaki on the atomic bomb target list when Kyoto was removed.
On August 9, 1945, at 11:02 AM, Fat Man exploded 500 meters above the city's industrial valley, killing 60,000-80,000 people. The bomb was more powerful than Hiroshima's, but Nagasaki's irregular terrain contained the blast. Like Hiroshima, the city rebuilt with remarkable speed, passing the International Culture City Reconstruction Law in 1949 to replace war industries with foreign trade, shipbuilding, and fishing.
Today, Nagasaki's 400,000 residents (up from 263,000 in 1945) live around Peace Park, established at the bomb's epicenter. The city hosts annual commemorations on August 9—Nagasaki Day—and serves as spiritual center for nuclear disarmament movements. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries still operates the shipyards. By 2026, Nagasaki's dual identity sharpens: industrial port serving Asia's maritime trade, and living memorial to atomic warfare. Tourism and remembrance now employ as many as shipbuilding once did.