Nagasaki Peace Park

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Nagasaki Peace Park is in Nagasaki, Japan. It was created to remember the atomic bombing on August 9, 1945. The park opened on April 1, 1955 and sits near the explosion’s hypocenter, with some remains of Urakami Cathedral’s wall still visible.

At the north end stands the Peace Statue, which is 10 meters tall and was sculpted by Seibo Kitamura. Its right hand points to the danger of nuclear weapons, while the left hand reaches out for peace. The calm face shows prayer for the victims, and the legs symbolize meditation and the effort to help people around the world. In front of the statue is a black marble vault that holds the names of those who died or were affected later. A plaque titled Words from the Sculptor explains the statue’s message for global harmony.

A plaque near the statue explains the bombing’s impact: at 11:02 a.m. on August 9, 1945, the bomb exploded 500 meters above this spot. The blast destroyed much of the area, burning and killing many people. About one-third of Nagasaki was destroyed, and 150,000 people were killed or injured. The hypocenter remains as a symbol of international peace, showing how war harms all.

Every year on August 9, the city holds a Peace Memorial Ceremony in front of the statue, and the Mayor delivers a Peace Declaration to the world.

At the south end is the Fountain of Peace, built in 1969. It honors the many victims who died while seeking water and marks a prayer for world peace. A black stone plaque nearby has lines from a poem by Sachiko Yamaguchi, a girl who was nine when the bombing happened.

In 2024, several ambassadors from the G7 countries and the European Union skipped the ceremony over concerns about bringing in participants from a conflict. Nagasaki’s mayor said that inviting participants linked to ongoing conflicts could complicate the ceremony. Some ambassadors later attended a separate memorial event in Tokyo, while Hiroshima invited the Israeli ambassador to its ceremony.

Since 1978, Nagasaki has a Peace Symbols Zone, with monuments donated from around the world. One of the monuments is the Monument for Korean Atomic Victims, unveiled in 1979. It honors Koreans who lived in Nagasaki at the time and who were affected by the bombing, calling for peace, the abolition of nuclear weapons, and Korean reunification. The park was shown in the 1991 film Rhapsody in August, which noted the lack of a U.S. sculpture in the zone. The sculpture Constellation Earth was added in 1992 after that omission was pointed out.