In the Shadow of the Bomb: Nagasaki's Place in Atomic Memory

Abstract

This thesis examines the unique memory of Nagasaki formed after the atomic attack by the United States. Nagasaki’s Peace and Atomic Bomb Museum and the city’s narrative of the attacks are overshadowed by the narrative presented in Hiroshima and the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. While Hiroshima has encapsulated its identity in nuclear disarmament and peace, Nagasaki’s memory encompasses the wide experiences of those impacted by the nuclear bomb and how their identities have grown. The relative lack of attention regarding Nagasaki’s experience with the atomic bomb has allowed its survivors to explore their memory of the bomb unhindered by a globalized or unified memory. Part of Nagasaki’s unique memoryscape is due to its position as a city of otherness. It is a city of people, culture, and religion foreign to Japan. This otherness opens the city up to broader memorialization. My thesis discusses Nagasaki’s atomic literature, the differences between the two cities’ museums, and the memorialized objects in Nagasaki’s landscape.