Why Nagasaki and Hiroshima ?

Question

Any reason these two cities were targeted. Are these two Japanese cities military centers with less civillian population, so as to minimize civillian death as far as possible.

Answer 1

at the time the bomb was dropped the air force had a list of japanese cities targeted for bombing. these cities were listed by population from most to least. the stratagy was to break the will of japan by razing cities. there was two cities chosen as targets for each bomb. another aircraft was sent ahead to choose the city depending on the weather over each city. weather chose the target more that anything on each of those days.

Answer 2

Actually if you take bits of most of the answers you’re going to find the relative truth of why those cities were hit.

One of the cities originally targeted is the spiritual center of Japan's culture, it was believed its destruction would either infuriate the Japanese and make them fight harder or would crush the people entirely so it was pulled off the list.

Cloud coverage saved another high priority target.

Hiroshima was a major transportation and military hub, with a large garrison and naval base.

Nagasaki was a heavy industrial city with a major transport hub and some priority military installations.

The lone bombers flying over the cities did not get heavy AA fire because the Japanese knew Americans flew lone weather planes over Japan all the time, it was a relative waste of recourses to fire on one lone plane, so when the bomber passed over head they pretty much ignored it.

Truman hoped that the bombs would prevent the need for an all out invasion that most experts agreed would cost as much as one million American lives.

The War's popularity was waning, people were tired, the eighth war bond dive had been a success thanks to Iwo Jima, but with massive casualties expected there would be some political backlash.

Some people believe the bombings were also a show of force for Russia. In the end it was no surprise at all as Stalin was aware of the bombs for almost a year. And had been working on one of his own.

The original targets of the bombs had been German cities, but since they surrendered a few weeks before final completion of the bombs priority was moved to Japan.

These are some of the reasons why the cities were hit.

Answer 3

The Target Committee at Los Alamos on May 10–11, 1945, recommended Kyoto, Hiroshima, Yokohama, and the arsenal at Kokura as possible targets. The committee rejected the use of the weapon against a strictly military objective because of the chance of missing a small target not surrounded by a larger urban area. The psychological effects on Japan were of great importance to the committee members. They also agreed that the initial use of the weapon should be sufficiently spectacular for its importance to be internationally recognized. The committee felt Kyoto, as an intellectual center of Japan, had a population "better able to appreciate the significance of the weapon." Hiroshima was chosen because of its large size, its being "an important army depot" and the potential that the bomb would cause greater destruction because the city was surrounded by hills which would have a "focusing effect".[9]
Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson struck Kyoto from the list because of its cultural significance, over the objections of General Leslie Groves, head of the Manhattan Project. According to Professor Edwin O. Reischauer, Stimson "had known and admired Kyoto ever since his honeymoon there several decades earlier." On July 25 General Carl Spaatz was ordered to bomb one of the targets: Hiroshima, Kokura, Niigata, or Nagasaki as soon after August 3 as weather permitted and the remaining cities as additional weapons became available.[10]

Answer 4

The basic reason was to end the war. Okinawa showed America how tenacious Japanese resistence would be and the thought of invading any of the 4 main islands was very scary.

Both Hiroshima and Nagasaki were on the list because they were relatively intact and the damage of the bombs would be clearly seen. Osaka, Tokyo, Yokahama and Nagoya were pretty well blasted. Nagasaki was actually the secondary target - Kokura was the target for the second bomb but was socked in.

A very sobering event. But no matter what one thinks, it ended the war. That was the aim of the bombings - to end the war.

Answer 5

Hiroshima was the location of an Army Corp headquarters and Nagasaki was an industrial target. Regardless, rules of engagement with the Japanese back then labeled all Japanese citizens as enemy combatants. Read your history, the war with Japan was an ugly affair, neither side had any compassion. It was estimated that a US invasion of mainland Japan would have caused 1,000,000 US casualties...

Answer 6

They were cities that hadn't been major targets in the past, that way we could judge just how destructive an Atomic Bomb would be by itself. Sad to say that was one of the major factors.

Answer 7

I don't know all the reasons - but I do know, at least in the case of Nagasaki, that it was chosen because the primary target was cloudy.

Answer 8

No. They were not military centers and it would not have mattered if they were. In World War II, there were many instances of bombings and killings that had nothing to do with "presumed war edicate."

Innocent people died in Japan. Innocent people died in
Europe and in China when the Japanese started attacks in the early 1930's.

There is a quasi-moral "war edicate" today. But in the end, war offers nothing except tragedy. To protect your homeland, war might be the only way. In the end, it is a bad for all.

Answer 9

My guess is that these cities were significant enough targets for their destruction to demoralize the Japanese but were not significant enough to warrant the Japanese army's fortifying them with tons of anti-aircraft batteries.

Answer 10

It's called "A Wakeup Call".