Why was Hiroshima and Nagasaki single out as the prime location for atomic drops compare to other cities?

Question

tks for all the answers thus far and esp. 'the lips' for mentioning the other 2 considerations ! something that I never come across :) i will pay more attention when i come across on books on this subject. appreciate this little details.

Answer 1

Nagasaki was, in fact, an alternate target, as the visibility over the primary (Kokura, IIRC) was obscured by cloud cover.

In all cases the targets for the atomic strikes were industrial centers with a large military presence.

Answer 2

There had been four cities chosen as possible targets: Hiroshima, Kokura, Nagasaki, and Niigata (Kyoto was the first choice until it was removed from the list by Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson). The cities were chosen because they had been relatively untouched during the war. The Target Committee wanted the first bomb to be "sufficiently spectacular for the importance of the weapon to be internationally recognized when publicity on it was released."

Answer 3

Hiroshima because of it's large size, mountians and it was a main army depot. Nagasaki was chosen becasue it had the best weather conditions at the time.

Answer 4

Hiroshima had a big navel yard.And Nagasaki was the main base for the imperial japanese navy.

Answer 5

basically they had those four cities picked out and based on the wind speed at the time and the weather conditions at the time they picked the best possible outcome...meaning they wanted the bomb to be able to have the best impact and so forth. The decided at the last minute...who should we kill....sad huh?

Answer 6

They were relatively undamaged. That gave the US the ability to measure the impact of their new weapon.

Answer 7

They were industrial centers.