Nagasaki
Nagasaki lies at the head of a long bay which forms the
best natural harbor on the southern Japanese home island
of Kyushu. The main commercial and residential area of
the city lies on a small plain near the end of the bay. Two
rivers divided by a mountain spur form the two main valleys
in which the city lies. This mountain spur and the irregular
lay-out of the city tremendously reduced the area
of destruction, so that at first glance Nagasaki appeared to
have been less devastated than Hiroshima.
The heavily build-up area of the city is confined by the
terrain to less than 4 square miles out of a total of about 35
square miles in the city as a whole.
The city of Nagasaki had been one of the largest sea ports
in southern Japan and was of great war-time importance
because of its many and varied industries, including the
production of ordnance, ships, military equipment, and
other war materials. The narrow long strip attacked was
of particular importance because of its industries.
In contrast to many modern aspects of Nagasaki, the residences
almost without exception were of flimsy, typical
Japanese construction, consisting of wood or wood-frame
buildings, with wood walls with or without plaster, and tile
roofs. Many of the smaller industries and business establishments
were also housed in wooden buildings or flimsily
built masonry buildings. Nagasaki had been permitted to
grow for many years without conforming to any definite
city zoning plan and therefore residences were constructed
adjacent to factory buildings and to each other almost as
close as it was possible to build them throughout the entire
industrial valley.
No comments:
Post a Comment