How did Hiroshima Survive being Nuked?

Where did the Radiation from Little boy, and Fat man go? Initially, I thought cities hit by Nuclear weapons would be radioactive for Thousands of years - and yet they rebuilt Hiroshima in six years!

It's amazing that the Japanese government was able to organize such extensive rebuilding efforts, despite all the dangers present on land that was hit by an atomic bomb, weeks earlier.

We hope this video explains how radioactive fallout disappears, and exactly why it's dangerous.

Lots of research went into making this video, thank you for watching!

[LoganPEade]

My great aunt was from Hiroshima. She was 14 that day and saw the bomb detonate from her home, fortunately her family lived on the outskirts of the city far enough away to survive the destruction unharmed! This summary and presentation is very accurate and very well done!

[johnc]

I visited Hiroshima in 1973 and again in 2019: one of my favorite cities in Japan for this now old retired U.S. Navy chief petty officer. In 1973, as a young sailor, I was very, very lucky to meet a lovely, intelligent Japanese girl who gave me a two-day tour of the city, the museums and memorials commemorating the bombing and show me how Hiroshima bustled with life. What I saw at those memorials tore at me in ways I could not begin to explain then or now. But I was in awe to be shown around by such a lovely young woman and visit a place filled with life and peace. I went again with my wife in 2019 and remembered that girl and the wonderful "cook's tour" she gave me. Again the people my wife and I encountered on our visit were just as friendly and laid back as on my visit decades ago. One stop we made was to take a boat ride on the moat surrounding Hiroshima castle. We had the boat to ourselves, so our lady guide explained how the castle was rebuilt and how the trees at and around the castle came back to life. She was happy to explain small details that illuminated how this one historical spot was nurtured back to life. We also enjoyed riding the famous streetcars that -- within a day or two of the bombing -- were back in operation and are still proudly serving the residents. What a great city it is, today: small enough to be walkable; large enough to show it's pride in rebuilding and remembering it's past! Many happy memories for this old guy! Thanks for showing this video.

[ct]

I find it shocking how fast cities can rebuild back. Like SF after the big earthquake. They had an iconic World's Fair like nine years later. Makes you wonder how many other outwardly 'intractable' problems we could solve in a year or two with the right priorities.

[danielfox]

It also dawned on me in my contemplation that the reason the Japanese were so adept at recovering and didn't wallow in the horror was because by that point in the war we'd been fire bombing Tokyo and other major cities sometimes killing over 100, 000 n a single day, so while the destruction of this one particular bomb may have been novel, the citizens of Japan by this time were no strangers to the horrors of war

[Narmatonia]

I remember when I was younger and learning about Hiroshima, wondering if it was still uninhabitable like Chernobyl, then going to Google Maps and surprisingly finding it as bustling as any other city.

[cammo]

Mate I was expecting this channel to have a few hundred thousand subs at least😅
Seriously great vid with clearly alot of effort put into it!

[Sacto]

One of the greatest legacies of that bombing was how the Hiroshima Electric Railway (Hiroden) managed to salvage and rebuild two electric trams, #651 and #653, back to working order in a few years just after the war. Both operational even now, those two trams represent the amazing rebirth of that city.

[Marc]

The Little Boy exploded 1950 feet above the ground at Hiroshima. It was intended to do that because those of Project Manhattan thought that the ground would absorb some of the bomb's power. They felt that an airburst was better in that respect. As a result, the Little Boy's fireball never touched the ground. If it had, A LOT of radioactive debris would have created and then spewed out over long distances.

[remydetrou]

Fantastic channel dude! Keep going and you’ll be big

[ratwynd]

About 12 years ago I visited Hiroshima. I visited the skeletal dome building and nearby museums and shrines.

The most eerie thing was to actually stand in the middle of the Y-shape bridge that was the bombardiers target. It is still the original bridge, only the railings were knocked off but because the blast was straight down on the pillars so it survived otherwise intact. The bomb burst 1500 meters above the spot I stood on that day. The skeletal dome building, a local commercial wholesale marketing facility, was one of few buildings to survive even partially near the blast center.

I took many photos in the museum and later showed them to my father, a retired army officer and veteran of the Pacific War. It was one of the few times he was willing to talk about some of what he saw when his unit accompanied the scientists who first entered Hiroshima some weeks after the surrender. He passed away not too many years ago and it was the only time he was willing to talk of some of what he had experienced.

Only those who saw or experienced can truly understand.

But today it is a modern and beautiful city in a wonderful country. I have been to Japan 5 times and love the country and people.

[signitainment]

Such a well researched video and a underrated channel

[douglasstemke]

I had the opportunity to visit researchers at The Effects of Radiation Center in Hiroshima, set up by the US after the war at the time filled with researchers from the US and Japan. I read a lot of their published research. The truly amazing thing was how little LONG-TERM effects they picked up in the way of excess cancers, presumably from the radiation. Yes, the blast and short term radiation killed tens of thousands of individuals. But long term cancers less than 0.05 % increase from residence who survived the blast. It was certainly not what I had expected. The levels proved to be so low that at the time I visited back around 2010(?) they were about to close the research center down for lack of causeational effect.

[laikanbarth]

A very smart adult told me when I was a teenager and going through a terrible time that “when you don’t know what to do to do what you know to do”. I didn’t understand what she was meant at the time. I actually thought it was kind of dumb. But what she said to me that day stuck with me and when my dad died in my 20’s I finally understood the meaning. It means when you don’t know what to do about a hard situation going on in your life that you keep doing what you know to do (exactly how it was said 😂 😂.) Keep doing what you’ve been doing in your daily life and routine. It was an ah ha moment. Like when my dad died I didn’t lay down and go into a severe depression. I kept doing what I needed to do like planning his funeral and closing his bank accounts and making sure my mom would be okay and wouldn’t have to deal with all of that. I was so proud of myself. I was sad but I never went into the deep depression that I was prone to. I said all of that because I think that’s what the people of Japan did and the people in Europe did during WW2. They didn’t lay down. They got up and did what they knew to do which was rebuilding their cities.

I hope this can help someone else like it has helped me through out my life.

[sprolyborn]

A nuclear explosion is relatively clean. Most of the fissile material is well, used up and leaves stable products. I think the guidance is two weeks to stay inside and keep the dust from entering your home if your home still exists. This is compared to a catastrophic reactor meltdown that has thrown chunks of reactor fuel into the environment. (We've only ever had one meltdown that did this) That stuff sticks around and is what uninformed people think happens when a nuke is detonated. Also as a side note, radiation is not as devastating to the environment as we're told it is. It's devastating to humans specifically as every single species of life on the planet plant and animal short of microbes handle radiation better than we humans do. And we tend to project this flaw onto everything we see around us.

[ericmintz]

Epicenter means "over the center". The point under the blast is generally called the hypocenter, meaning "under the center".

[brianburnell]

My cousin Terry was wounded in action at the Third Battle of the Hook in Korea in 1953 and he was treated and nursed back to health in a British Military Hospital in Hiroshima. He was there for 9 months before being shipped home on a troopship. Any residual radiation was long gone or a military hospital would never be built there. He lived until 2003 and there was never any concerns about his health other than his lungs which were compromised by a long career in the wool processing industry.

[Jackz.artist]

Bro your goated, underrated. If you continue with videos like these, milly subs for you. Very detailed and understandable

[veramae]

Any American service member who was in Hiroshima or Nagasaki, even if just driving thru, is eligible for a $75, 000 bonus from Congress. If the member has passed, their descendents (1st generation) still qualify.

Retired librarian and trivia lover

[planetmoises]

amazing educational channel bro, keep it up

[roycevaughn]

Background music from XCOM UFO Defense!!! That was a good choice :)