Nagasaki (redirected from Nagasaki City)

Nagasaki (näg'äsä`kē), city (1990 pop. 444,599), capital of Nagasaki prefecture, W Kyushu, Japan, on Nagasaki Bay. It is one of Japan's leading ports. Shipbuilding is the chief industry; steelworks, collieries, fisheries, and electrical machinery plants are also important. Nagasaki's port, the first to receive Western trade, was known to Portuguese and Spanish traders before it was opened to the Dutch in 1567. After the Portuguese and Spanish merchants were forced to leave Japan in 1637, the Dutch traders were restricted (1641–1858) to De-shima, an island in the harbor. Nagasaki was gradually reopened to general foreign trade during the 1850s. Long a center of Christianity, the city had until 1945 Japan's largest Roman Catholic cathedral. During World War II, on Aug. 9, 1945, Nagasaki became the target of the second atomic bomb ever detonated on a populated area; about 75,000 people were killed or wounded, and more than one third of the city was devastated. Among Nagasaki's landmarks is Glover Mansion, scene of Puccini's opera Madama Butterfly. Nagasaki prefecture (1990 pop. 1,563,015), 1,574 sq mi (4,077 sq km), is mainly agricultural. Raw-silk production is widespread, and coal is mined near Sasebo. Important cities are Nagasaki, Hirado, known for its fine porcelain ware, and Sasebo, the site of a large naval base. The prefecture includes the island of Goto-retto.

---

Nagasaki

City (pop., 2003 est.: 418,523), western Kyushu, Japan. It is a seaport and commercial city at the mouth of the Urakami River, where it empties into Nagasaki Harbour. It was the only Japanese port open to foreign trade in 1639–1859. After the Portuguese and English traders were expelled in 1639, only the Dutch, Chinese, and Koreans were allowed into the harbour. In the 19th century it was the winter port of the Russian Asiatic fleet (until 1903). It became a major shipbuilding centre in the early 20th century. In 1945 the second atomic bomb attack was carried out there by the U.S. during World War II; some 40,000 were killed immediately, up to 40,000 more died soon after, and many more were injured. The bomb also destroyed about 40% of the city's buildings. Nagasaki has been rebuilt and is a spiritual centre for movements to ban nuclear weapons.

---

Nagasaki

Japanese city destroyed by A-bomb (1945). [Am. Hist.: Fuller, III: 626]

See : Destruction