The museum traces the events of 9 August 1945 with directness and restraint. The exhibits start with the city as it was on the morning of the bombing, move through the detonation and immediate aftermath, then expand to the broader story of nuclear weapons and disarmament. The objects are what stay with you: the melted helmet of a thirteen-year-old, the scorched lunchbox with its rice still inside, the steel girders twisted like ribbon. A timed walk-through takes about 90 minutes; allow more if you watch the survivor testimony videos. Combine with the National Peace Memorial Hall next door and the Peace Park across the road.
Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum
A story
Among the displayed objects is a wall clock from a barber shop 800 metres from the hypocentre, its hands frozen at 11:02 — the exact moment of detonation. The bomb fell two miles off target. The original aiming point was a shipyard near the city centre; cloud cover forced the bombardier to choose a secondary site, and the device exploded almost directly above the Urakami Cathedral, the heart of Japanese Catholicism.