Located only 800 meters southeast of the hypocenter
This stone "torii" was built as the outer entrance gate to Sanno Shinto Shrine. When the atomic bomb exploded at 11:02 a.m.on August 9, 1945, one of the legs was slapped down by the ferocious blast wind. Located only 800 meters southeast of the hypocenter, the upper part of the gate was scorched black by the intense heat rays, while the leg and copestone were smashed by the balst wind and the remaining copestone was twisted sideways by the tremendous pressure. The darkened surface between the pillar and the copestone and the white portion revealed by the movement of the stones clearly illustrate what happened at the time of the explosion. The entire neighborhood was reduced to rubble by the explosion of the atomic bomb, but this gate, although located very close to the hypocenter, miraculously managed to resist the fierce blast and to remain standing on one leg as though speaking silently about the horror of that day in 1945.
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Municipal Natural Monument These two Camphor trees which have a trunk circumference of eight and six meter,are among the largest comphor trees in the city.Both trees were broken at the upper portion on the trunk as a result of the 1945 atomic bombing and thus are now only about 10 meters in height.But the branches have flourished to form a huge canopy measuring 40 meters east to west and 25 meters north to south.Although stripped of leaves and slmost killed by the atomic bombing,the trees eventually budded and regained their vitality. Nagasaki City board of Education |
For the about 7 hundred people who lived in area of Sanno Sakamoto-machi, were killed by atomic bomb, the late Hisakichi Matuo who was the autonomy young man leader at the time appealed young man department to construce a pillar of Torii the Sanno Shrine. Since then the autonomy holds a ceremony to appease the spirits of victims every August 9.
