Why was Hiroshima and Nagasaki selected?

Question

I have always wondered. Why were the 2 cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, selected for the bombing? Why were not other cities selected? Why couldn't the US have selected Tokyo or Osaka or Kobe or some other places in Japan? What was so special about these places?

Answer 1

  Japan had many small shop industries that supplied parts for the major industries.  So the US started fire bombing major cities, starting with Tokyo, then Osaka.  Several cities were destroyed up to 80 percent, with a high death rate.

  Hiroshima and Nagasaki were industrial cities that had not been bombed.  It was felt that one bomb destroying a city was the best use of the bombs, so they did not want to hit a city that had already been bombed with conventional weapons.  Nagaskai was the secondary target for that mission though.  The first was clouded over.

Answer 2

There was a list. Hiroshima was chosen because it had had a lower priority before that spring, so it was preserved to better demonstrate the effect of the bomb. Most other major cities of military importance had been damaged to a high degree already.

Nagasaki just had bad luck. Though on the list, it wasn't at the top. I forget which city was scheduled to be number two, but Nagasaki was a secondary that was picked because of weather over the primary.

Answer 3

The purpose of the nuclear bombings was actually primarily to clear out ports for the purposes of US (Allied) troops then invading and occupying them.

Port cities are the crux of supply trains, and therefore are the among the first objectives to be secured, especially in foreign lands.

Nagasaki and Hiroshima were port cities. However, Nagasaki wasn't the primary target - Kokura - was obscured by fog.

Answer 4

Hiroshima was a one of the largest military zones in japan. It held the Army Marine Headquarters and the Second Army and Chugoku Regional Army were headquartered in Hiroshima. or to put it simply it was a huge military zone and a giant center for shipping. Also it probably would never have even been bombed if Roosevelt hadn't died and Hoover took office. Hoover didn't know of the bombs existance or more importintly it capabilities. For him it was just a big boom he didn't forsee the vast radiation damage or civilian casulty. After this attack he asked for unconditional surrender or another attack Japan took the the lather and Nagasaki was bombed by an even more powerful bomb the Hiroshima. Japan soon after surrendered