Nagasaki National Peace Memorial for The Atomic Bomb Victims 2003

Client : Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
Design : Kyusyu Regional Development Bureau, A. Kuryu Architect & Associates

At 11:02 in the morning on August 9, 1945, a plutonium implosion atomic bomb was detonated over Nagasaki, killing 70,000 people. This memorial is an expression of mourning for the atomic bomb victims and a prayer for everlasting peace on behalf of the nation and a place for fostering a deeper understanding among the people of the world of horrors of the atomic bomb and a place the preserves the experience of atomic war for future generations.
While the memorial is mostly underground, the design includes a circular monumental water basin 29 meters in diameter. Reflecting the nation's wish to express the enormity of the destruction and the opinions of local building committee, a light particle for each person who had died was placed on the bottom of the water basin. 70,000 light fiber particles swaying gently in the Nagasaki wind create a solemn nighttime scene for remembering the dead.
The memorial stands as an earnest plea to abolish all nuclear weapons from the earth.