Hiroshima, les derniers jours du Japon impérial

Hiroshima, les derniers jours du Japon impérial

On August 6, 1945, the B-29 bomber Enola Gay, drops an A-bomb, called Little Boy, on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. With a power of 13 kilotons, the bomb decimates the city in a few seconds. 3 days later, the city of Nagasaki, in turn suffered nuclear fire. These 2 explosions who changed history,

Mark the end of the Second War world in the Pacific. A bloody conflict who opposed far from Europe, a fanaticized Japanese army and safe Americans of their power. Results of the battles, more than 3 million dead and a country almost entirely devastated. 70 years after the war,

Japan rose up and erected monuments on its territory to never forget. But behind the modernity of cities now completely rebuilt, traces of these episodes terrifying of history, still remain to be discovered. On the Okinawa Islands where the Americans landed, or around towns from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, scientists and enthusiasts,

Dedicate their lives to bringing to light the last vestiges of the war. During their investigations, they discover valuable witnesses, the violence of the fighting, of the fate reserved for civilians during the last months of the war, or terrible damage caused by nuclear weapons. Analysis of these objects which resurface from the past,

Told in a new light these few months of 1945, who precipitated the fall of imperial Japan and who brought humanity in a new era, that of a possible total annihilation. In 1942, Japan under Emperor Hirohito is at the height of its power. Allied with Nazi Germany and to fascist Italy,

His empire extends from China from the North to Korea, passing through Indochina, the Philippines and most of Southeast Asia. Driven by its desire for expansion, the Emperor wants to affirm its influence on the region. Without even having declared the war in the United States,

He launches a raid on the base from Pearl Harbor to Hawaii, fleet headquarters American in the Pacific. On December 7, 1941, Admiral Yamamoto sends six aircraft carriers and 400 planes on Pearl Harbor. For the Americans, the surprise is total and the toll is terrible. 2,400 soldiers killed and part of the fleet destroyed.

– The day after the attack of Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt said a speech in which he denounced, Day of Infamy and declared war on Japan. The Americans considered that it was a surprise attack, which had not been provoked and they wanted to take their revenge. In fact this attack allowed Roosevelt,

To overcome the feeling many Americans who preferred that the United States remain outside the war in Europe. To avenge Pearl Harbor, the American army is working to reconquer the Japanese empire, islands by islands. Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands, Saipan, the Philippines. The battles follow one another and the Japanese soldiers retreat.

For the Americans, a landing in Japan is the last stop, of this inexorable reconquest. After the famous battle of Iwo Jima, the American command finally aims for Okinawa, subtropical islands located just south of the Japanese archipelago. – The Okinawa archipelago had importance strategic for the United States,

Because it allowed Japan to be cut off of all its bases scattered in Asia. It also allowed the American army to have a launch platform, to invade the main islands from Japan. The invasion of Okinawa will be called code Operation Iceberg. She will be the greatest assault of the Pacific campaign.

290,000 soldiers mobilized and an overpowering naval air force, to support the landing on the ground. In March 1945, the GIs start by seizing the small Kerama Islands. On April 1, they disembarked on the West Coast, from the main island of Okinawa. He only meets resistance very weak and overcome

Easily from the center and the north of the island. It is in the south, where there are hundreds of natural caves, that the Japanese resistance will get organized. The forest of southern Okinawa was therefore the theater, one of the most violent battles of the Pacific. It is here that thousands Japanese soldiers,

Have retreated for their final fight. Photojournalist and amateur archaeologist, Tetsuji Hamada drives his own excavations in Okinawa for fifteen years. In the heart of the jungle, he manages to find traces, of the defense system of the Japanese army, which have stood the test of time.

– Here you have a cavity that we called octopus trap in Japanese, where the soldiers were hiding of the imperial army. There were probably 1 or 2 soldiers who could fit there. From this height, they could wait for the enemy to arrive to shoot.

At the bottom of the hole, a recess allowed soldiers to be invisible, from the surface in case arrival of the enemy. Hundreds of such cavities were dug in the forest, to take the Americans by surprise. Withdrawing from his troops, Tetsuji also found a vast network of trenches.

– Here we have a trench in which the soldiers were moving. She must have been between 1.30 m and 1.50 m deep so that they can move in position crouching without being seen by the enemy. But Japanese soldiers, even entrenched in this plant labyrinth, are no match for to the American armada.

On this front line, the last before the ocean, the Japanese fall one after the other. Tetsuji Hamada finds remains soldiers in almost every trench. – Look, there’s one here. And that too, they are all broken. It must have been bombed. It’s impressive. That’s a femur. Everything is in pieces, poor guy.

They must have died by taking a bomb, which propelled them against the rocks. The state of the scattered bones suggests, that they were directly affected by the explosion. For several weeks, the fighting rages. The Japanese know perfectly well the terrain and places to take refuge.

But the Americans are in a hurry to get it over with. To dislodge them from their hiding place, they put in place methods, as effective as they are cruel. The new investigation area of Tetsuji Hamada bears the traces, the enduring attitude of both camps.

It is a limestone cave remained unexplored for 70 years. The Japanese soldiers were buried in the deepest passages of the cave, only going out to launch raids against American troops. Alongside Tetsuji Hamada, 130 original students from all over Japan, came to help him in his excavation work. There is also a survival ration,

That the Japanese soldiers kept with them. She was probably burned with a flame thrower, because it is all charred. His food rations include the marks of the flamethrower. It is this weapon that the Americans decide to use massively to dislodge the Japanese.

Some soldiers agree to surrender before the assault and are taken prisoner, but thousands of others are burned alive or suffocated. Some prefer to commit suicide instead than falling into the hands of the Americans. It’s an army grenade Japanese Imperial. The soldiers each had two,

One to attack the enemy and the other to kill himself. When we do excavations, skulls are sometimes found, whose jaw is completely exploded. They killed themselves by squeezing the grenade against them, like this. Many objects found during the archaeological missions are stored here, in the Isamu Kuniyoshi museum, a friend of Tetsuji Hamada.

Isamu conducts his own excavations for almost 60 years. He has accumulated the largest collection remains of the Battle of Okinawa. On the shelves, guns, bombs, anti-personnel mines, grenades. An impressive number of weapons which testifies to the intensity of the fighting, during the three months of the Battle of Okinawa.

Among the most personal pieces from his collection, plaques of hundreds of Japanese, but also Americans. They are often the only memories soldiers who fell at the front. – Here it is written Yama N3475. It’s an identification plate. All the soldiers saw each other assign a number.

Only the officers had their full name engraved on this plaque. Unlike the soldiers who only had one number, so there are only officer plates which can be returned to families. While the fighting rage on the ground, another battle decisive is played out at sea. Several destroyers, aircraft carriers American and English,

Cross offshore to support landing on the ground. To counterattack, the Japanese headquarters chooses a terrifying tactic and desperate, sending suicide bombers. In April 1945, the command Japanese coordinates, the largest suicide attack of the Pacific War. Just in Okinawa, more than 1400 pilots, are sent crashing on the enemy fleet.

– From the end of 1944, the strategy of the suicide bombers was probably the only way left, of an inhumane strategy from which no one returns. However, these were not attacks carried out in a burst of supercharged fanaticism. On the contrary, I think that the suicide bombers left in peace,

Of a person who simply goes take his responsibilities. Off the coast of Okinawa still lie, many sunken boats by kamikaze planes. Jan Weirauch is a professional diver, installed in the archipelago for 10 years, He knows perfectly the seabed of the region. Today he goes to explore a wreck from the Battle of Okinawa,

The USS Emmons. During WWII, this 106 meter destroyer long was one of the florets, of the United States Navy. In June 44, he participated to Operation Overlord and supports the landing in Normandy. It is then converted into a mine sweeper and sent to Okinawa to participate to Operation Iceberg.

This is where his destiny changes. – The wreck is in good condition because there is very few divers who come here. It is quite deep, at 45 meters, so you have to be very experienced to go there. The wreck was only discovered in 2001 by Japanese coast guards and fishermen.

The fishermen had noticed traces of oil in the sea and they called the coast guard who spotted something with sonar. The USS Emmons lies north of Okinawa, off the coast of Kouri Island. The destroyer is lying on its side. On the ship, we can distinguish perfectly, traces of his military past.

On the bridge, several batteries anti-aircraft guns, are still in place. Very close to the back are still found, depth charge launchers. This defense system was among the most efficient in the fleet. However, the destroyer will not be able to resist, to a devastating kamikaze attack. On April 6, 1945,

Five Japanese planes hit him simultaneously. The first two touch the rear area and destroy the propeller and the rudder. The third hits the post starboard side communication, just in front of the mast. The fourth reaches the destroyer, one level above of the third impact, port side. The last plane crashes at the front,

Right in front of number one gun. Next to the wreckage still lies the engine from one of the Japanese devices, which hit the ship. On the evening of April 6, 1945, the destroyer is out of service. The next day, the Americans prefer to sink it themselves,

Rather than see it fall in the hands of the Japanese. After the discovery of the wreck, a plate was attached by the American army. She pays tribute to everyone sailors who fell in battle. Of the 254 crew members, 52 are dead or missing. Almost all were reservists.

Over the weeks, the losses soldiers accumulate, American and Japanese side. But the soldiers are not the only ones to pay with their lives for the invasion of Okinawa. Feeling that defeat is near, the Japanese command decides to encourage civilians to commit suicide. – The propaganda carried out against the Americans consisted of saying,

That it was better to kill yourself rather than being captured by the enemy, who would then enjoy torturing you. This propaganda, which was well rooted in Saipan and in the other islands, trained not only the soldiers, but also civilians to kill themselves,

Throwing yourself off a cliff or by blowing himself up with a grenade. On the island of Tokashiki, Yoshikatsu Yoshikawa accepts to bear witness to this black page, of Japanese history. He takes us to the precise location where the authorities, brought together the inhabitants this day in March 1945, to organize their collective suicide.

He was six years old at the time. It was shortly after the landing Americans. Planes and shells were flying over his head. – We came from our shelters anti-aircraft so far, following the river. When I arrived, it was already crowded and people formed groups by families. Shortly after, the mayor shouted:

“Long live the emperor!” My 16 year old older brother who worked at the town hall, came towards us with 2 grenades in hand and told us: “Our turn to do it.” We gathered in a circle. My brother hit the grenade against a stone, before throwing it among us.

But after five seconds, ten seconds, the grenade did not explode. My brother took second and did the same, but it didn’t explode either. My mother said to my older brother: “Throw those grenades and follow your cousins. It is not the moment for us to die. Yoshikatsu and his mother manage to escape,

But the little boy’s father is fatally hit by grenade shrapnel. Like him, nearly 400 inhabitants found death, during this absurd day. In total, the losses amounted to to 220,000 Japanese and 12,000 Americans in barely three months of combat.

The names of the dead from both camps are recorded on the steles of the Peace Memorial, on the main island of Okinawa. These colossal losses had an impact immediately on the outcome of the war. Okinawa will ultimately the last battle, of the Pacific campaign.

– The Americans assessed the losses of this battle of Okinawa. And they thought an attack of the main islands of Japan, was going to be extremely costly in human lives. At that time the war was completed in Europe in May 45

And the United States said to itself that they wanted to bring back their men and if possible not with your feet in front. American command therefore changes strategy. He refuses to land on the main islands of Japan. Its objective, to accelerate the bombardment massif of the archipelago, to force the emperor to capitulate.

During the first six months from the year 1945, 67 cities have already been hit and largely destroyed, including Tokyo. In August 45, it will be the turn Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to be reduced to ashes by a new weapon, which will forever change the face of the world. Atomic bomb.

The reason why the United States launched 2 atomic bombs, so close to Japan, remains the subject of debate still burning today. There is the traditional explanation. Truman dropped the bomb on end the war quickly and save 1 million of American lives. Now there is also many other explanations.

One of them is that the atomic bomb was the start of the Cold War. To show Stalin that the Americans had a new miraculous weapon, which would make the United States the only superpower. For this final bombardment, the United States wants to inflict maximum damage to the enemy. They hesitate between five cities.

Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Kokura, Niigata and Kyoto. All had been carefully spared from regular bombardments. It will ultimately be Hiroshima, a city of 350,000 inhabitants and an important military center. According to archival documents, the American army was looking for a sufficiently large city, fairly flat and clear, to test the capacity of this new bomb.

They also chose cities that had not yet been bombed, to assess the impact of the bomb. On August 6, 1945, at 2:45 a.m., the B-29 Flying Fortress, baptized Enola Gay, takes off from the American base from Tinian, in the Mariana Islands. At 8:15 a.m., the plane dropped on Hiroshima,

The first atomic bomb Of the history. In a few seconds, the city is reduced to nothing. Nearly 70% of buildings are destroyed and around 140,000 people are killed. A terrible assessment which can be explained by the position chosen by the Americans, to detonate the bomb.

On the day of June 6, the plane arrives above Hiroshima, at an altitude of 9,600 meters. Its target is the Aioi bridge, chosen for its T shape, easily recognizable from the sky. At 8:15 a.m., he dropped his bomb, slightly off its initial target, vertically from Shima Hospital, located 300 meters from the bridge.

We will call this point the hypocenter or Ground Zero. In a few seconds, the explosion of the Little Boy bomb, decimates the city. The damage extends over a surface of twelve square kilometers. If the effects of the bomb are also devastating, it’s because it explodes not on the ground, but at altitude.

A specific altitude, precisely to maximize damage. Little Boy explodes at 580 meters height. It generates a first shock wave which spreads like a ball of fire. This wave is then reflected on the ground and creates a second wave which propagates in turn at very high speed and ends up merging with the first.

We call this principle, the Mach Stem effect. From the moment when the 2 waves of shock add up, they then create an overpowering front, parallel to the ground, which razes everything in its path. After the explosion, the Mach Stem effect wanted by the Americans, almost destroyed all the buildings.

Yet one of them, the dome of Genbaku, held. Built in 1915 of bricks and concrete and not wood, like the buildings traditional Japanese. This exhibition hall industrial was styled, a steel-framed dome, covered with copper. 25 meters high, it was a landmark in the landscape, for the residents of Hiroshima.

If the building doesn’t collapse entirely during the explosion, is that it is located very close to the hypocenter, 150 meters to the northwest, too close to take the blast horizontal pest, of the Mach Stem effect. It is hit almost vertically and its solid concrete pillars manage to resist,

To the forces that apply then from top to bottom. Extreme temperatures due to incandescent gas, calcine anything that can burn. The 140 people who are inside are killed instantly. The copper of the dome melts instantly, but its steel structure, concrete and bricks manage to resist the heat.

This is why part of the building, remains standing amidst the rubble. 70 years later, the Genbaku dome is still there. The authorities have in fact decided to keep it, in his State of 1945. It has become the symbol of the city and was listed as heritage world of UNESCO.

Today he is one of the only buildings dating from the explosion. The rest of the city was completely rebuilt. Rebun Kayo is a doctor by profession, marked by an encounter with a Hiroshima survivor, when he was a child. He quickly became interested in the remains that the bomb left behind.

For around twenty years, he has been driving its own archaeological excavations and still manages to find the last traces of this terrible day, from August 1945. Accompanied by his former teacher Takashiro Sateda, he explores the bed of the Motoyasu River, located at the foot of the Hiroshima dome. – I found one.

It’s an angle. A fairly rare piece. Rebun can carry out his excavations only in the early morning or evening, when the river bed drops under the effect of the tide. Water at less than ten degrees, slippery pebbles and covered in sludge, the conditions excavations are painful.

But Rebun still manages to find some nuggets. Like this tile that covered a house near the dome. A perfectly two-tone tile, as if one of its sides had been covered with paint. We can clearly see the part of the tile which was covered with that, which melted in the heat of the explosion.

It is said that the heat released by the bomb atomic was about 4000 degrees. For two seconds. Leaving this kind of mark uniform on the tiles. This is a good way to distinguish the objects dating from this period And the others. In 1955, the city of Hiroshima erected the Peace Memorial,

To display objects dating from the explosion. Place of memory and contemplation, the museum has collected more than 20,000 objects brought back by survivors, or found during archaeological excavations. Remains that tell, each in their own way, The bombardment. A watch frozen in time exact of the explosion.

The bike and the burnt helmet of a small child, the tattered clothes of a schoolboy, or a young boy’s box of rice mobilized for work in town and who will never eat his meal. There is also this section of wall on which we still guess,

70 years later, the shadow of a bomb victim. This reconstruction filmed after the explosion, shows how man sitting to wait, the opening of the bank, left these marks on the ground. The atomic explosion frees such a bright flash, that it discolors all surfaces. Everywhere, except where there were objects or people.

An exhaust pipe, a pipe valve, a flower pot, thus imprints shadows on the ground, for years. In town, the bomb explodes nuclear power plant puts 18 hospitals out of commission and 32 clinics. 90% of medical staff died or was injured. No one to take care of survivors, sometimes very seriously burned.

The greatest confusion reigns amid the rubble. But off the coast of Hiroshima, a small island was spared. Ninoshima Island. This is where they will be transported thousands of injured, after the bombing, Rebun Kayo decided to lead there researches, to discover the latest remains of this era. The buildings have now disappeared.

But during the Second World War, the island hosted an important military hospital. Here there was an establishment quarantine, where the Japanese soldiers back from the front, came to receive an exam medical to check, that they were not carriers of a disease. There was also the same type establishment for horses

Who also went to the front during the war. The one who was at the location in front of us, welcomed the army horses. Today, buildings were destroyed and the vegetation covered everything. Rebun still manages to put uncovering the old foundations, from the military hospital. It is here that in 1945,

The injured were transported after the explosion, often in critical condition. Rebun Kayo dug for two months in the place, from the old quarantine center for horses. He could not extract from the ground just a few objects, a vial, proof of the past island medical, but also a comb, a pipe,

Shirt buttons or a belt buckle. I guess she was left there when the bones were recovered. This is my first find. It takes me back to a touching memory, it’s the one who truly made me, realize that I found myself on a land, where men died and were buried.

On the island of Ninoshima, most of the survivors do not survive. No funerals here nor a last tribute. Some of the victims is cremated in this oven, where were once burned dead horses. The others are buried in staggered rows in mass graves, dug by soldiers.

Hundreds of bodies which have since been dug up and carried to the grave unknown victims, at the Hiroshima Memorial. At the time of the explosion, the Little Boy bomb, releases a huge amount radioactivity, which spreads over the city an insidious evil. Vomiting, diarrhea, hair loss. Many residents who escaped explosion or fire,

Will later die of diseases. Today, radioactivity has returned, at its natural level in Hiroshima. To find traces of the effects atomic bomb pests, you have to go to the Foundation for research, on the effects of radioactivity. It is here that are kept medical records, thousands of survivors of the explosion,

Created by the Americans in 1947, under the name of Commission on the victims of the bomb, The center has now become a Japanese-American foundation managed by the Japanese. Since the war and until today, survivors of Hiroshima go there regularly, to monitor their state of health. These are exams relatively ordinary,

Namely the measurement height and weight. A status questionnaire patient health, as well as his family history. An x-ray of the rib cage. An ultrasound of the heart. The Commission left very bad memories for the Japanese. During the post-war period, while the Japan is under American occupation,

The center is accused of treating the survivors, like guinea pigs. In a context of occupation by the Americans, I was told that survivors have were forcibly taken into the commission and that the first years were difficult. But since the group of survivors was established in 1958, after the end of the occupation,

The survivors grant us their voluntary participation. The foundation also carefully preserved, biological samples taken from survivors. Around 1 million samples blood and urine to observe the impact of radioactivity on the human body, the immune system and cells. Some are kept under slats since 1947, others, more recent, are kept in liquid nitrogen,

To -185 degrees Celsius. These are cells survivor blood. They are kept here in these liquid nitrogen tanks, for decades, so we can use them for future research. We carry out studies on the immune system and more particularly the functioning of white blood cells. This is the largest epidemiological study,

On the effects of radioactivity. Most of what we know today on cancers and other pathologies caused by radioactivity, comes from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I think the survivors got the feeling of being mistreated. They came to this American center in the hope of being treated, but instead, they were treated like guinea pigs.

Today, it has given way to the idea that their sacrifice, should not have been in vain. Yes, they had been exposed. Yes, they had suffered. But with a little luck, the world will learn the lessons, of the horror of atomic bombs and my body will provide proof. Despite the toll of Hiroshima,

Emperor Hirohito refuses to capitulate. Just 3 days later the first atomic bomb, the Americans decide to strike Japan again. Three days apart, it didn’t leave time in Japanese, to assess the damage and develop a response. The researchers claim that the Americans dropped the bombs, quickly because they wanted that the Japanese surrender,

Before the Soviet Union goes to war and demands an occupation joint of Japan. On August 9, 1945, at 3:49 a.m., a new B-29 plane takes off. On board, Fat Man. A plutonium bomb even more powerful, than the one dropped on Hiroshima. His target, the town of Kokura. But once arrived in the area,

Clouds have gathered above the region. The pilot cancels the shot and then heads towards the second city ​​from his list, Nagasaki. The initial target is in the heart of the city center, very close to the port. But on this August morning, the sky is slightly cloudy

And the pilot drops the bomb in the wrong place. At 11:02 a.m., Fat Man explodes 3 kilometers further, above the Urakami Valley. Like in Hiroshima, the shock wave spreads parallel to the ground and devastates everything in its path. But she finds herself blocked by the hills that surround the valley.

The most populated part of Nagasaki is spared and the damage is localized around from the hypocenter of the explosion. In the Urakami Valley, the damage is massive. Eight square kilometers destroyed and 75,000 deaths. Today the city has been completely rebuilt, but Ground Zero remains a place particularly moving memory.

Some remains remind us the scale of the disaster, like this sacred door cut in two. In Nagasaki, it’s a cathedral which symbolizes the bombing. Urakami Cathedral. It was located only 500 meters from the hypocenter. Today, statues recovered from the rubble, are on display in front of the new building.

At the time, it was one of the most important churches in Asia. Nagasaki is then the historic center Christians from Japan, especially Catholics. Shigemi Fukahori is one of the faithful of the parish. On August 9, 1945, he worked in the city’s shipyards, located three kilometers from the hypocenter.

But in church, activity is in full swing. August 15 is the day of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Many believers were in church to prepare for the event and confess their sins. As it was the holidays, 15 children came at the church and two priests, to carry out confessions.

All perished inside following the bomb explosion. Before coming back, I was convinced that the church had held up. As it is a building big and strong, but upon arriving at point zero, the view was clear and I noticed that we couldn’t see plus the church tower.

I told myself that there was no more of hope for my home. On August 9, 45, the cathedral is hit head on, by the blast of the bomb. She is pulverized. After the explosion, the statue of Christ is turned over. Part of the facade and some sections of walls still standing,

Overlook an apocalyptic landscape. The rest of the building is on the ground, including the bell tower who rolled down the hill. The church was rebuilt, so that worship continues and for remember the centuries of persecution, Christians in Japan. Among the remains of the building who resisted the explosion, there is a particular room,

The one who gave hope to the faithful of the parish. The face of the Virgin Mary, now nicknamed the Virgin bombed. The statue was discovered by a priest from Hokkaido, that he kept for himself before to return it 30 years later. It was once thought that his eyes were made of crystal,

But I think it was glass, they melted. But only the eyes melted and the rest of the wooden face has been preserved. It’s like a miracle. I told myself this is the way of which Mary wanted to tell us, how bad the war was.

The names of the faithful who died in the bombing are registered, in this room under the gaze benevolent of the Virgin. Of the 12,000 Christians from the Urakami valley, 8500 were decimated by the Fat Man bomb and among them, the 3 brothers by Shigemi Fukahori. After this double atomic bombing,

Emperor Hirohito announces the unconditional surrender of Japan. More than 100,000 Japanese had already died, in the bombing of Tokyo on March 10, 1945, that is to say an equivalent bombardment in terms of human losses, in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Despite everything, the headquarters imperial always intended, to go all the way.

But with Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the fact that so many Japanese citizens were killed with a single bomb, the headquarters took awareness that it was necessary, stop sacrificing again no more innocent people. Hiroshima and Nagasaki obviously precipitated the surrender of Japan. But another factor was at play.

August 9, the same day as Nagasaki, Stalin decides to invade Manchukuo, a state controlled by Japan. All Japanese generals knew what happened to the Tsar of Russia, during the communist revolution. If they really wanted save the emperor, the last thing they wanted, let Stalin jointly occupy, Japan with the Americans.

It would have been a threat much larger. Surrender to the United States was considered a lesser evil and because of the atomic bomb, the soldiers were able to save face. They hadn’t really lost on the battlefield. At the end of a murderous war,

The fall of Imperial Japan made bring the country into a new era. The emperor lost his divine character and Japan became a democracy. 70 years later, the work of archaeologists and the testimony of survivors, remind us at what price this new nation was built.

They allow us to reconstruct a black page of history, so that new generations never forget, these days of August 1945 where the atomic bomb, destroyed the cities from Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Sous la forme d’une enquête scientifique, le film vous emmène à la découverte de ces traces cachées que le conflit a laissé derrière lui et qui, des dizaines d’années après, sont redécouvertes par les archéologues. Grâce à des enquêtes sur le terrain, à des infographies inédites, des interviews d’historiens et des témoignages de survivants, ce documentaire vous fera revivre de manière inédite les derniers mois de cette guerre dévastatrice qui a précipité la chute du Japon Impérial.
Réalisateur : MARIE LINTON ET GUILAIN DEPARDIEN