Why isn’t Hiroshima a Nuclear Wasteland?

On August 6th, 1945, the people of Hiroshima, Japan became some of the only humans to ever witness firsthand the awesome and terrible power of an atom split for offensive purposes. Today, the city is a thriving metropolis. Why isn’t it radioactive? Why isn’t it abandoned like Chernobyl? This [HALF-LIFE HISTORY] travels to Japan to explain why.
0:00 Intro
1:09 "BOMBS: Special"
7:45 Fallout
9:39 Hiroshima vs Chernobyl
10:37 Hiroshima today
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[@kylehill]

*Thanks for watching.* This is our first footage from Japan. The rest will be a series of videos about Fukushima, where we stayed for a week exploring the Exclusion Zone and the Daiichi Power Plant.

[@mememachine3451]

Oooooooo that will be an interesting video

[@classicalextremism]

"There would be no leaflets dropped" This is wrong. There were leaflets dropped. It was all part of SOP to drop leaflets on major cities ahead of a bombing - and not just the target so the opponent wouldnt know where to expect you. Those leaflets were dropped about a week in advance. World War Wings has photos and translations of the leaflets.

[@calebb5106]

thank you Kyle for making this series of videos, we need more of these. i love this series and love learning things my schools never thought about or dared teaching

[@SuperSaiyaGinge]

Did you have a chance to meet some other content creators based in Japan? Chris Broad would have probably liked to have met you.

[@patricknez7258]

Thank you for awesome vid and content Science Thor ⚡⚒

[@luvpants2012]

It's terrifying to think how "small" the Hiroshima bomb was compared to today's standards.

[@falkeborg9432]

Yeah

[@timothycarey3883]

Hydrogen bombs make it look like a cheap firecracker.

[@Knowledge.to_Come]

I wonder how it must have felt to be the one who released it onto japan

[@tarpanc34]

@@Knowledge.to_Come it was a payback deal over pearl harbor he didnt mind at all .. no regrests

[@tarpanc34]

its just a sad thought that it wasnt china..would have saved us from china virus covid..

[@MH-yx2pk]

As a Japanese born and raised in Hiroshima, I really appreciate how this video handled such delicate topic with respect. Every August 6th 8:15am, we pray a minute of silence with the sound of siren hoping no one will suffer with enormous, awful pain that Hiroshima ever had🕊️ If you interested in visiting Hiroshima, I absolutely recommend to add Atomic bomb dome, peace memorial park and museum to your itinerary. (And you MUST try Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki:)

[@Newspaper2007]

I visited Japan and Hiroshima last year. The okonomiyaki was very good. I liked it better than Osaka.

[@L33tSkE3t]

May I ask you a question, and I mean no ill will as this is just out of curious inquiry. Do you feel there could have been a less destructive or devastating way to ending the war in the pacific or do you think that dropping those Nukes was necessary to force a Japanese surrender. I’m still unsure how I feel about it all. Obviously I wouldn’t want any people from any country to have to experience such a hellish weapon but, do you feel as through the sheer power of the bombs expeditiously forced Japan, a country built on Honor, into surrender. I’m genuinely asking and I hope my question doesn’t come off as hostile or insensitive as that is in no way my intention I hope to Visit Japan soon as I have such love for the extraordinary kind and hospitable people and the culture of your beautiful nation. It is truly an island gemstone on planet Earth. I hope for a long continued alliance between our countries 🇺🇸❤️🇯🇵

[@yusufbektas1961]

Would you mind telling me the name of the august 6th ritual?

[@jakevongxay1258]

@@L33tSkE3tI remember this debate in history class, a lot of my class voted that the Nike was the best option and that they were given warnings to leave so it was fair

[@gtlover2011]

I visited Nagasaki and Nanking few years ago. And I strongly recommend y'all to pay a visit to both places. It's like only visiting Russia if they get nuked afterwards but not paying a visit in Ukraine which is absurd.

[@nsbd90now]

7:25 "...less than a gram of matter converted directly into energy... an entire city obliterated... by the weight of a butterfly..."

[@PrestonGarvey69]

Absolutely terrifying.

[@OriruBastard]

A certain nuclear physicist quit his job after he realised it would be possible to fit a working nuke in to a suitcase.

[@EllieMaes-Grandad]

Fleming used that idea in some of his James Bond 007 novels - "The man with the heavy suitcase". @@OriruBastard

[@UBZUKki]

Jeez

[@davidevans3227]

less than a gram!? jeepers...

[@Danny_Matson]

The elementary school I work at in Hiroshima planted the flowers in the Hiroshima plant at the end of your video. I'm happy you came here and made this to educate more people about Hiroshima today. Thank you.

[@26acorn34]

I’ll never forget visiting there. I was wandering around the park looking at the paper crane displays when a Japanese man approached me and asked where I was from. I hesitated for a minute-not wanting to admit it in this place-but then told him that I was American. He proceeded to welcome me to the country and thank me for visiting, and we had a nice conversation. In that moment, I felt more hope for peace than I ever had. It’ll stick with me for the rest of my life.

[@artstation707]

I thought you were going to say he said no atomic bomb dropped, but instead it was just firebombs.

[@antoniolim762]

Imagine if it was not an American but those who come from a nation who were abused by the Japanese during the war that visited there tho...The People of Japan...they would still welcome you with respect and hospitality, no 2 ways about it...the Japanese thrive on polite tradition and never really directly apologizing in words for the war time misgivings...their actions (in their nation and around the world...post war) have been more than enough to know how real and meant are their sorrows and unspoken apologies...unlike other loud apologist nations that never took real actions but continued the abuses.

[@VeganSemihCyprus33]

The truth shines no matter how much they try to cover it 👉 The Connections (2021) [Short documentary] 👈💖

[@__Mr.White__]

@@antoniolim762 "unlike other loud apologist nations that never took real actions but continued the abuses" like who?

[@ali94hn]

To be fair, you being american has nothing to do with the then "dictator" or president of America's decision, so you have no responsibility for that, and the Japanese man probably wasn't alive when it happened, so it doesn't affect him either... Kinda like how some black people now, are mad at white people now, because their ancestors used to be slave-owners... That has nothing to do with the white person of today, or the black person of today, that was the past...

[@tristanjff]

Visited the museums in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Easily many of the most humbling and harrowing images I have ever seen. I think so many people just know that the bombs happened, but have zero awareness about what they actually did.

[@Slenderslayer351]

​@@InquisitorXariusIt's instantaneous Edit: I was referring to it being instantaneous when you're close enough to Ground Zero now please stop telling me otherwise

[@mazoku112]

Eh idk about that the misery caused there was frankly just as horrific and instantaneous. War in itself no matter what side you are on is a horrific act. Murdering innocents no matter which side is not right.

[@Outland9000]

It really struck me when arriving in Hiroshima after visiting Kyoto and Osaka was the lack of any older buildings across a large section of the city. It was abundantly clear that this whole city had been rebuilt after a cataclysmic event.

[@juslitor]

@@InquisitorXarius At a suitable distance from the explosion the suffering you would experience would be no different from Nanking or Unit 731

[@juslitor]

@@mazoku112 Alas, indiscriminate murder is in the human nature.

[@thehomophobickidsinclass6588]

I loved that you were talking to some school children at the end. From the way you were gesturing and the way they were listening, I can guess that you seemed to be teaching them something while they were on a school trip to learn about the subject you were researching and so you took the time to give them more detail. Keep being smart, Kyle. You're doing the good in the world.

[@desertodavid]

I was stationed just south of Japan at the Marine Corps Air Station four different times. Every time I went to Hiroshima Peace Park the kids were very eager to practice their English with us Americans. they were very friendly, and grateful for the opportunity. I got some sort of dirty looks from several of the older people one old man in particular was really upset with me. He must have been around 30 to 35 years old when the bomb went off.

[@tm75_88]

Thank you a lot Kyle I've been always wondering about this, while nobody seemed be talking about. You solved me a historical doubt. You edited the video so well too, and you spread genuine care for the city and human life in general. Better than mainstream medias. Thanks again🙏 Thomas from Italy

[@winterfellwhall9934]

I swear Kyle is no doubt the most respectful science communicator that talks about these sensitive topics. He never goes the deviated way, he just wants to educate his audience and that's amazing.

[@BiggerBossN313]

Imagine one day he just flips and starts lying blatantly

[@michaelbobic7135]

I think Mr. Hill's success is because he respects us and doesn't treat us like comic fodder. He's a model for social media educators.

[@danielmartin4596]

@@BiggerBossN313 As cool a turnabout as it would be I dont think that would work though, so much of his audience are the kind of people who go " oh thats interesting" and start doing more research into whatever it is.

[@collingalanos1783]

@@BiggerBossN313 Then, he could become The President.

[@kentallen6328]

Kyle is CIA, the US dropped the bombs to flex on the soviets. You don’t need to invade mainland Japan to end a war against an island with no navy or fuel left

[@cordeg6724]

Tsutomu Yamaguchi, an engineer with Mitsubishi, was on a business trip to Hiroshima when the bomb was dropped on August 6th. He had been walking to the train station about 1.5 miles from ground zero. He suffered ruptured eardrums, radiation burns, temporary blindness, and numerous body injuries. He managed to find his colleagues Akira Iwanaga and Kuniyoshi Sato, who had also survived, and they spent the night in an air raid shelter. He managed to return with them to his hometown, received medical attention for his injuries, and returned from his trip to work at his office on August 9th. He was trying to explain to his boss what happened in Hiroshima, but his boss could not believe that one bomb could destroy a whole city, and Japanese authorities had suppressed the news to avoid destroying morale. As he was arguing with his boss at the office -- in Nagasaki -- the second bomb was dropped about 2 miles away, and Tsutomu saw the flash through the office windows. He received his second dose of radiation, leading to many days of radiation sickness, but escaped additional serious injuries. Although he had long-term skin issues, he went on to lead a relatively healthy life for nearly 65 *more* years, raising three children, before being diagnosed with leukemia and dying of stomach cancer in 2010.

[@bunnylebowski4465]

What a horrific experience to be apart of TWICE 😭😭😭

[@ChrisBrengel]

Incredible story! I had heard something about it, but thank you for all of the details.

[@jonnyfromdonny5000]

should be a movie about this man

[@wokecults]

I remember reading about this story before. Amazing.

[@Meatriderphobic]

Yeah I heard about this. Still shocks me like the first time I heard it.

[@ralphforbes5807]

Always such a respectful way in handling these subjects, but also well informed and not trying to bs it

[@SA80TAGE]

yep better to just ignore the casual war crimes of targeting civilian population centres. Makes the yanks look bad..... ain't no way a Yank would ever admit to being the bad guys in any situation. Too much pride fueled by propaganda.

[@TinkerManMick]

Always wondered about this. Thanks Kyle!

[@MrCrusher74]

One of my favorite things about kyle is the range with which he can capture our attentions. Whether its a lighthearted video about how physics in a video game would work in the real world, or a solemn video deep diving into real world accomplishments and tragedies stemming from the invention of nuclear power; Kyle captures your attention in a way that makes you forget you're actually learning something. One of my favorite "edutainers" to be sure

[@MegaFPVFlyer]

I guess you'd call it tonal dynamic range. He can go from telling real tragedys (with the respect they deserve) to a wacky video about getting stepped on by the resident evil lady.

[@starman2995]

And don't forget the memes in his community tab, that certainly broadens the range of "themes".

[@clusterstage]

a simple balance, unlike other channels overproud of their animations.

[@bigfunny6312]

It's actually why I don't watch. Scientific click bait, by definition.

[@patricknez7258]

Spot on Kyle super talented and has ton of range. Best science edutainer in the game imo ⚡💯

[@Sempergrumpy441]

Not warning the Japanese wasn't entirely true, Truman actually sent a letter to the leaders of Japan a week before the first bomb. The problem was he VASTLY downplayed the significance of the bomb both in his letter and at the Potsdam Conference. This was largely the reason some people think Oppenheimer immediately regretted his invention. He had no ill feelings towards the bomb, he just realized the people now in charge of it were woefully incapable of understanding it. Effectively handing a gun to a baby.

[@braxon]

We all know that the U.S. warned Japan to surrender or face destruction from the air. If you play close attention to what Kyle Hill was saying, he prefaced it with "no leaflets". Interpreting his statement within the context of the other things he said, as you should, he was referring to warnings to the populace of the city, not the war leaders of the country. Other cities had received preliminary runs with leaflets warning about bombings before they happened. Hiroshima did not.

[@hxhdfjifzirstc894]

The question of 'warnings' of any kind is ridiculous on its face. Japan literally did a sneak attack on America, without even declaring war, first. Japan STARTED the war. What kind of a beeyatch starts a war, and then complains when they get their azz kicked? Don't start #$&*, and there won't be any #&(!.

[@watchingperson5357]

To add to this: Truman and some of the military brass *DID* know about its destructive power. They deliberately did not choose Kyoto because they knew it would destroy a location with high cultural importance. So instead of a baby, they were handing a gun to a teenager that was too eager to test it out.

[@watchingperson5357]

@@user-wq4fb7zt8y That fact is still disputed to this day, considering the Russians (Imperial Japan's lifeline) was preparing to declare war on Japan. Either way, the use of the atomic bomb was definitely rushed - they could have saved even more victims if they had spread leaflets, they could have waited for Russia's declaration to see if a surrender was now negotiable, they could have chosen a demonstration instead of flat out terror bombing.

[@seanmcloughlin5983]

I feel terrible for the victims and people of Hiroshima and Nagaski, but it was 100% the fault of the Japanese government who’d spent the last decade trying to take over Asia and refusing to accept the terms necessary for surrender. They’d lost, it was over, but they just let the bombs keep dropping in hopes either the Americans would lose heart or the Soviets could mediate a more favorable peace And they were wrong on both accounts.

[@cyanimation1605]

4:02 Captain Robert A. Lewis broke the silence with "Well... _that_ just happened."

[@Cat-Branchman]

Very nice presentation. Informative, brief enough to not become fatigued watching, but complete in content and paced perfectly. Thank you for all your hard work!

[@bryanb7918]

That feeling when Kyle has been more dedicated to his Half-life series in just a few years, than Valve has in two decades

[@DOOT_II]

lmao

[@rexosaurus3610]

wrong vid

[@kindlin]

@@rexosaurus3610 get out of our amazing comment thread

[@LordPhobos6502]

Damn, that's a harsh burn. Accurate though!

[@RedLeader327]

Well played.

[@ninji522]

The most informative and educational 13 min I have ever witnessed, well done and you got a sub.

[@travistolbert2647]

Just a slight criticism of the video when Kyle says that the atomic bomb program was the most expensive in history at the time as it was actually the second most expensive. The most expensive program at the time was the delivery system of the atomic weapons, the B-29 Super Fortress which was nearly 1.5 times as expensive!

[@marthabest5131]

My father was a medic in the army that occupied first Hiroshima then Nagasaki. They slept on the ground. Even the US forces had no idea what had been unleashed. He died young from a rare form of cancer and my mother received a pension as an 'atomic war widow'. There actually were a lot of them. I am so glad that both cities are thriving and non-radioactive. As he would have been.

[@jogndidd9360]

I don’t believe you

[@Kamikaze-pilot.]

Your father died of curse...

[@planetcaravan2925]

​@@Kamikaze-pilot.Of course

[@sheekie127]

If we actually dropped nukes, those cities would be completely uninhabitable like Chernobyl or bikini atoll

[@VelvetRockStudios]

@@sheekie127 , so you are saying that you don't understand neutron activation and half-lives. Got it.

[@joeylandry4933]

My aunt was Japanese and she as a young woman suffered radiation poisoning from one of those bombs. I can’t remember which city she was near but she and my uncle who met her when he was in the army during the Korean War never were able to have any children of their own. So she spoiled my sister and my uncle would take us boys with him in his tractor trailer. She went through so much pain and suffering but was always happy or positive and kept the cleanest home you ever saw.

[@lolololloggbroooo12]

@@topsuperseven7910 ?

[@viscountdominus806]

@@topsuperseven7910Guh

[@salamandergamer2063]

We can't even fathom all the unseen consequences like this in war. Economic strain (and the divorces that come with it), generational fatherlessness, malnutrition and disease, generational ethnic hatred etc. Good to hear she didn't let it get her down

[@topsuperseven7910]

@@lolololloggbroooo12 That didn't happen.

[@solar0wind]

​​@@salamandergamer2063lso generational trauma not just from the war itself, but also from e.g. the mass-r*pes committed by most parties of the war. I'm German, and we grow up hearing about the atrocities Germans committed at school, but at home we also hear personal stories about the things the Allies did to German (and also other!) civilian women, especially the Soviets and partly the Moroccans in the French army. I mean traumatising things that my grandparents and people they know actually experienced when they were children. Of course, the Germans were worst by far, but still most of the Allies were at least partly horrible. The only people who were actually decent were the British. There's a wholesome story where a guy who served in the SS as a teenager was held captive in Scotland and actually became life-long friends with the people in the neighbouring village because they treated him so well, and when he died a few years ago he left all his money to the village.

[@Tomles86]

Kudos to you for doing such an amazing job on this video.

[@joaomachado4260]

"Scared... but healed" beautiful quote for such an amazing place

[@kapt980]

The part where Kyle talks about the lack of efficiency left me speechless. I always thought the destructive power of those things was terrifying but sorta "okay" based on what we learn at school, but now knowing that is was effectively less than 1% of its power is mind-bending.

[@emryspaperart]

this. i never knew this bit and that makes modern nukes so so so much more terrifying

[@kapt980]

@@emryspaperart right? Just trying to imagine the destructive power of several thousand times Hiroshima is just crazy. Why did we even built those things to begin with? I'm all for nuclear energy but harnessing this kind of power as a weapon is not a path we should/should've walked upon.

[@theuncalledfor]

@@kapt980 They were built because others couldn't be trusted not to also build them. The mere possibility of these weapons existing, in the hands of people who do not have your best interests in mind, necessitates having them. It seems insane but it is frighteningly logical. If an enemy has nukes, and you don't, then you _have_ to surrender, or else they'll use them. If you do have nukes, you can threaten to use them if the enemy uses theirs. Also note that nukes can be used for peaceful purposes. The Orion Drive uses them for propulsion, and this is the only engine type that we could build with existing technology, that I'm aware of, that could potentially reach other star systems within a reasonable amount of time (a few decades instead of multiple thousands of years). Certainly, nukes are a mixed blessing. They can prevent wars, but they also could end our species and most large terrestrial life if someone ends up being crazy enough to start a nuclear war anyway. It's hard to quantify how much good and how much evil was caused by them, because we don't know how many wars were potentially prevented by them.

[@Yora21]

When you convert matter completely into pure energy, it's following E = mc². c is the speed of light. 300,000,000 m/s. Already a very large number. c*c is 300,000,000 * 300,000,000. Which is 90,000,000,000,000,000. A mind boggling huge number.

[@MarkLac]

@@theuncalledforthat’s the big part. Without any Nuclear Weapons, god only knows how many more wars would have followed. I have no doubt a Third World War would have happened not even years after the Second World War, especially as there was a major amount of distrust between The West and The Soviet Union.

[@fahimfaisal7571]

"An entire city, obliterated, by the weight of a butterfly" That sent chills down my spine.

[@geoms6263]

oh ye? read what atrocities comited imperial Japan....🤮🤮🤮🤮

[@NightGhost-qs6yw]

@@geoms6263 Atrocities do not excuse other atrocities.

[@fahimfaisal7571]

@@geoms6263 I didn't say the line to point to any atrocities. I was simply pointing out that we, as a species, are capable of such immense destruction from such a tiny amount of matter. In a way, it also represents the power we hold. We are tiny humans, nothing in compared to the earth, but we have the ability the obliterate the whole planet multiple times over with a push of some buttons.

[@gabrielgingras814]

@@geoms6263 Way to completely misinterpret his statement.

[@Mr.Incrediblis]

@@NightGhost-qs6ywmassive wisdom resoect

[@kemoni221]

You deserve every single one of those 7M+ views and more. I love all your videos, but Half-Life Stories is definetely my favourite. It's incredible how well researched, filmed, and of course narrated this series is. You've fleshed it out into being something truly awesome, and you are a shining example of what online creators should strive to achieve. Stay great!

[@GoldRaven-oe4by]

As awful as it was the atomic bombs killed less people than conventional firebombs/regular bombs and because they were airburst the city wasn't "cratered" or heavily irradiated so it could be rebuilt quickly relatively speaking

[@agagabagaga]

My family on my father’s side is from Hiroshima. My great-grandmother is still alive today, living in an care home designated for atomic bomb survivors, having been 8 living in the city during the explosion. She walked roughly 15 miles to a nearby town she knew she had family in. I can only imagine what she witnessed on that walk. My great-grandfather was in a tram during the explosion incredibly near to the epicentre, and miraculously was only blinded in one eye by shattered glass of the tram. I really appreciate this video, as so many people are shocked that Hiroshima ‘exists’ as a completely normal city.

[@NaisanSama]

Happy that she lived

[@The-Martian73]

We only can imagine !

[@jpierrot7224]

No 1 understands or are taught that it thankfully isn’t like Fallout games & movies of that kind.

[@beaufortboy77]

I grandmother grew up in Osaka, she talked about walking through Hiroshima a few weeks after it was hit with the bomb she said it just looked like a field with nothing in it. She died a few years ago but her stories have stayed with me and I always reflect on that one.

[@tarstarkusz]

No offense, but your family deserved it. You started a war and lost. Even when it was obvious you could not win, you refused to surrender. I do agree that the policy of "unconditional surrender" was evil and should never have been demanded. But those were the breaks. Really, were the residents of Hiroshima any worse off than the residents of Tokyo? The destruction of Tokyo was FAR greater. Almost every square mile of Tokyo was bombed and burned to the ground.

[@someguy-vk5pl]

My grandpa, who is still living today, was a 9 year old boy living in Tokushima prefecture. He saw the mushroom cloud with his own eyes. I've never spoken to him directly about the experience, but I can only imagine what that would have been like.

[@owenevans3703]

Wow that’s insane. Wish we could get an interview with him

[@obi-wankenobi8446]

Probably not as bad as what his parentage did in Nanjing

[@johnny7238]

Ask him if would have picked the spear they were going to give him and his mom

[@SAB4554]

I read 'Grandma was a 9 year old boy' and was like wait... What!!??

[@kaylielewis4871]

@@obi-wankenobi8446 Wow, what a kind and insightful thing to say about someone's trauma.

[@benny4894]

This is one of your better historical pieces yet. I'll abstain from criticism and thank you for coming so far in your journey as a storyteller.

[@mikemcconeghy4658]

I visited Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park in the mid-90s. I also recommend Dave Barry's article about his visit. He's normally a humor columnist, but he produced a moving write-up after going there.

[@franciscoguinledebarros4429]

The ratio of how much material actually underwent fission is actually insane, an entire city cracked under the might of a pinch of matter, you "could" have all the uranium that actually exploded on the palm of your hand Really puts not only the might of the atom into perspective, but also e = m × c² as a whole

[@edwardscott3262]

There's pictures of people holding the first bomb cores. People forget that radioactive isotopes with really long half lives aren't that radioactive. You can also find pictures and videos of people handling reactor rods with their bare hands and just rubber gloves. You could quite literally hold all the U-235 that underwent fission in your hand and not suffer from it. The plutonium too. Most of people's fears come from intentionally cultured paranoia. A good example. There were nearly 100 open air tests in Nevada. We nuked our own country way more than any other place on earth. It just rarely gets mentioned. Nobody flying over the south west ever looks out their plane window and says "OH MY GOD LOOK AT THAT NUCLEAR WASTELAND!" It doesn't glow, there's no giant mutants, or anything else people have come to expect. If nearly 100 open air nukes and nearly 1,000 total nuclear tests in the same relatively small test site didn't do that nothing will. As a bonus people are allowed there once or twice every year and can see it for themselves. On another note Chernobyl stayed a functioning nuclear power plant for years after the one core melted down. I think it was 14 years but check for yourself on that. Either way people worked there long after what people saw on the special. Just regular day to day drudgery.

[@Phrygid]

c is an absolutely massive number, well beyond what human beings are capable of understanding intuitively. Nearly a third of a billion meters per second. And then you square it for this equation. In that perspective, it makes total sense that something so small could contain so much energy.

[@robertoroberto9798]

Well said. It still amazes me just how powerful atoms are, and how unbelievable that we did all of this almost a century ago.

[@DenethordeSade.90]

​@@Phrygidit is still awe inspiring to imagine though, it almost wants disbelief.

[@fastst1]

That's why the original scientists thought the first test might ignite the entire atmosphere, they did the math for the entire mass, now that's scary

[@maryellenthorp7831]

I lived in Japan and went to Nagasaki, it was life altering. It’s in a valley and to view the aftermath you needed to go up on a trolley and at that point you could see the Before/after/now of Nagasaki looked/looks like. The museum at ground zero was unbelievable. I was in my early 20’s and for some reason felt like “this should not happen - something like this should not be something you can ever recover from.” It was so intense I can’t express it enough. 🙏❤️

[@dancox6509]

I thought it was interesting that in the Nagasaki Peace Museum, the Japanese took responsibility for the war and the US dropping the atomic bombs. Yet when the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington DC was set to display the Enola Gay the original plaque proposed exhibit script, was perceived as an attack on America's conduct during the war.

[@Traderlife123]

Extinction of living being will be by the hands of humans!

[@lamia197]

@@dancox6509 "Japanese took responsibility for the war" Meanwhile Japan denying they committed any atrocities ( Apologies they made were contradicted later on). Hiding the fact that 10% of the deaths in the bomb were Koreans and Chinese they dragged into forced labor. Yeah.....took responsibility....

[@notthatinnocent86]

​@@dancox6509Dropping an atomic bomb on two cities full of civilians isn't exactly the best conduct of war, however justified. But that's war for you

[@supahcomix]

​@@notthatinnocent86 I would rather be vaporized than a Nanking resident

[@feliciawebb6081]

I really appreciate your tone in this video; it’s such an interesting part of history and you were so respectful. Thank you for this video.

[@antlerthyme]

I like learning about nuclear power, and nuclear accidents, but not nuclear bombs. I'm not entirely sure why, but when the harm is intentional, it hits me so much harder

[@thegamesforreal1673]

As a physicist and teacher myself, I have massive amounts of respect for your clear and concise explanations of these topics, and the respect you show to these horrible past events. Great ending to an already great video, Kyle.

[@philosophy_bot4171]

Beep bop... I'm the Philosophy Bot. Here, have a quote: "You must be the change you wish to see in the world" ~ Mahatma Gandhi

[@AlCatSplat]

@@philosophy_bot4171 this ain't reddit bludshnawg 💀

[@PURGEgroomersfromAmerica]

@@philosophy_bot4171​​⁠ It was all a PsyOps, history was altered by Rothschild and Rockefeller they are going to destroy America ….WATCH THE DOCUMENTARY-EVERYTHING IS A RICH MANS TRICK

[@DrLonePony]

I never really knew this, I guess part of me assumed there was reasons why it was less talked about with fallout articles or videos, but seeing you there really hit me with a dose of reality. The sadness, the history and the majestic will of a people to transform the city from such horrific sights. Thank you for educating me.

[@mral4381]

A miracle there seemed to be little to no long term effects.

[@totorosghost]

@@mral4381 Looks like it was planned that way. Imagine if it hit the ground and contaminated the soil. Knowing this makes it seem this was the most merciful way to use the bombs and end the war. Ground war would have been arguably worse.

[@cheeririnaldo435]

I was in Kyoto on the annual anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. An elderly man was standing on a busy sidewalk, handing out the folded paper dolls representing the victims of the nuclear bombs. He was waiting for me to pass near him. I sensed his focus and as I got nearer, it was as if everyone/everything around me went into slow motion. It was just the two of us. He looked me straight in the eye, which is unusual for a Japanese person, then silently handed me a paper doll and bowed deeply. I accepted it and bowed as deeply in return. It was a brutally humbling, heartbreaking experience. Thirty seven years later I still have that folded paper doll.

[@Electricoutthehand]

This was one of my favorite videos on this channel! Damn good

[@euanflanagan812]

When I went to the museum in Hiroshima our tour guide told us that because of Japans relationship with the U.S they have removed many of the graphic images. It was sad to hear this because what happened was a lesson and shouldn’t be censored

[@immunetou2]

I appreciate your sentiment, but at a basic concept perspective, how could you have a peace park while horrific images are shown? The two are incongruent. It is impossible to move on from a tragedy if you constantly remind yourself of the horror of the actual tragic event. Removing most horrific imagery doesn't make you forget something happened. It would be like, "here, look at these images of mutilated bodies, let's hug and forgive each other." War is atrocious and horrible, it is hell and there really are no rules. At some point though, you have leave the horrid behind if you want healing. Otherwise, wars would never end...and maybe that is the point for some people. They never want wars to end (literal or personal wars), which continues the cycle of blame, anger, resentment and hatred. Those are not recipes for achieving peace. Keep the burned out buildings, memorials and books (that can be purchased containing horrific images), but children don't need to see displays of human horror every time they walk through peace park on the way to school.

[@Woodsaras]

​@@immunetou2gtfo with this bllsht comment. It's clear censoring.

[@PeekabooParrots]

@@immunetou2I visited Hiroshima with my family in the 80’s when I was 10. My dads family is from Hiroshima; mom is from Yokohama. The museum traumatized me. The skin falling off the people. Years later I always wished I didn’t see that, and wondered why they would let children in there without some warning. Then again, I was quite a sensitive child.

[@Dashitishere22]

​@@immunetou2Vietnam has done it. Vietnamese people are very accepting of Americans and they keep the graphic images in their "war remnants museum"

[@tincano-beans2114]

​@Dashitishere22 vietnam didn't start a war of aggression with the us and get nuked lol

[@vijeolook]

Tsutomu Yamaguchi, a Japanese Engineer was in Hiroshima on business on Aug. 6th when the first atom bomb was dropped. Despite suffering various injuries including serious radiation burns, he returned to his home town of Nagasaki and reported for work on Aug. 9th. Whilst explaining to his boss, who refused to believe him, that a single bomb had destroyed a city the 2nd bomb was dropped. Miraculously he survived that too. For many years he remained silent about his ordeal out of respect for other victims of the bomb who were not so fortunate but later went on to actively campaign against nuclear weapons.

[@cl0271]

Probably one of history's "I told you so" moments.

[@Wikarian99PL]

I think he was the only one who was receiving double reparations(every citizen who survived atomic bomb) from government after war

[@GhastlyCretin85]

​@@Wikarian99PLWhich government payed the reparations?

[@Wikarian99PL]

@@GhastlyCretin85 Japanese Now i found the name of it Search "hibakusha"

[@user-ij8ys5ru8r]

​@@Wikarian99PLman are you serious.....wth

[@TLG1255]

Incredible video, really hits home the scale and tragedy. But also taught me about things I’d never thought about.

[@1Deep43VA]

It’s also sad because survivors of the atomic bomb were not treated well in their homeland. Everything about this is just so shameful… but there are American’s who are proud of what we did and think we should do it again. It’s disgusting

[@nykia31]

The fact that it caused so much devastation while triggering a fraction of it's potential and detonating in the air, is terrifying.

[@frankb6313]

good

[@ASSASSINlutent]

right basically say "yeah we kinda held back ;)" today is so much more scary, rc drones that home in on the nearest enemy and blows them up with explosives attached dead and you never saw what killed you so there's no one to curse...terrifying

[@USAmerican100]

Air detonation maximized building destruction.

[@giordihero]

detonation in the air is actually more destructive, which was the reason it was done that way. They didn't know back then the air burst wouldn't cause less long term damage with the fallout.

[@supahcomix]

​@@frankb6313 no, not good, but necessary

[@anudderrudder6880]

I visited Hiroshima earlier this year for the first time. Incredible city, and warm, fantastic people. I wasn't prepared for how harrowing and humbling my visit to the Peace Memorial would be. It's so important to preserve it for future generations. Thank you for making this video.

[@bezerker2173]

I would love to go to the memorial, and I hope I never do. Standing in the spot where tense of thousand of people died, for a crime their government had committed, I dont know how bad I'd react. But I know I'd feel terrible for weeks at least

[@arktheball]

Make sure to go visit the memorials the japanese keep to what they did to Nan King... or Batan... Oh... wait... those dont exist...

[@lt2660]

I dont think calling hiroshima residents "warm" is quite a good idea

[@SpaceTimeSorcerer]

@@arktheball If such memorials did exist, would they not be in Nan King or Batan?

[@TheSkcube]

​@@arktheballneither of those are in Japan. That is like asking the US to create memorials in Vietnam for it's use of agent Orange.

[@ra3playzgamez-withpuddingp425]

I really appreciate how you are presenting the facts in this series. I've had a long time interest in everything nuclear. Thank you for presenting this series.

[@jamesmoyon3372]

A fascinating, important, and very informative video! Thank you for making it.

[@lsdzheeusi]

Kyle, you left out one of the most important facts: Typhoon Ida hit Japan and Hiroshima in September, 1945. The massive rainfall had the side effect of flushing away and out to sea much of the surface contamination. Truly an example of a dark cloud having a silver lining!

[@riograndedosulball248]

Also, this typhoon would have absolutely wrecked the allied fleet that would be landing on the Japanese mainland at the time, had the bombs not been dropped

[@Michael-bn1oi]

​@@riograndedosulball248 Japan has a history of being saved from invasions by giant storms.

[@exotixzamateurva8957]

​@@Michael-bn1oiSusano'o is real and you can't convince me otherwise. Lol

[@firebrony101]

Checkmate atheists

[@grahamstrouse1165]

Right, and a katana can cut through and engine block. Go pound sand.

[@fiascothe63rd]

I visited Hiroshima during a trip to Japan last summer, and had the sobering experience of walking through the museum and memorials dedicated to the event. Thank you for covering this the way you did, I think more people should know the details of what happened there.

[@devilhunterred]

I think more importantly, people should know about WHY it happened. Japan wouldn't have been nuked if it didn't invade China and started WW2. Not to mention the countless unspeakable atrocities and war crimes that Japan did which made the atomic bombs literally look like humane killings.

[@ModelLights]

' sobering experience ' Even more sobering, realize a lot of the leadership still didn't want to surrender. 'In late July 1945, the War Department provided an estimate that the entire Downfall operations would cause between 1.7 to 4 million U.S. casualties, including 400-800,000 U.S. dead, and 5 to 10 million Japanese dead.' So those 200K + people dying probably saved 25 or 50 times as many people, most of whom would have died in ways that were almost as bad. They were very lucky the Emperor was at least decent enough to make the military surrender.

[@Tethloach1]

@@ModelLights I don't know what to think, at least Japan and Germany are friendly nations of America. Things could always be worse, more people could get dragged into the meat grinder. I have herd all sides and realized it is a hot topic, too dark to bring up. I tried watching one scientific documentary on nuclear waste lands, as soon as I saw a leveled city I ended the documentary and focused on something else.

[@arcturionblade1077]

​​@@ModelLights The amount of Purple Hearts the DoD made at the time of WWII was insane (it was done in the belief that the casualties would be that high with a potential Operation Downfall following the invasion of the Japanese mainland). I believe they're still handing them out to this very day if they haven't just ran out recently.

[@davidswanson5669]

@@ModelLightsit’s easy to justify the use of the bombs by saying “if we didn’t do it then more would have died”. That’s a fallacy though, and it’s been used throughout modern history even to this day. This very week, the US is trying to make an excuse to use cluster bombs, something considered a war crime, but are justifying it by saying exactly what I just mentioned. I’m not debating that the atom bomb was or wasn’t justified. But I am saying that people ought to understand that indiscriminate destruction kills angels and demons alike. We should (certainly as an American) spend at least a little time contemplating the angels that were taken.

[@kexcz8276]

Great mini-documentary Kyle! Btw, interesting coincidence for you all- the building that now serves as the monument to this horrible event was designed and built by a Czech architect. About 80 years later, Beirut explosion happens, and the only building, that "survived" at the docks, is the grain silo structure, built and designed by Czechs..... At least for me, this is quite interesting detail.... isn't it?

[@tonypringles2285]

what???

[@kexcz8276]

@@tonypringles2285 ? 😅😀

[@brucebooth4489]

The yield from such a small amount of material is amazing... I've been there too and wondered why it has 'healed' thanks for the info.

[@lilypads3033]

I have been curious for a long time as to why and how Hiroshima and Nagasaki is habitable when places like Chernobyl isn't. This video was highly informative!

[@Apebek]

Chernobyl is totally habitable, but it's used as a tourist attraction. It's a hoax to make money.

[@madride858585]

Bc nuclear weapons aren’t real.

[@jacobnebel7282]

Chernobyl IS habitable. Not only is the exclusion zone currently home to thriving animal populations, including endangered species, but people moved back within months of the disaster.

[@EvilDaveCanada]

​@@jacobnebel7282The Russian Invasion withstanding, I dare you to go and try to live in that zone for 12 months.

[@universenerdd]

@@jacobnebel7282 you are confusing habitable with "temporarily livable". Sure, you could probably live there, but youd die. Footnote: 0 People live in pripyat. It used to have a few people in it but they all died. Some choose to live in the exclusion zone but they tend to be on the very age where its sort of safe to live

[@Gekayy]

Love all your content Kyle, but the half-life series just hits deep every time. Your dedication to your craft is unmistakable and awe inspiring. Keep on keeping on!

[@lurkingllama8364]

Kyle does a lot of great content, but the Half-Life Histories series is by far my favourite.

[@patricknez7258]

💯

[@totorosghost]

Haven't played half life much but I was shocked when I learned about Imperial Japan's biological warfare experimentation on live humans. Makes me think of Resident Evil and the Evil Within games from Japan. I wonder if Shinji Mikami thought anyone would make a connection.

[@channingwarrior8608]

It's so sad that people keep thinking to much pride much for usa , sorry another random American is making this video to profit from the destruction loss of japanese done by proud Americans who also ruined middle east

[@totorosghost]

@@channingwarrior8608 Many Americans hate their government. Islamic fundamentalists ruined the middle east. They drove out other religions. Japan's Imperial history deserves much more scrutiny in the West. Asia will not forget IJ's brutality.

[@cenccenc946]

I took a cold war history class years ago, taught by an x-CIA agent. He told us the story of some friends of his that were mathmatics PhD students that calculated the bomb blast altitude; and "accidentally" were forced to be part of the Manhattan project. The U.S. military asked a series of professors and students around the country to do some calculations to determine the best altitude to detonate a bomb of a certain size, for maxium damage. When they presented their calculations, they made the mistake of correctly speculating / guessing that it must be an atomic bomb, given the yield. They were given the choice to either work for the program, of go on an extend "vacation" until after the war.

[@julieclark3768]

Wow this guy's content looks really unique and interesting, he's made his own independent 60 minutes-ish series 😯

[@Abunai_Gaming]

I went to Hiroshima on my first ever trip to Japan when I was only an early teenager. It really was amazing to see this place I heard of that got hit so hard turn into a thriving vibrant city, that still held onto its history and used it as a teaching tool for future generations. The museum, while intense, is someplace I wholeheartedly suggest that people go to on their trip to Hiroshima. It's a good look into the past, with only minimal filter to show what that sort of power did. And once you're done with that, Hiroshima is also home to a top-tier street food scene, so if you're still hungry, you can get some good stuff to eat as well.

[@richardthetroll6758]

Have you ever masterbated thinking of all those who died.. 😊 very tingling feeling..

[@somerandomdude712]

If I do go to Japan as a tourist, I hope I can go to Hiroshima and pay my respects of those who died and wounded from the blast.

[@pajurr9437]

The museum is indeed amazingly interesting, and I suggest everyone to do it

[@Slugonthese]

Ah yes, war crimes and sushi

[@piouswhale]

Compare Hiroshima in 1945 to Detroit in 1945, then do the same in 2023

[@TannerBraungardt]

This gave me a whole new perspective… very well done

[@Chillerll]

True, nuclear bombs are not that bad after all

[@CreatureOTNight]

@@Chillerll "a necessary evil" Imagine a weapon that could save many many servicemens lives, would you use it?

[@semajsga]

​@@ChillerllI really hope this is sarcasm

[@SDAL_YT]

​@@Chillerll only as long as it doesn't get dropped over your head i'd figure? pretty ignorant take.

[@techtutorial9050]

@@Chillerll using your logic we should just let the Kim dynasty do as it pleases about the bomb

[@benchapple1583]

I've seen a video of an old Japanese woman who, it is alleged, was in the library at the time of the bomb (as a young schoolgirl) and 200m from the blast centre. She clearly survived and it is thought that it was due to being behind one of the very few reinforced concrete walls in the city. Has anyone else seen this?

[@submerged7640]

“An entire city obliterated by the weight of a butterfly” was enough to send chills down my spine already, before the second sentence

[@ozinvesting6517]

Important to also note: The little boy bomb contained 64kg of fissile material. Fat man contained 6kg. The RBMK-1000 reactor at Chernobyl contained almost 200,000 kg. You’d need 3125 little boy bombs or 33,000 fat man bombs to match Chernobyl when it comes to the amount of fissile material, the dirty bomb analogy is a good one and most accurate (short term isotopes vs long term isotopes).

[@melissahesse2041]

It as a "fire bomb" never nuclear. The secret joke is nuclear bombs don't exist and never will. Can I prove this? yes. Get the book "Deliberate Destruction Of America Whos Doing It And Why" by Dr. Lorraine Day. Us as truth seekers have to admit we have been lied to sense birth, so now what ? m

[@realTrealT]

Chernobyl wasn’t a bomb and it was that big in comparison sheeesh 😮

[@sheekie127]

That's a good way of explaining it. I've always assumed that we just lied and used very large bombs because how else could people still live there? I'm gonna have to do some more 'investigating' now that you've opened my eyes up a little bit so thanks !

[@trutherx3440]

A friend of my mom was drafted to help during the Cheronbyl fallout. He had no protection and is still alive + like most russian he is a heavy smoker. Google nuclear scare scam and you will understand

[@goigle]

@@trutherx3440 what about all the others that did die? there's a difference between Uranium and the radioactive material released at Chernobyl

[@TheAntiburglar]

Not only is this an incredibly moving and important story that must be told, but it's something I've wondered about for many years. I knew that Hiroshima wasn't permanently uninhabitable, but I've never understood why. Thank you, Kyle, for your continual efforts to educate the public.

[@shewolfsiren]

I know why Hiroshima isn’t a nuclear wasteland. Only 2% of the atomic bomb actually went off! What would’ve happened if the whole thing had actually gone off?

[@firesoldier343]

@@shewolfsiren well it still wouldn't be a nuclear wasteland, just a hell of a lot more devastated at the end of the war

[@Mahlak_Mriuani_Anatman]

​​@@firesoldier343 Would be good for that time i guess

[@mral4381]

A miracle there seemed to be little to no long term effects.

[@firesoldier343]

@@mral4381 I wouldn't really call it a miracle, its just what's expected when you understand how those things work.

[@jasons8458]

The producer of this documentary actually being in Hiroshima and Chernobyl himself separates this production far apart from most of similar and/or plagiarized videos made by editing downloaded stock visuals and talking, all in the comfort of their own studios. Thanks, Kyle.

[@xanuui]

I lived in Hiroshima for a year. The depictions in the museum are much more disturbing that what you showed here. Peace Memorial Park is dedicated to remembering the horrors of war, so we don't forget how valuable Peace is. However, I cannot agree that we should destroy all nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons have been the biggest deterrent to war in the history of the world. Noone wants to risk the wars getting bad enough to pull out Nuclear weapons. That means everyone's military responses are focused and restrained. This protects civilian populations more than if the threat of nuclear war was not there. Peace is not brought about by pacifism or weakening of weapons. It is brought by having the power, but also the wisdom to be restrained in its usage.

[@tobiasviby]

I was in Hiroshima at the 70th year mark since the bomb dropped back in 2015 as a part of a scoutcamp activity. I can still remember the quietness that washed over us when we first went into the museum and then the rest of the park. The gravity of what had transpired there, the pictures, shards of glass lodged into concrete and what scraps of what once where clothing... One of the most important experiences of my life, I can even still remember the pictures and I wouldnt have it any other way. History is important, this is important.

[@bryann25]

Yea it’s important but it’s misled they never used an atomic bomb it was a collection of fire bombs

[@supercellonova]

@@bryann25 Nah man. People died from radiation sickness, and it was a terrifying discovery when it happened. People who were expected to recover from burns, and other mild to moderate bodily injuries, suddenly died. It was a mystery at the time, and one that lead to a temporary truce to not use nuclear weapons. I say temporary, because nuclear weapons are being used as a threat by the powers that be, to push each other back, today. It's the damn cold war all over again

[@rain1956]

Report misinformation. No lies about the use and devastation of these horrible, civilisation-ending weapons.

[@MrNaicos]

@@bryann25that’s first time I’ve heard anyone deny the use of an atomic bomb. Any where I can read up on this statement ?

[@bryann25]

@@MrNaicos look up Marvin Minsky talking about it and the fact is Russia was going to invade Hiroshima and the rest of Japan but the US had to capitalize and shot a collection of fire bombs hence there’s no such thing as an atomic bomb.

[@cail592]

After visiting the blast site and the near buy museum that shows the horrors of the explosion. I can tell you it was devastating and changed the world. And when you are there it's hard not to be emotional when visiting the monuments to the loss of life. But surprisingly to me, I did not see anything that blames the USA for all the death. It was viewed as the cost of war and how war should never get to that level of destruction ever again. And how Japan would never make or use such a weapon. A valuable lesson was learned and it's sad that people of today seem to forget some of those lessons. Perhaps more people need to visit Hiroshima. It really has been rebuilt into a beautiful city, an educational city.

[@Ekoperse]

True. Japan soldiers were doing so horrible war on their side against civilians that they couldnt take that blame back at them. Check for example: Unit 731 details.

[@sam-xq2jw]

Although sad if we didn’t drop this bomb, an atomic bomb would of been dropped somewhere maybe even on us eventually, it was just a matter of time, the US needed to show how powerful they are. Yes it was very sad but I think It just might of been necessary to do

[@pandemicdiesel5839]

Our generations privilege will never understand such a massive change to society. We should be grateful. But look at us now.

[@Zazzysylvester]

Both Japan and USA are countries responsible for some of the most horrific war crimes the world has ever seen. Unfortunately the mad men choices taken affects innocent civilians

[@JJ_5289]

Yup and many us veterans of the pacific war that wrote about their experiences felt the same way. There were no good options back then. Not using the bombs could have turned out to be far worse

[@daehr9399]

A friend of mine's grandfather was one of the first Americans to go ashore after the Bombs had dropped. I don't know how long later. Everything you hear and see is true: the clocks all were stopped at the exact same time. Shadows of people on walls. It was so silent. From what I understand, it haunted him for the rest of his life.

[@gmtegirl]

This was so well done and so interesting . I always wondered (worried) why the residents of Hiroshima did not feel the effects of radiation. Thank you

[@jaybanned580]

As someone who is Japanese I appreciate the way he tells it like it is; no sugarcoating, no favoritism, no downplaying or overexaggerating the events. Thank you for the amazing documentary, it was beautiful.

[@longiusaescius2537]

@jaybanned580 he did imply that Japan wasn't surrendering and that the bombings somehow ended the war on it's own (both militaries post war denied this btw, at most it was another thing on the scale rather than some decisive point)

[@aviationwingz9402]

Because to end a struggle between those in power , they killed thousands of innocent men women children and made the survivors have suffering deaths. While those in power just sat and watched the destruction unfold, it's just soo sad those people didn't deserve to die , what harm did they do to United States ?!! R.I.P to all of them.

[@123214matt]

You’re incredibly ill informed of you believe this. Imperial Japan was completely insane. The entire population believed Hirohito was a God. They were indoctrinated to believe death was preferable to surrender, that Chinese (and essentially anything not Japanese) was sub-human. Japanese people at this time we’re NOT like modern day people. The population fully embraced their superiority and cared little for the extreme and profound suffering their country inflicted on others. Look up what Japan did to China & the Philippines & then reconsider your statement.

[@__CaoDuyHung]

maybe they shouldn't killed 2 milions of Vietnamese people in ww2.

[@aviationwingz9402]

@@Jack-bs5kt Only Simple soldiers and normal people civilians suffer from war

[@venrajful]

I visited the museum a couple months ago. And after reading the stories and seeing the exibits I had to sit a while in the section of the museum that looks out over the park with the dome in the distance to just process everything. Some of the stories are just so horrifying that it felt surreal that anyone survived. I cannot recommend the museum as a "fun" thing to do while in Hiroshima. However I feel it's something that anyone should do while in the city. The use of an atomic weapon is something that should never be repeated.

[@karalaswantsjustice1705]

Definitely a place to contemplate some heavy stuff. I remember seeing a new tree growing in side an old burnt out tree at the park. Not only did it make me marvel at the rebound Hiroshima made but how resilient life can be in general

[@Void79670]

To be totally honest the eastern front of WW2 was way more bloody and brutal than the pacific war ever possibly could

[@GamerLogicalArt]

this breaks my heart, heck all we can hope is that we never make this horrid decision ever again

[@LVmanatee]

My grandfather was on a supply ship that docked in Hiroshima after the surrender. He said his brain couldn't even interpret or believe the immense destruction he saw with his own eyes.

[@wilpri]

And yet they continue to want to create such deadly bombs. Wow...

[@nonameDman92]

@@wilpri I think those who want to create such bombs are not the most conscious of the destructive power of such bombs, they just see the numbers of the damages, do not feel the impact of such damages

[@peteman8160]

​@@wilpriAnd ones many times more powerful.

[@TheShamansQuestion]

@@nonameDman92 "not the most conscious" is an understatement

[@weatherphobia]

Dementia or Delayed Onset Trauma Syndrome D.O.T.S. 🤔💩

[@DashBranaghan]

I remember my trip to Hiroshima in 2008; I went to the memorial and as I walked out, there was a film reciting some of the tales of the survivors or their children; one woman takes a glass of water and puts it on altar in the park every year because her father, severely injured in the blast, kept asking for water until he died in her arms; there was none for her to give him, no comfort or salvation. Another story came from the diary of a soldier who was part of the first response - his commanding officer, himself, and another soldier survived the blast, and his commander ordered the three of them out to survey and calculate the damage, including loss of life. The ground, according to the diary, was fiery hot, even through their boots, and as they walked through the destruction, a woman came up to them with her baby, who was severely burned, and said, "Mizu kudasai" (water please), and the soldier reached for his canteen to offer it to her, but his commander ordered him to stop, explaining that giving them water would shock their system and kill them almost instantly. The soldier obeyed, and as they worked in the radioactive environment, he was eventually forced to drink water that was radioactive; he would eventually develop throat cancer, which he noted in his diary was a fitting punishment for his refusal to help the woman and her baby. Watching the videos and hearing the stories told moved me to tears right there, and still moves me to tears even now as I write this out.

[@roberthiggins6401]

That's made me really well up too. Shocking and humble.

[@VedantinKK]

🫂🫂🫂

[@ah2522]

yup, it's better if jews were in their place

[@mnbalfour1985]

If the fireball does not touch the ground then the fallout can be minimal. Fallout is produced when the fireball touches the ground. The fireball vapourises, melts, and irradiates the soil, turning/transmuting the elements in the soil into short half life, fiercely radioactive isotopes, which constitute the fallout. Bomb design is also a factor. If a lead tamper is used, then the fallout is minimal. If a uranium tamper is used then fallout is produced even if the fireball does not touch the ground.

[@-.47.-]

“An entire city wiped out by the weight of a butterfly”is such a powerful quote

[@baldytalkinnerdy3462]

See, this is what I love about Kyle’s videos. The respect with which he treats the subject matter, the balanced and unbiased perspective. No kitschy attempts at “lightening the mood”, no dramatic music. An an ending which features only a somber, quiet piano. Never change dude. Never change.

[@Jack_Stafford]

I heard dramatic music throughout. Also, I think one can be fair while also giving complete context. The Japanese swore they would defend the home islands, arming and sacrificing the last women and children if necessary, a complete disregard for their own people. Ending the war nearly instantly not only saved 100s of thousands if not millions of lives, but keeping the damage isolated to two cities rather than every single major and minor city and piece of infastructure being firebombed to the ground made it much easier for the United States to support Japan after the war, and to build it into the economic powerhouse it became in short order. Losing the war meant it didn't have to pay Harley anything for its own defense which was guaranteed by the United States so they were able to invest in super modern infrastructure and so many other things while the United States continued to spend trillions of dollars to protect both Europe and Japan and has never been paid back. America could have been a much worse victor and turned Japan into colony and taken by force things that instead and imported and bought which term Japan into an economic powerhouse that is one of the most powerful in history. We saw a number of times how Japan treated countries that it defeated and they were not nearly so charitable. With the war over in Europe, the Allies would have dumped everything in their entire arsenals on Japan without needing to fight a two-front war any longer and Japan would have been absolutely devastated. The alternative would have been a destitute and utterly defeated country that would be so far behind the times, like East Germany was or like North Korea still is. The job of the U.S. president is to defend the country and its people, and his solution saved an awful lot of American lives as well as many Japanese lives as a byproduct, those are just facts. No one likes death and destruction especially on a target that also affect civilians, but if Hiroshima had been firebombed like Dresden there may have even been more casualties, multiply that by every other major city in Japan and as hard as it is to swallow, two hard knockout hits are better than being stabbed with a million daggers. The vast majority of Japan wasn't even touched and Japan used to admit that considering the alternative, that this was the lesser of two evils. War is hell, but when you decide to start one then you have to be willing to use everything at your disposal to win. And prioritize your own people over the enemy when necessary. Don't poke the tiger and expect it to purr.

[@discoj7112]

​@@Jack_StaffordI think you have fallen victim to our own propaganda. American history books and textbooks are full of the idea that the atomic bombs saved lives and ended the war more quickly. Spreading this idea is in the best interest of anyone whose goal is to promote America, the American government, and the American military, and it is also comforting. It is incredibly difficult to consider the possibility that such unimaginable horror might have been even slightly unnecessary, but the reality may be even darker than that. I would highly recommend the in-depth documentary the KZbinr Shaun did on the dropping of the atomic bombs, as I think it shows a different and unfortunately much more sad reality. I haven't watched it in a little while, so I don't want to summarize here. But if you are interested in questioning the American propaganda, the information is there. Also, one of the reasons Hiroshima and Nagasaki were chosen is that all the major cities and industrial areas in Japan had already been destroyed by firebombing raids. The firebombing of Tokyo is the most infamous, since the destruction and loss of life there rivaled the atomic bombs, but all of the major cities in Japan had already been bombed. Around 1/7 of all urban areas in the whole of Japan was already destroyed, with hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths. There were more square miles destroyed in Japanese cities than in the whole of Germany during the war.

[@Daniel-po8eb]

Kyle is a whimp.

[@sirridesalot6652]

@@Jack_Stafford Why did Japan resist for so long? Perhaps they feared they'd be treated the same way they had treated countries they took over?

[@jbouma7551]

There's nothing unbiased about his videos.

[@theophanyy5698]

I love your half-life and nuclear series Kyle. You handle them with utmost care and respect to those who fell to these tragedies while informing us.

[@adh...lemonwaffles5660]

Something I never thought of really before this. We have forever etched in human history that the first thing we did with nuclear technology was not only weaponise it but actually use it.

[@andrewsparks7959]

Thanks for keeping the human element consistently present in all of this.

[@FSAPOJake]

What's scary is how fast atomic bomb tech advanced after this. Little Boy was about 15kt and weighed 9,700 lbs. Less than a decade later, in 1953, the Upshot-Knothole Grable test was done. That was a cannon meant to shoot 15kt nuclear warheads. How much did those warheads, which had the same explosive yield as the 9,700lb little boy bomb, weigh? About 800 lbs.

[@spineonthepine4933]

Impressive handling of the thorny question that always gets raised around should we have used the weapon or not. Very appreciated as a history guy.

[@jeffk1482]

The biggest “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” in history, I think.

[@RealAICCl]

@@jeffk1482??? Damned if you dont in what way??? Theres no damning us if we dont do a total invasion on an embargod japan

[@thedyingtitan1247]

Compared to the two potential plans for invading Mainland Japan is the Nukes were mercies. The first was estimated to kill millions and its opening was going to be like a dozen nukes to break the defensive lines for the ground forces to follow. The second wasn’t so much of an invasion plan as an extermination one. The plan was to break Japan utterly from the air over about 5 years with an estimated 90-50% of the Japanese population dead, the islands effectively rendered uninhabitable and the remaining population rendered back to the stone age. For that plan if it grew it got poisoned, if it moved it got bombed and it if was built it would but burned to ashes. Are nukes good? No I’m not saying that, they are atrocious weapons. But compared to the alternatives? Nukes: 1. Broke the cycle of once generational global wars 2. Allowed roughly 85 years of relative peace and stability globally that we haven’t had before, sure its not perfect but the biggest wars since WWII aren’t killing significant percentages of the global population every 20 years, wasting all those resources every 20 years, and allowed for relative peace and cooperation. We are living in a general global golden age because of nukes. Is it perfect? No but it would have been so much worse without.

[@saturationstation1446]

they should have used it on europe tho. wasted it all on the least damaging of the worlds people and now we're in the same situation, where europes corruption has destabilized civilization and their oligarchs are craving another massacre of the working class so that they may retain their hoarded power and wealth.

[@juslitor]

Fact of the matter is, if yanks hadnt done it first, someone else would, probably the russians. The world needed to see the result of a nuclear weapon used in anger.

[@D_uc_k]

Fact: the atomic bombing wasn’t the deadliest. It was the firebombing of tokyo

[@theemirofjaffa2266]

Seriously? 😮

[@paytonmcnatt8830]

Yeah operation meeting house I think was the name of it. I think 100k civilians burned in about 3 hours. Biggest loss of life in that short a time span in the history of warfare

[@dansharp8042]

You are 100% correct, @D_uc_k!!!

[@scottf5791]

@@paytonmcnatt8830correct! Many people don’t realize this. Most of Japan was in ashes by the time the atom bombs were dropped.

[@syu9572]

putting the weight of a butterfly as a comparison to how much actually worked in the bomb and then comparing it to what was actually in the bomb.. thats absolutely horrifying. and to think that bombs nowadays are able to make this seem like nothing is absolutely terrifying.

[@Woodesies]

A few of the survivors came to my high school five years ago and spoke to us about what they experienced. I didn't appreciate it at the time, but it blows my mind that I got to speak with and shake hands with some of the people who went through this.

[@arktheball]

Now go listen to the stories of the survivors of the Batan Death march, and the Rape of Nan King...

[@CampaignerSC]

Yeah and every last one of them would have preferred getting hit by a nuke over being taken captive by Japan's Unit 731.

[@jahimuddin2306]

​@@arktheball, People act like Japan was an innocent bystander in WWII.

[@wystrix439]

@@jahimuddin2306 Other people act like the citizens of japan during WWII *literally living under the rule of an empire* had any real control over the actions of their government

[@chrisd2536]

@@wystrix439 I mean, to them, putting everyone in the same basket is the norm. That's all they do anyway.

[@Shadow.cyrohzin]

Glad you did a video on this, was always a mystery to me, like, I figured Hiroshima bouncing back but Chernobyl not bouncing back had to be either the amount of radiation, or a failure in the Soviet will to recover

[@paulleonard7038]

Or the 40+ year difference of time....

[@loloholmes2793]

Chernobyl can thrive again too once GB & the US destroy Russia & strip it of all its wealth in natural resources.... If you recall the fall of the Soviet Union wasn't long after Chernobyl, Ukraine was no longer under the Iron Curtain, so why didn't the oligarchs running Ukraine clean up Chernobyl? Maybe it's because Ukraine is one of the most corrupt countries in current existence

[@Annokh]

I apologise for being that guy, but "Failure of will to recover" sounds like "someone didn't clap their hands and didn't believe hard enough". Although I have to admit that I probably didn't understand what you meant by that. That aside, even if people could actively contribute to the process of recovery, the state was already about to collapse at the time, and have done so shortly. Most of ex-Soviet republics did not bounce back from that even to this day, if comparing their GDP dynamics with various other countries' dynamics across recent 30 or so years is of any real indication of anything. Not sure if a will to actively do anything would really have translated into anything significant when the material/economical state of affairs is like this.

[@skepticalbadger]

This is answered in the video.

[@Michael-bn1oi]

​@@Annokh You absolutely didn't understand that incredibly common phrase. Having the will to do something has nothing to do with prayers and belief. It's about making the commitment and the effort on individual and state levels. You are *very* defensive.

[@Erik-le3fn]

This was a dark chapter in history and I pray we never repeat it.

[@APG19912009]

I do hope to one day visit your beautiful and historic city! Thank you for the tip on Okonomiyaki! With love and respect from Canada 🇨🇦 ❤

[@johnathanrmarsh]

This was beautifully respectful. You always treat this series with such care. Your passion to educate on this topic is absolutely capivating. Cheers, man!

[@guyindecatur]

Japan had all but completely surrendered before the nukes were dropped. Asia's largest church was the cathedral in Nagasaki which was used as the target for the bomb. After the war in Germany ended Eisenhower *literally* starved some one million German POWs in Germany - all illegally (Geneva Accords) and completely immoral. The US is a ZOG nation.

[@totorosghost]

@@lask007 Really? Maybe try to colonize Asia again? Japanese government downplays it's harm to Asia. They were arguably worse than their Nazi allies in treatment of POWs and civilians.

[@johnbash-on-ger]

@@totorosghost Strangely the same could be said about Christianity in Asia.

[@totorosghost]

@@johnbash-on-ger It's spreading in Asia, no doubt. Not anymore in the Middle East. Islam has a near complete lock down there. One is not like the other. Don't expect any pride parades in the ME anytime soon.

[@totorosghost]

@@lask007 Typical ignorant American response. My comments are not about your fairy tale comment.

[@christ8048]

my only complaint about this video is that it wasn't longer. this entire series is fantastic.

[@davvidc]

Heard this while on a train to Miyajima island, added some epicness to my trip.

[@cimbakahn]

Wow! This is the first time i've seen the serious side of Kyle. It is very much appreciated because of the subject matter.

[@IProHeadhunter]

I've visited Hiroshima, as well as the Peace Museum. The park is incredibly beautiful and the museum is undoubtedly harrowing. I walked into the museum thinking I was the kind of person to shrug it off and think of it, I left extremely awestruck and humbled. Incredible to see how bustling and thriving the city is now.

[@lamia197]

The Peace Museum hides the fact that 10% of the deaths in the bomb were Koreans and Chinese they dragged into forced labor. They will not tell you this unless you ask, and even then they are reluctant to tell you. Also rebuilding was helped by Japan selling supplies to the allies during the Korean War. Japan is partially responsible for Korea being split in half.

[@RHYD_]

My great grandfather was in Hiroshima for the aftermath to help with firstaid. Shortly after, he ended up with cancer of the mouth and was the first official patient to recieve a titanium jaw (atleast according to my grandmother). Just knowing that my great grandfather was there for about a week, then ending up with cancer not long after makes my stomach do backflips. Edit: I'm not great at expressing gratitude, and I didn't expect to get so many likes and kind words, but thanks. Seriously, it means a lot.❤🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@davelowets]

You don't get cancer "shortly after" being exposed to radiation. If he received enough radiation to cause a cancer shortly after, he would have died shortly after, from radiation sickness.

[@joshuamarler6398]

Cool

[@VaughanMcCue]

Maybe he just talked too much and wore out the joints.

[@RHYD_]

@@VaughanMcCue I've seen the only pic of him in Hiroshima, and I don't think it's a coincidence that he ended up with cancer a short while after being there. He served in the Royal Air Force and had been sent to Hiroshima a day or two after the bomb was dropped - his jaw literally started to rot away, hence the surgery (not sure if he actually was the first to have a titanium jaw, but that's what my gran says).

[@VaughanMcCue]

@@RHYD_ Besides the possibility of radiation damage, he may have been a smoker AND talked too much. As a party trick, consider that he opened beer bottles with his teeth, and the titanium enhancement would be a bonus in the military canteen. The chief cook and bottle opener could have been a promotion.

[@radagaz]

Great footage, the script and the realization are excelent. Love it. Just a dark humor note: I want to think the final "until next time" as a good bye salutation, and not as a premonition of another blow to human spirit... but then again i have little or none hope about mankind.

[@CreachterZ]

I’ve wondered this my whole life. Thank you!

[@d4rk0v3]

A close friend of mine was a nuclear tech in the Navy when Fukushima happened. He was directly involved with the cleanup efforts. He has said on numerous occasions that the impact of the incident was far overblown by media and individuals spreading misinformation. It will be interesting to see your series about it. One thing I can trust from you, Kyle, is that you will present the information without exaggeration or sensationalizing what happened. My grandfather flew photography aircraft for many nuclear tests, including Bikini Atoll.

[@Mr.Unacceptable]

There should be a publicly funded archive where people can deposit their stories before they die. It's a shame to lose so much knowledge.

[@nicholaskoa1371]

@@Mr.Unacceptable you trust in the public waaaay too much bud.

[@cantthinkofaname5046]

@@nicholaskoa1371I trust the public more than I would ever trust a news corporation that has a vested interest in selling me a narrative

[@chriscollins550]

​@nicholaskoa1371 and you're distrust will leave you lonely without knowledge. Everyone has a story or something to tell and back in ww2 and the decades afterwards there was many men and women who had witnessed and seen enough that most of it from what they witnessed is true. Theses people don't have to lie they lived it you're lucky you haven't had too. I grow up in the last decades of the cold War one side of me and the other was the RIA putting dirty bombs in place like Mc Donald's.

[@CaseNumber00]

Kyle made a video about how ever blown 3 Mile Island was.

[@DeathSpread]

This video, despite being uploaded an hour ago, deserves millions of views. You did one of the best jobs I've ever seen at describing, summarizing, and getting across so much information, both emotional and scientific. Be proud of this, seriously. Astounding job

[@brianweaver327]

Up to 265k as of this posting... those millions are coming!

[@gio_frank6622]

People need to watch this. It's so deeply unsettling and also so informative because you can actually get a glipse of the destruction the nuclear bomb actually had. And thinking nuclear bombs are even more powerful now. Is a threat to our society (this is a big DUH moment but you know ignorance sometimes will make you think: nah it's probably fine... i will survive a nuclear apocalypse we won't)

[@chiliwithonel]

I took an art history course on photography in East Asia, and one of the photographs that has stuck with me the most is a photo of schoolchildren on a field trip in Hiroshima, posing like action heroes and giggling, while the nuclear dome looms in the background. It's a bittersweet image, that the scars from such a traumatic event can so easily be overlooked, but at the same time, a sign of the city bouncing back from something so hellish.