Nagasaki's Urakami Cathedral Bells

On August 9, 1945, a second atomic bomb detonated over the Japanese city of Nagasaki, roughly 1600 feet away from the original Urakami Cathedral. The blast killed dozens inside the cathedral, and over 70,000 in the city. The cathedral and its smaller bell were destroyed in the blast. The larger bell survived in the rubble. In 1959 the cathedral was rebuilt but one bell tower remained empty. In 2023, Dr. James Nolan, whose grandfather worked on the Manhattan Project, had a conversation with a Nagasaki local who mentioned wishing to hear the twin bells ring again. Dr. Nolan spearheaded a fundraising effort in the United States and raised $125,000 to reproduce the missing bell and have it reinstalled before the 80th anniversary of the bombing. Dr. Nolan joined the MacArthur Memorial Podcast to share more about Nagasaki, the bomb, and the incredible efforts to add this second bell to Urakami Cathedral.

Have a comment about this episode? Send us a text message! (Note: we can only read the texts, we can't reply)

Follow us on:

Twitter: @MacArthur1880; @AEWilliamsClark
Facebook: @MacArthurMemorial


www.macarthurmemorial.org