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Series Code: TIJ
Program Code: TIJ007117S
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00:29 At 11:02 AM on August 9, 1945 an explosion here 500 meters
00:36 here directly above this black pillar in Nagasaki changed 00:41 the lives of its residents and the world. 00:44 In a split second this beautiful harbor city was reduced 00:48 to rubble and ash. One hundred and fifty thousand people 00:52 were killed or injured and 120,000 were left homeless. 00:58 But it wasn't meant to be it wasn't the 01:02 ally's original target. 01:04 You see the bomb that destroyed Nagasaki was actually meant for 01:09 Kokura a military and chemical weapons factory city about 01:14 160 kilometers or 100 miles away. 01:18 So, what happened? 01:21 Why Nagasaki? 01:22 Well, join me as we search for answers in this city that was 01:27 virtually obliterated in World War II. 01:30 Our search among the rubble and ashes will uncover 01:34 the footprints of Takashi Nagai along with stories of 01:38 self-sacrifice and heroism. 01:58 Takashi Nagai, a Radiographer at the hospital here in Nagasaki 02:03 slowly walked home wondering how to tell his wife Madori 02:07 what the doctor had just told him. 02:09 He was heart-broken as he thought he would only have 02:14 three years left with his young son and daughter. 02:17 Like so many medical scientists working in the early days of 02:22 radiography, over-exposure to radioactive materials 02:26 had resulted in him succumbing to leukemia. 02:29 As Nagai walked down the streets of Nagasaki, 02:34 a beautiful harbor city on the northwest coast of the 02:37 island of Quechua in Japan he would never have imagined 02:41 that soon the people in his town would join him 02:45 in his radioactive death sentence. 02:47 As Nagai walked, he prayed his newfound Christian faith 02:53 gave him a sense of solace his former atheistic beliefs 02:58 never could. 02:59 As an atheist, the guy didn't believe in God 03:03 but after reading the pamphlet Pensées Thoughts 03:08 written by the 17th century French scientist Blaise Pascal 03:13 he changed his beliefs. 03:15 Blaise Pascal was a tireless inventor, scientist, 03:19 and mathematician. One of his famous inventions was an 03:24 early computing machine in fact the computer language 03:28 Pascal is named after him. 03:30 But he is also known as a religious philosopher 03:34 he propagated a religious doctrine that taught that 03:38 one could have the experience of God through the heart 03:42 rather than through reason. 03:44 Pascal maintained that we as humans are incapable of 03:49 knowing whether God really exists or not. 03:53 Yet we must wager one way or another. 03:56 He developed what today is called Pascal's wager, he proposed that 04:04 if evidence cannot settle the question of whether God 04:07 really exists or not, then he strongly recommended 04:11 that you should decide or wager on God because of 04:15 what's at stake. You have lots to gain if you believe in God 04:19 and not much to lose. 04:21 So after reading the pamphlet and thinking carefully about it 04:25 Nagai, here in Nagasaki agreed with Pascal and decided to 04:31 believe in God. In addition, by marrying Midori 04:35 Nagai had married into a family descended from Japan's 04:40 hidden Christians. 04:42 The Christian population in and around Nagasaki 04:46 in the early 17th century is estimated to have been around 04:51 500,000. It is thought that Christianity arrived in Japan 04:56 in the 16th century. 04:59 At this time all Japanese ports including the port here at 05:04 Nagasaki were a means of trade and communication with 05:08 the outside world. 05:10 However in the 17th century, the Japanese government 05:15 became concerned about the growing dangers of 05:18 western colonialism and adopted a self-imposed policy 05:23 of isolation from the rest of the world 05:26 As a consequence from 1641 to 1858 the entry of a foreigner 05:34 into Japan was prohibited, this time became known as 05:40 The Period of National Isolation. 05:43 The Christians stayed hidden for their safety 05:46 there was a historical ban on their religion 05:50 and the government of the time began a systematic and violent 05:55 persecution against Japanese Christian believers 05:59 fearing they would align themselves with foreign powers. 06:03 It was decided to intimidate the Christians of Nagasaki 06:08 by crucifying 26 of their group. 06:12 One of the crucified Paul Mickey even preached to the 06:17 watching crowd from his cross. 06:19 The Christians were subjected to the most unimaginable deaths. 06:25 So, the Japanese Christian Church remained underground for 06:30 centuries until International Pressure for Freedom 06:34 began to mount. 06:36 This led to the building of the Urakami Cathedral, 06:41 this church became an important symbol of faith for 06:46 the Christians in Japan. 06:47 Then during World War II, the Christians of Nagasaki 06:53 would face even more persecution, 06:55 government officials believing that their faith would make them 06:59 possible double agents sent secret police to harass 07:04 and intimidate them. 07:06 However, they were not to know that a far worse fate 07:10 was in store for them and the whole city. 07:14 Now, Japan in the 1930s was an empire on the rise, 07:21 it had the best army and navy and air force in the far East. 07:25 But Japan was facing severe shortages of oil and other 07:30 natural resources. The government was driven by 07:34 the ambition to displace the United States as the Dominant 07:38 Pacific Power so with the fall of France in 1940 in Europe 07:44 Japan moved to occupy Indo-China and commence its strategy 07:49 of expansion and control in the Pacific. 07:53 And so on December 7, 1941 Japan launched a surprise attack 07:59 on Pearl Harbor to hinder the US involvement in World War II 08:03 by destroying the Pacific fleet. 08:06 The following day, the US president and the Congress 08:11 responded by declaring war on Japan. 08:15 In 1942 Japan was on a mission to conquer the British Forces 08:23 in South East Asia and successfully attacked 08:26 and conquered a succession of countries including 08:30 the Philippians, Dutch East Indies, Burma, Singapore, 08:34 and Malaya. At first, all went to plan, the first target 08:40 Pearl Harbor was successfully bombed, then 10 weeks later 08:44 Darwin in Northern Australia was bombed by the same group 08:49 of fighter pilots, the Japanese Juggernaut seemed unstoppable. 08:54 But that all changed in June 1942 when the American Navy 09:01 gained the victory in the Battle of Midway. 09:03 It was a decisive victory and has been called 09:07 the turning point in the Pacific war. 09:11 the Allied Forces now advanced north from one island to another 09:15 in the Pacific until they reached the shores of Japan. 09:19 Now, for the Japanese, surrender was unthinkable, 09:24 The country of Japan had never been successfully invaded 09:29 or lost a war in its history. 09:31 As the II World War in Europe grew to a close a declaration 09:37 was issued by the Ally's at the conclusion of the 09:40 Potsdam Conference in July 1945. 09:43 They threatened Japan with prompt and utter destruction 09:48 if it didn't accept unconditional surrender. 09:52 But Japan's military hardliners blocked any move towards 09:57 surrender and so the decision was made to deploy the newly 10:02 developed Atomic Bomb to force Japan to surrender and prevent 10:07 any further Allied loss of life. 10:10 The new American president Harry Truman appointed a target 10:15 committee to decide which Japanese cities would receive 10:19 the Atomic Bombs called Little Boy and Fat Man. 10:23 They chose two cities Hiroshima and Kokura as their targets. 10:29 Hiroshima was chosen because it was an important manufacturing 10:34 center with a large concentration of military 10:37 and ammunitions facilities and 43,000 soldiers. 10:41 Unlike most of Japans other major cities that had not 10:46 already been destroyed by air attacks Kokura was identified as 10:51 the second target after Hiroshima. 10:54 Kokura was a city of 130,000 people on the island of Kyushu, 11:00 the Japanese government operated some of their biggest factories 11:04 including the manufacturer of chemical weapons there. 11:08 The third choice or backup was the important port city of 11:13 Nagasaki located on Japan's southern coast. 11:17 It was a larger city with an approximate population of 263,000 11:22 people and had some major military facilities and 11:27 like Kokura and Hiroshima it had not suffered 11:30 from the American conventional bombing campaign. 11:34 Before the 6th of August, 1945 American planes dropped leaflets 11:40 on the cities in Japan warning civilians about the destructive 11:44 atomic bomb that was to be dropped. 11:47 Many could not believe that there was such a bomb 11:51 then before eight a.m. on Monday the 6th of August, 1945, 11:56 an air raid alert had been called off and the city was 12:00 alive and bustling with activity. 12:02 Then at 8:15 a.m. the atomic bomb named Little Boy 12:08 was dropped over Hiroshima, it was the first atomic bomb 12:12 to be used as a weapon of war. 12:15 The huge explosion lit up the morning sky. 12:19 Those closest to the explosion died instantly, their bodies 12:25 turned to black charcoal. Nearby birds burst into flames 12:30 in mid-air and dry combustible materials such as paper 12:34 instantly ignited. Those people that were inside were mostly 12:39 spared the flash burns but flying glass from broken windows 12:44 filled most rooms and all but the very strongest structures 12:49 collapsed. Less than 10% of the buildings 12:52 in the city survived without any damage. 12:55 Many thought that their building had just suffered a direct hit 13:00 by a bomb. An awful boiling mushroom cloud rose above 13:05 the city of Hiroshima, the yield of the explosion 13:09 was later estimated at 15 kilotons, the equivalent of 13:14 15,000 tons of TNT. Over 140,000 people of the almost 13:21 300,000 civilian population were killed by the explosion 13:26 but the emperor of Japan did not surrender. 13:30 So the Americans decided to use the second atomic bomb 13:35 named Fat Man within a few days, it was hope that the two 13:39 bombings in quick succession would convince the Japanese 13:44 that the Americans had plenty of atomic devices 13:47 and were ready to keep using them until Japan finally 13:51 surrendered. 13:52 The second mission code name Operation Centerboard 2 had 13:58 planned for Kokura to be the primary target for the 14:02 atomic bomb Fat Man. The Us has chosen the city because 14:07 it was home to one of Japan's largest military arsenals 14:11 which produced chemical and conventional weapons. 14:15 But on the day of the bombing 9th of August, 1945, 14:19 Kokura was covered with clouds and smoke from nearby 14:24 bombing raids that obscured visibility, the American crew 14:28 could only see parts of the city. 14:31 When citing of the city arsenal was impossible the US crew 14:36 flew to Nagasaki and used the steeple of the Urakami Cathedral 14:41 to guide their bombing run. 14:43 The more powerful plutonian bomb Fat Man was dropped at 14:52 11:02. It is impossible to imagine the horror that the 15:01 citizens here of Nagasaki experienced at the explosion 15:06 of the bomb. At first, there was a flash of light that 15:11 passed through walls, cars, people, anything, 15:14 then came the violent wind from the force of the explosion 15:19 that it raised the city in a second. 15:22 The fortunate ones were turned to ash in a second 15:26 those within a few kilometers or miles of the blast 15:30 were skinned alive. 15:31 One young woman recalled looking out of the window 15:36 seconds after the blast. Gone were the houses and buildings, 15:40 the trees, the grass, all around her were burnt 15:45 and mangled bodies. She began to believe that she had literally 15:50 been transported to hell. 15:55 After the bombing Takashi Nagai, the radiographer from 16:00 the hospital picked his way through the rubble of his 16:03 flattened neighborhood, he saw the nearby Urakami Cathedral 16:07 had burned to the ground. 16:09 Although covered in wounds, Nagai worked feverishly 16:14 to help pull people from the flames, he was comforted 16:17 by the thought that at least his children weren't in Nagasaki 16:21 during the bombing, his children were safe because they were 16:25 visiting a relative in the countryside. 16:27 But Nagai was worried about his wife and desperately wanted 16:33 to go and find her. 16:34 When he eventually found his home, there was just rubble, 16:39 in what had been the kitchen, was a lump of bones and ash 16:43 it was the remains of his wife Midori. 16:46 In the bones of her hand was her cross, Nagai was devastated, 16:53 but the cross is his wife's hand was the only thing that 16:58 made sense in a world gone mad. 17:01 Then Nagai thought of Maximilian Kolbe, the Polish Priest 17:06 who in 1930 established a church just outside of Nagasaki, 17:12 after six years in Japan, Kolbe returned to Europe. 17:17 During the 2nd World War, Kolbe was taken to 17:21 Auschwitz Concentration Camp because he had been reported 17:25 for hiding and protecting his Jewish neighbors. 17:29 After an ill-fated escape attempt was made at the camp 17:34 the Auschwitz Camp Commander chose 10 random men 17:38 to die as a warning to the other prisoners 17:41 not to try to escape. 17:43 When one of the chosen men cried out for his wife 17:47 and children Kolbe stepped forward and offered his life 17:52 in place of that man's. 17:53 In the midst of the horror of the Holocaust, Kolbe lived out 17:58 his Christian faith, he made the ultimate sacrifice, 18:03 he laid down his life for another. 18:06 Nagai made the decision to do the same, 18:10 he wanted to help rebuild his community, 18:13 to live a Christian life despite his own illness 18:18 injuries and loss and to spend as much of his time as possible 18:23 with his children. 18:25 The Urakami Church was virtually destroyed but incredibly 18:32 the church bell remained intact, an improvised frame was created 18:37 so they could ring the bell, the sound boomed out across 18:42 the devastation in Nagasaki echoing around the charred 18:46 debris as a symbol of hope and amongst the ruins of 18:51 the Urakami Cathedral, the Christians held an open-air 18:55 remembrance service. 18:57 The world reeled from the scale of the destruction of the 19:02 atomic attacks upon Japan and from the revelations of the 19:07 full horrors of the holocaust in Europe. 19:09 Nagai's book on his experience as a survivor of the atomic bomb 19:15 The Bells of Nagasaki, would resonate with the world 19:19 in search for meaning, his story was of perseverance 19:25 in the face of impossible odds and enduring story of hope 19:28 in times of despair. 19:30 Nagai's story touched the hearts of many people 19:35 from ordinary Japanese citizens, Buddhist Monks, Priests, 19:40 Atheistic and Agnostics, famous musicians, the Pope's 19:45 emissary, and even the Emperor of Japan, 19:49 who all came to visit Nagai. 19:52 Nearing death a stretcher was brought to take Nagai from 19:57 Mishantiat to the hospital. They walked past the destroyed 20:02 Urakami Cathedral, past the places where thousands 20:06 had been incinerated in the blink of an eye, 20:09 and past the survivors now arousing in the early morning 20:13 light. Nagai made his final journey through the cold, quiet 20:19 early morning streets of Nagasaki. 20:22 When he died, Nagai was surrounded by his family, 20:27 the hospital staff he had worked with, 20:30 and those who had shared his belief in God. 20:33 His final words were... 20:40 Twenty thousand people attended Nagai's funeral in Nagasaki 20:46 where he was buried in the cemetery next to his wife 20:49 Madori, the Urakami Bell rang out and anchored across the city 20:55 as a testament to his Christian life. 20:57 In his last days Nagai also wrote a book on the effects 21:03 of radiation poisoning on the human body. 21:06 It was his way of helping those who were doing the research. 21:10 His last selfless act was to give his body to his students 21:16 for research so they could study the effects 21:18 of radiation poisoning on the body. 21:21 It was his great hope that their research could help 21:26 the other victims of the atomic disease. 21:28 The Nagasaki Peace Park is a tranquil space that commemorates 21:35 the atomic bombing of Nagasaki on the 9th of August, 1945. 21:40 This Nagasaki Peace Statue is not only a stark reminder 21:45 of the devastation that befell this city and killed 10's 21:50 of thousands of inhabitants, but it is also a dedication 21:54 to the victims. 21:56 A black vault at the foot of the Hypocenter Monument 22:00 located near the Nagasaki Peace Statue holds the names 22:05 of the victims of the atomic bombing and those who died 22:10 in the following years. Next to the statue you'll find colorful 22:15 hanging garlands of paper cranes, each year well wishes 22:20 from across the country and around the world sent thousands 22:25 of these folded origami cranes to Hiroshima and Nagasaki 22:29 as prayers for peace. 22:31 Looking out over the Nagasaki Peace Park I'm reminded of 22:36 the choice that Takashi Nagai made and of the choice that 22:41 Maximilian Kolbe made, and of the choice that Jesus Christ 22:45 made twenty centuries ago. Jesus, the Son of God 22:51 walked into sins most concentrated radiation 22:55 He allowed Himself to be touched by its curse and let it take 23:00 His life. We are all affected by the sins in our lives 23:05 it's a chain reaction with a deadly fallout, 23:09 but we all have a choice, to often we eke out 23:14 passing moments of pleasure and tell ourselves that 23:17 we are too busy, too restless, too insecure, too frightened, 23:22 and too uncertain to have Jesus in our lives. 23:27 We choose to follow a meaningless road which 23:31 at the end of our days might leave us with a fancy Facebook 23:35 or Instagram page, a collection of digital photos, 23:39 and a library of downloadable songs and movies. 23:43 Our lives will be reduced to a digital memorial that can be 23:49 erased with the click of a mouse. 23:51 We live and die as shallow people living in a 23:56 shallow culture. But even if we struggle to understand 24:01 what Jesus did for us, we can make the choice to have a faith 24:06 in Jesus, we can choose to be a part of the greatest countdown 24:11 in all of history. 24:12 God had a reason for sending His son into this world, 24:17 He made the ultimate sacrifice to save us all from the 24:22 radiation of sin in our lives. 24:24 He loves us so much that He was willing to risk everything 24:29 in order to save us and spend eternity with us. 24:34 A tragic scene unfolds in the Garden of Gethsemane, 24:40 Jesus had spent many a night in prayer but never a night 24:45 like this, as He entered the garden the awful burden 24:49 of the world's guilt began to press upon Him. 24:53 He must taste death for every person, for every person 24:58 had sinned. Was there no way to bypass Calvary? 25:04 Well, evidently not. Sin had challenged God's law 25:09 and that law must stand or the universe itself would fall. 25:14 Sin could not be overlooked, there was no way for Jesus 25:20 to deal with it except to let its deadly curse fall upon 25:25 Himself. All of us would perish without a savior, 25:30 we would perish because the wages of sin is death 25:35 and sin is the transgression of the law and to satisfy 25:41 the claims of a broken law Jesus died in our place. 25:46 He could have called 10,000 angels to His side 25:50 and left each one of us to our deserved fate, but no, 25:55 He made His decision, He would provide an opportunity of safety 26:01 and salvation for everyone regardless of the cost. 26:06 If you would like to discover the faith in Jesus that gave 26:12 Maximilian Kolbe peace in the Concentration Camp 26:15 If you'd like to discover the faith in Jesus that gave 26:19 Takashi Nagai peace during the bombing of Nagasaki 26:24 then I'd like to recommend the free gift we have for all our 26:28 Incredible Journey viewers today, it's the inspiring 26:32 booklet Atonement, this booklet will share with you 26:37 the good news that Jesus has paid for all the sin 26:41 and mistakes in our lives and in our world. 26:44 This booklet is our gift to you and is absolutely free 26:49 I guarantee, there are no costs or obligations whatsoever. 26:53 So, make the most of this wonderful opportunity to 26:58 receive your free gift today. 27:02 Phone or text 0436.333.555 in Australia, or 020.422.2042 27:11 in New Zealand, or 770.800.0266 in the United States 27:18 or visit our website tij.tv on simply scan the QR Code 27:24 on your screen and we'll send you today's free offer 27:27 totally free of charge and with no obligations. 27:30 You can also write to us at the addresses on your screen 27:34 or email us at info@tij.tv, don't delay call or text us now. 27:42 Be sure to join us again next week when we will share another 27:47 of life's journeys together. 27:49 Until then, let's pray to our Lord and Savior. 27:54 Dear Heavenly Father, We thank you for Jesus 27:59 and for the gift of salvation that He provides for each one 28:02 each one of us. We are grateful that He was prepared to 28:07 risk everything in order to save us. 28:10 We thank you for your love and pray for your blessing 28:14 on us and our families. We ask this in Jesus name, 28:18 Amen! |
Revised 2025-06-19