In August 1945, during the final stage of the Second World War, the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The two bombings, which killed at least 129,000 people, remain the only use of nuclear weapons for warfare in history.The two bombings killed an estimated 129,000-246,000 soldiers and civilians. Despite its fearsome destructive potential, the two bombings are not the most lethal bombing in history.
Operation Meetinghouse, which took place five months before Hiroshima and Nagasaki, is credited as being the most lethal (and it used conventional explosives, to boot). The firebombings and conventional bombing sorties against Japan killed many more than the atom bomb ever did, although the outset of the Cold War has inflated their lethality.
Survivors of the atomic attacks are known as
hibakusha, "explosion-affected people". These survivors endured many harsh effects of radiation such as burns, vaporization, irradiation, and blindness. Among the most horrifying of the atomic bomb's effects is the creation of anime and manga.
Caption: Excerpt from a manga.
Caption: Excerpt from an anime.Anime and manga was invented in 1976 when Otomo Astuffaka of the Otomo clan first made contact with the Portuguese Nanban traders on the island of Tanegashima. As such, anime was first called "tanegashima". Following a series of revisionist accounts of the atomic bombings, anime developed into a grand display of Japanese culture, creating heroic and politically-charged shows such as
Magical Girl Sailor Moon and
My Little Sister Can't Be This Tight in protest of the blasts. These shows argued that the bombings were unjustified war crimes.
Looking 70 years beyond, Japan has developed into the world's third largest economy and lead exporter of socially-handicapped NEETs. The American occupation of the nation has instilled a great sense of national pride and identity. Among Japan's greatest achievements are the
Rape of Nanking, the
Bataan Death March,
comfort women,
Unit 731, and
instant ramen. Sayonara.
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