Exhibition documenting impact of atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki opens for the first time in the UK

An exhibition documenting the lasting impact of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has opened in the UK for the first time, at the University of Stirling.

To mark the eighth decade since the bombing, the University is hosting Remembered: 80 years since the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Scotland is the 15th country to host the showcase, which is curated by The Nagasaki National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims.

The exhibition aims to provide visitors with an in-depth understanding of the impact of the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, supporting the Peace Halls’ international efforts to work towards a genuine, lasting peace in a nuclear weapon-free world.

His Excellency Mr Hiroshi Suzuki, Japanese Ambassador to the United Kingdom, officially opened the exhibition in the University’s Campus Central building on Monday, 6 October. The free exhibition runs until 14 November.

Japanese Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Mr Hiroshi Suzuki, signs a message of peace.

His Excellency Mr Hiroshi Suzuki, Japanese Ambassador to the United Kingdom, said: “It was a great pleasure to visit the University of Stirling where I was honoured to join Chancellor Lord McConnell, Principal and Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Gerry McCormac, and Director Nose from the National Peace Memorial Halls for the Atomic Bomb Victims to attend the opening of Remembered: 80 years since the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Horrific reality

“The photos on display tell their own story. Understanding the horrific reality of what happened 80 years ago is the very first step in ensuring that nuclear weapons are never used again.”

The two bombs dropped in 1945 instantaneously reduced the Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima to ruin. The first was detonated over Hiroshima on 6 August, and the second over Nagasaki on 9 August 1945.

By the end of that year the bombings had taken more than 200,000 lives, with survivors suffering devastating after-effects of radiation.

The Nagasaki National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims was established as a national institute under the Japan’s Atomic Bomb Survivors Support Law. Its purpose is to convey the reality of the atomic bombing damages to people both in Japan and abroad, to inform future generations, to learn from the history and to build a peaceful world free of nuclear weapons.

Honour

Mr Hiroshi Nose, Director of the Nagasaki National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims, said: “Since 2005, the Nagasaki Peace Memorial Hall has been holding overseas exhibitions on the atomic bombings in order to tell the world about the damages these bombings caused and further efforts to bring about a peaceful world without nuclear weapons.

“These exhibitions have now been staged in 27 cities in 14 countries and this is the first exhibition to be held in Scotland.”

Lord Jack McConnell, Chancellor of the University of Stirling added: “It is a very real honour for the University of Stirling to become the first UK institution to work with the Nagasaki Peace Hall to bring this important exhibition to the United Kingdom.

“Eighty years on from the devastation and destructive power demonstrated by the atomic bombings, the world is still afflicted by conflict and violence, which makes the exhibition’s central message of peace more important than ever. I’m proud that the University, as part of its mission to build a better world and to promote cultural understanding, can help to bring this critical message to new audiences."

Stirling student guide Mike Vandergoot gave Ambassador Suzuki a tour of the exhibition.

The exhibition is open to the public, with guided tours also available - led by University of Stirling students Kennedi Lee and Mike Vandergoot.

They joined Dr Phia Steyn, Lecturer in History in the University’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities, in attending a peace learning programme to Nagasaki in July, where they heard testimony from atomic bomb survivors and attended lectures and tours in the city.

The exhibition is accompanied by a programme of public events, including a talk from survivor Mr. Seiichiro Mise, who was 10 years old at the time of the atomic bombing.

Remembered: 80 years since the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki runs from 6 October to 14 November 2025 at Campus Central, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA.