Before Aug. 9, 1945, Nagasaki was best known for its churches, Chinatown and a tasty noodle dish called champon, and but for heavy cloud cover that day over the nearby city of Kokura -- which was slated to be the world's second atom-bombed city -- it would still likely be that way. However, moments after the U.S. bomber "Bock's Car" dropped its payload over its backup target, Nagasaki, this city was branded indelibly by its instant devastation.

It's a sad irony that Japan's historically most open, international city should have been singled out to suffer the horror of a nuclear attack, but its location on the west coast of Kyushu, making it an ideal harbor for foreign trade, also meant it was a prime spot for a military shipyard, and therefore an attractive target.

The Portuguese were the first foreigners to arrive, when the Jesuits came in the late 16th century. However, the Tokugawa Shogunate later cracked down on these Catholics, whose suffering is commemorated at the 26 Martyrs Memorial. Near the main station, this marks the crucifixion in 1597 of 20 Japanese and six Portuguese who refused to renounce their faith.