Brian Klaas

Yeah, so 19 years after he goes on vacation to Kyoto, Stimson has risen through the ranks of the U.S. government, and he is now the Secretary of War in 1945. And that means he's the chief civilian who oversees the target committee, who oversees the decision of where to drop the atomic bomb. And he gets this memo, and we have all these memos preserved through historical records.

And the memo basically says, we agree, Kyoto must be destroyed. That's where we're going to drop the first atomic bomb.

And the memo basically says, we agree, Kyoto must be destroyed. That's where we're going to drop the first atomic bomb.

And the memo basically says, we agree, Kyoto must be destroyed. That's where we're going to drop the first atomic bomb.

Well, we don't know exactly what happened the moment he saw the memo, but we know that he sprung to action because the generals began to refer to Kyoto as Stimson's pet city because he had gone to such extraordinary lengths to try to save it. And that involved sending messages.

Well, we don't know exactly what happened the moment he saw the memo, but we know that he sprung to action because the generals began to refer to Kyoto as Stimson's pet city because he had gone to such extraordinary lengths to try to save it. And that involved sending messages.

Well, we don't know exactly what happened the moment he saw the memo, but we know that he sprung to action because the generals began to refer to Kyoto as Stimson's pet city because he had gone to such extraordinary lengths to try to save it. And that involved sending messages.

It involved twice meeting with President Truman, the American president at the time overseeing this choice, and convincing him to take Kyoto off the bombing list. So it's an extraordinary intervention by a government official who is basically going out on a limb to overrule the decision of the committee that has deeply thought about the strategic value of various bombing targets.

It involved twice meeting with President Truman, the American president at the time overseeing this choice, and convincing him to take Kyoto off the bombing list. So it's an extraordinary intervention by a government official who is basically going out on a limb to overrule the decision of the committee that has deeply thought about the strategic value of various bombing targets.

It involved twice meeting with President Truman, the American president at the time overseeing this choice, and convincing him to take Kyoto off the bombing list. So it's an extraordinary intervention by a government official who is basically going out on a limb to overrule the decision of the committee that has deeply thought about the strategic value of various bombing targets.

Yeah, so the first target is taken off the list, Kyoto. So they go to the secondary target on August 6th, 1945, the other one that was very highly rated, and that was Hiroshima, which as we all know, was destroyed by the first atomic bomb. The second target that was of significance that was deemed to be one of the top value targets was a place called Kokura.

Yeah, so the first target is taken off the list, Kyoto. So they go to the secondary target on August 6th, 1945, the other one that was very highly rated, and that was Hiroshima, which as we all know, was destroyed by the first atomic bomb. The second target that was of significance that was deemed to be one of the top value targets was a place called Kokura.

Yeah, so the first target is taken off the list, Kyoto. So they go to the secondary target on August 6th, 1945, the other one that was very highly rated, and that was Hiroshima, which as we all know, was destroyed by the first atomic bomb. The second target that was of significance that was deemed to be one of the top value targets was a place called Kokura.

And that was where the second atomic bomb on August 9th, 1945, three days after the Hiroshima bombing, was supposed to go. So the second B-29 boxcar is approaching Kokura, ready to drop its payload. And the city is obscured by unforecasted fog and clouds and haze. So basically, they can't see the bomb site.

And that was where the second atomic bomb on August 9th, 1945, three days after the Hiroshima bombing, was supposed to go. So the second B-29 boxcar is approaching Kokura, ready to drop its payload. And the city is obscured by unforecasted fog and clouds and haze. So basically, they can't see the bomb site.

And that was where the second atomic bomb on August 9th, 1945, three days after the Hiroshima bombing, was supposed to go. So the second B-29 boxcar is approaching Kokura, ready to drop its payload. And the city is obscured by unforecasted fog and clouds and haze. So basically, they can't see the bomb site.

And as a result of this, they think to themselves, well, we can't risk dropping an atomic bomb and missing. Right. So they circle a few times and eventually they decide to divert to the secondary target as they're running low on fuel. And that is Nagasaki. And so around 1045 in the morning, they dropped the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. And of course, nobody in Kokura was aware of this.

And as a result of this, they think to themselves, well, we can't risk dropping an atomic bomb and missing. Right. So they circle a few times and eventually they decide to divert to the secondary target as they're running low on fuel. And that is Nagasaki. And so around 1045 in the morning, they dropped the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. And of course, nobody in Kokura was aware of this.

And as a result of this, they think to themselves, well, we can't risk dropping an atomic bomb and missing. Right. So they circle a few times and eventually they decide to divert to the secondary target as they're running low on fuel. And that is Nagasaki. And so around 1045 in the morning, they dropped the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. And of course, nobody in Kokura was aware of this.

And so there's a term in modern Japanese culture called Kokura's luck, which is basically when you unknowingly escape disaster. Because for potentially 100,000, maybe even more people living in that city, they were spared by a passing cloud. And for the people of Kyoto, they were spared by a 19-year-old vacation of one pivotal government official who was at the right place at the right time.