NAGASAKI -- Nagasaki Prefecture has found the ruins of what is believed to be the foundation of a former prefectural office building that was erected in the Meiji era (1868-1912) and was gutted by fire during the atomic bombing of Nagasaki City in World War II.
The prefectural government is excavating at the site.
Experts believe the ruins of the building will shed light on the Aug. 9, 1945, U.S. atomic bomb attack near the end of the war.
According to Nagasaki Prefecture and other sources, the former site of the prefectural office was in the center of the city, about 3.3 kilometers south of ground zero.
Since the late 16th century, the city center had been known for important facilities such as the Nagasaki bugyosho magistrate's office, the Nagasaki naval training center and the Church on the Cape -- which was the base for Christian missionary work.
Beginning in the Meiji era, the prefectural government office was rebuilt four times at the site until 2018, when officials moved the government building to its present site.
Excavation has been ongoing at the about 9,000-square-meter site since October last year.
The newly found remnant of the third of the four government buildings is a red brick foundation measuring 20 meters long, 1.2 meters high and about 60 centimeters wide.
Based on the layout amid the remaining portions of the structure, the ruins are believed to be part of the foundation of the main building.
The government also discovered what appears to be parts of an incineration site and a ditch.
The third building was erected in 1911, using English-style bricks. It included one basement level and two floors above ground.
According to the writings of a staff member at the time of the bombing, occupants of the office noticed smoke coming from decorative windows on the roof of the building and immediately attempted to extinguish the flames. However, the fire spread from one place to another one as the building burned to the ground.
The Nagasaki municipal government, which had designated 122 buildings and trees as A-bombed entities as of April 1, is working to preserve the material in four stages, depending on the degree of damage.
With the increasing age of atomic bomb survivors, the role of physical remnants as "silent narrators" of the horrors of the nuclear warfare is expanding.
There are additional ruins at a separate location where only the foundations of buildings remain as the structures were demolished in the nuclear attack. They include the ruins of the Nagasaki prison's Uragami branch building, about 300 meters from the hypocenter.
The municipal government, which has designated the structures as atomic-bomb ruins, opens the foundation to the public at the Peace Park in the city.
"The site of the prefectural office building is on the southern edge of the area where the fire subsequently spread amid the atomic bombing, and it's a valuable reminder of the fact that there was damage done by the bombing in this area," a curator of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum said.
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