It was вЂњan important army depot and port of embarkation,вЂќ said Stearns, situated in the middle of an urban area вЂњof such a size that a large part of the city could be extensively damaged.вЂќ Hiroshima, the biggest of the вЂњunattackedвЂќ targets, was surrounded by hills that were вЂњlikely to produce a focusing effect which would considerably increase the blast damage.вЂќ On top of this, the Ota River made it вЂњnot a goodвЂќ incendiary target, raising the likelihood of its preservation for the atomic bomb. Hiroshima, a city of 318,000, held similar appeal. Thousands of Japanese people and industries had moved there to escape destruction elsewhere furthermore, stated Stearns, KyotoвЂ™s psychological advantage as a cultural and вЂњintellectual centerвЂќ made the residents вЂњmore likely to appreciate the significance of such a weapon as the gadget.вЂќ Tokyo had been struck from the list because it was already вЂњrubble,вЂќ the minutes noted. Kyoto, a large industrial city with a population of 1 million, met most of the committeeвЂ™s criteria. In any case, Tokyo had been struck from the list because it was already вЂњrubble,вЂќ the minutes noted. They were all вЂњlarge urban areas of more than three miles in diameter вЂќ вЂњcapable of being effectively damaged by the blast вЂќ and вЂњlikely to be unattacked by next August.вЂќ Someone raised the possibility of bombing the emperorвЂ™s palace in Tokyo-a spectacular idea, they agreed, but militarily impractical. Stearns, a scientist representing the Air Force, named the four shortlisted targets in order of preference: Kyoto, Hiroshima, Yokohama, and Kokura. It included вЂњheight of detonation,вЂќ вЂњgadget jettisoning and landing,вЂќ вЂњstatus of targets,вЂќ вЂњpsychological factors in target selection,вЂќ вЂњradiological effects,вЂќ and so on. Tokyo, Yawata, and Yokohama were thought unsuitable-Tokyo was вЂњall bombed and burned out,вЂќ with вЂњonly the palace grounds still standing.вЂќДЄ fortnight later, at the formal May 10 target meeting, Robert Oppenheimer, the chief scientist on the project, ran through the agenda. вЂњIt should be given consideration,вЂќ they concluded. Hiroshima, they noted, was вЂњthe largest untouched targetвЂќ and remained oп¬Ђ Air Force General Curtis LeMayвЂ™s list of cities open to incendiary attack. Groves asked the scientists and military personnel to debate the details: They analyzed weather conditions, timing, use of radar or visual sights, and priority cities. Xi JinpingвЂ™s Terrifying New China Michael Schuman The target should: possess sentimental value to the Japanese so its destruction would вЂњadversely affectвЂќ the will of the people to continue the war have some military significance-munitions factories, troop concentrations, and so on be mostly intact, to demonstrate the awesome destructive power of an atomic bomb and be big enough for a weapon of the atomic bombвЂ™s magnitude. General Leslie Groves, the Army engineer in charge of the Manhattan Project, had been ruminating on targets since late 1944 at a preliminary meeting two weeks earlier, he had laid down his criteria. The group was loosely known as the Target Committee, and the question they sought to answer essentially was this: Which of the preserved Japanese cities would best demonstrate the destructive power of the atomic bomb?

With Germany out of the war, the top minds within the Manhattan Project, the American effort to design an atomic bomb, focused on the choices of targets within Japan. On May 10, 1945, three days after Germany had surrendered to the Allied powers and ended World War II in Europe, a carefully selected group of scientists and military personnel met in an office in Los Alamos, New Mexico.

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