physics

Urakami

Urakami is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Urakami rather than just read about it. In short: Urakami is an area in the northern part of the city of Nagasaki, Japan. History Following Arima Harunobu's victory at the Battle of Okitanawate in 1584, Urakami was ceded in gratitude to the Society of Jesus.

Key takeaways

Urakami belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Urakami to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Urakami from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Urakami is an area in the northern part of the city of Nagasaki, Japan.

History

Following Arima Harunobu's victory at the Battle of Okitanawate in 1584, Urakami was ceded in gratitude to the Society of Jesus. It was later confiscated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, along with Nagasaki. In 1614, by the orders of shōgun leader Tokugawa Ieyasu, Christianity was banned in Japan in order to suppress European influence and to prevent the undermining of the Japanese government. Most Japanese Christians who openly spoke about their religion were open to prosecution and subject to extreme harsh treatment, such as torture or crucifixion. As a result, Urakami became the stronghold for oppressed believers who steadfastly adhered to their religion in secret. During this time period, the Oura Cathedral played the important role as spiritual support for Christians in Urakami. The presence of Christians within the Urakami area caused the Japanese government to launch a crackdown in order to implement the ban. On September 1, 1790, the first persecution began in Urakami; hidden Christians were discovered and arrested, though there were no deaths. In 1839, a new wave of persecution was launched in Urakami, though this too did not result in any deaths. In the third kuzure (literally, "disintegration"), conducted in 1859, more than 10 people died under torture. The fourth and final persecution was conducted between 1867 and 1873, better known as the Urakami Yoban Kuzure. During the process, 68 residents of Urakami were arrested and were forced to renounce their religion entirely. This led to protests from foreign consuls, and the Tokugawa Shogunate relented. However, soon after Tokugawa Shogunate ended and in February 1868 the new Meiji government appointed Sawa Nobuyoshi in charge of public order in Kyūshū. His dislike of all things foreign was well known, and, after consultation, he decided to deal with the problem once and for all. His plan to exile the entire village was approved by an Imperial council on April 25 and implemented in two stages: first the ringleaders to Hagi, Tsuwano and Fukuyama, and then the rest of the village. Families were split up, and in total 3,414 Christian men, women, and children were sent into exile to all over Japan: 500 to Kanazawa, 160 to Tsuwano, 150 to Satsuma, 117 to Tsuru Shima, Okayama, etc. However, under pressure, and wanting to keep the relationship with the United States and European countries, especially after the Japanese government opened to the world in the 1850s, the ban was lifted in 1873 and the Japanese Christians were finally able to return to Urakami. In 1895, Christians built the first cathedral in Japan in the Urakami area. The construction of the cathedral was fully completed in 1925. On August 9, 1945, near the end of World War II, Urakami became the site for ground zero when the atomic bomb exploded at about a height of 500 metres (1,600 ft). The damage caused by the heat rays and the blast was almost entirely restricted to this area, while the Nakashima area was fairly well shielded by the hills. However, 36% of the total structures in both areas were damaged. The Urakami Cathedral was also heavily damaged during the blast. Following the war, Urakami was rebuilt and now houses the once-damaged Cathedral site. Railway access is provided by JR Kyushu, which operates Urakami Station along the Nagasaki Main Line.

See also Nagasaki § Atomic bombing of Nagasaki during World War II

References

External links 32°46′26″N 129°51′48″E (ground zero)

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Urakami

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Urakami claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Urakami before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Urakami ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Urakami

In research: Urakami appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Urakami in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Urakami is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Christianity in Japan, Geography of Nagasaki Prefecture, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Urakami outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Urakami in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Urakami means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Urakami out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Urakami in simple terms?

Urakami is an area in the northern part of the city of Nagasaki, Japan. History Following Arima Harunobu's victory at the Battle of Okitanawate in 1584, Urakami was ceded in gratitude to the Society of Jesus.

Why does Urakami matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Urakami?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Urakami.