Japan's capital, Tokyo, had already fallen into ruin. After the Pacific War began, the U.S. military had bombed the Japanese home islands repeatedly. Many important cities had suffered wave after wave of air raids, and Tokyo had long since lost its former prosperity.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki were ultimately chosen as the targets for the atomic weapons after extensive consideration and calculations.
At the time, Hiroshima was an army city. It was home to the headquarters of the Japanese Home Defense Second General Army and served as a major collection and distribution hub for Japan's strategic supplies. Nagasaki, meanwhile, had Japan's most important shipbuilding base.
Kyoto, Niigata, and Kokura had also been on the list. Nagasaki was ultimately selected from among the many possible cities at the last minute, based on the weather conditions at the time.
Tokyo, already battered to pieces, was vast, but lacked significant industrial or military installations. It was also unsuitable for assessing the destructive power of an atomic weapon. Though it was Japan's capital, it had not been included on the list of target cities.
Chiyoda Ward was where Tokyo's Imperial Palace, the Supreme Court, Yasukuni Shrine, and many other important institutions and organizations were located. Azazel, unfamiliar with the place, had spent a long time searching before he and James finally found it.
James looked over the photographs and documents he had arranged to have collected in advance, comparing them with a building in the style of a Japanese shrine. He nodded, set down the metal urn he had been carrying, and deftly took out a black iron canister over a meter tall, shaped like an oversized torpedo.
Azazel stood with his hands on his hips, looking around. He was a little out of breath. Teleporting all the way from America to East Asia across