NOWADAYS BUGS ARE POPULAR PETS IN JAPAN, BUZZING WITH LESSONS ABOUT ECOLOGY AND SPECIES - TOKYO JAPAN

NOWADAYS BUGS ARE POPULAR PETS IN JAPAN, BUZZING WITH LESSONS ABOUT ECOLOGY AND SPECIES  - TOKYO JAPAN  

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TOKYOThe pet of choice in Japan, as much as cuddly kitties and playful puppies, is the humble bug.

The bug has been a key part of Japanese culture from the Heian era classic “The Tale of Genji” to popular modern-day manga and animation like “Mushishi,” featuring insect-like supernatural creatures.

Japanese people appreciate the glitter of fireflies let loose in the garden or the gentle chirping of crickets kept in a little cage. You can feed the bug pets watermelon, but special jelly pet food for bugs is also available at stores. Naturally, bugs are on sale as well, with the more esoteric ones selling for 20,000 yen.

Here, crawly and buzzing critters are not just relegated to the scientific realm of the entomologist working on a taxidermy of pinned butterflies. Celebrities boast about their fascination with bug-hunting as their hobbies just like a western movie star might talk about his yacht or golf score.

The bug as companion is an essential part of what’s observed, enjoyed and cared for in everyday life, reflecting a deeply rooted celebration of humankind’s oneness with nature.

“They are so tiny. If you catch and study them, you’re sure to discover something new,” says Munetoshi Maruyama, professor of bioenvironmental sciences at Kyushu University, whose fascination with bugs began as a child, like many Japanese.

“They are so beautiful in shape and form.”

One thrill that comes from studying insects is discovering a new species, simply because there are more than 1.2 million known kinds of insects, far more than mammals, which translates to a lot of undiscovered ones, said Maruyama, who has discovered 250 new insect species himself and shrugs that off as a relatively small number.

Japan differs from much of the West in encouraging interaction with bugs from childhood, with lots of books written for children, as well as classes and tours.

“In Japan, kids love bugs. You can even buy a net at a convenience store,” he said. “It’s fantastic that bugs can serve as a doorway to science.”

The fact some insects go through metamorphoses, transforming from a larva to a butterfly, for instance, adds to the excitement, allowing kids to observe the stages of a life span, Maruyama said.

Tracing the movement of bugs can be a way to study global warming, too, while so-called “social insects,” like bees and ants show intelligence in how they communicate, remember routes to find their way back to their nests or burrow elaborate underground paths as colonies.

Because bugs carry out important functions in the ecosystem, such as pollinating crops and becoming food for birds and other wildlife, human life isn’t ultimately sustainable if all bugs were to disappear from earth.

The love affair with bugs was clear at an exhibit in Tokyo, aptly called “The Great Insect Exhibition,” running through the end of this month at the Sky Tree Tower, where crowds of children gathered around trees inside indoor cages so they could observe and touch the various beetles.

One kind of rhinoceros beetle known as Hercules, which originated in the Caribbean but is now also found in Japan, is reputed to be the biggest beetle on record, although it’s just several inches in length. Its back coat is a shiny khaki color, though such shades change depending on the season. The other parts, like its horn and delicate but spiky legs, are dark.

“We want the kids to feel the emotions and joy of actually touching the insects here. That’s really positive for the workings of a child’s brain,” said Toyoji Suzuki, one of the event’s organizers, who insisted everyone, including adults, touch the bottom of the beetles’ horns and wings to feel how surprisingly soft and fluffy they are.

Four-year-old Asahi Yamauchi, who was at the exhibit with his grandmother and getting his photo taken inside a special installation that made it look like he was inside a beetle, loves bugs as much as he loves dinosaurs and has what he called a cute beetle as a pet at home.

“My friend had one so I wanted one,” he said.

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TEAM PULLS OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP AMID ABUSE CLAIMS - TOKYO JAPAN

TEAM PULLS OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP AMID ABUSE CLAIMS - TOKYO JAPAN

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TOKYO

A high school baseball team has withdrawn from one of Japan's most popular national tournaments, the school's principal said Sunday, amid social media controversy over reports of abuse.

The Koryo High School team's withdrawal from the annual summer national high school baseball championship follows revelations that the event's national body issued a severe reprimand in March over a case in which four students physically abused a younger boy at a dormitory in January.

Principal Masakazu Hori said with further allegations circulating on social media and students targeted by online attacks, the decision was made with "protecting the lives of students, teachers and local people as our greatest priority."

Employees at the school in Hiroshima have been targeted online amid the claims, which include allegations of abuse by coaching staff and a bomb threat made to a dormitory.

According to the school, police are investigating the January incident after the victim filed a complaint, and a third-party committee is examining new allegations from a former member.

Hori expressed "deep regret" over the situation. The school has said it plans a fundamental review of the baseball team, with head coach Tetsuyuki Nakai relieved of his duties until the investigation is complete.

The tournament organizer, the Japan High School Baseball Federation, said that due to the withdrawal, the team has forfeited its second-round game scheduled for Thursday.

Organizers will "continue efforts to eradicate violence, bullying, and unreasonable hierarchical relationships," the federation's statement said.

The national high school baseball championship, held annually at Koshien Stadium in western Japan, is one of the country's most popular sporting events.

Koryo High School is a three-time winner of the event's spring edition and has a history of producing professional players.

Its withdrawal marks only the third in the tournament's roughly 110-year history, and the first after games have begun.

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JAPANESE WARSHIPS VISIT NEW ZEALAND CAPITAL FOR FIRST TIME IN ALMOST 90 YEARS - WELLINGTON NEW ZEALAND

JAPANESE WARSHIPS VISIT NEW ZEALAND CAPITAL FOR FIRST TIME IN ALMOST 90 YEARS - WELLINGTON NEW ZEALAND  

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WELLINGTON

Japanese warships docked in New Zealand ’s capital Friday for the first time in almost 90 years amid efforts by Tokyo to deepen its strategic ties in the South Pacific Ocean.

Two destroyers with more than 500 crew on board sailed into Wellington harbor accompanied by the New Zealand navy ship HMNZS Canterbury. The JS Ise and destroyer JS Suzunami were on an Indo-Pacific deployment and arrived from Sydney, where Japan’s military took part this month in war games involving New Zealand, Australia and other countries.

The Wellington visit was a ceremonial one, but it came as Japan, whose only treaty ally is the United States, has increasingly sought to deepen bilateral military cooperation amid ongoing regional tensions.

“Our defense force are developing cooperative work, not only with New Zealand and Australia but also many Pacific Island countries,” Japan’s envoy to Wellington, Makoto Osawa, told reporters Friday. “Our main goal is the free and open Indo-Pacific.”

The ambassador’s remarks followed the announcement Tuesday by Australia’s government that Japanese firm Mitsubishi Heavy Industries had won the bid for a contract to build Australian warships, beating out a German firm. While officials in Canberra said the Japanese proposal was the best and cheapest, they also hailed it as the biggest defense industry agreement between the countries.

New Zealand too has sought to shore up its strategic and military relations in Asia as part of a foreign policy reset in recent years that the government says has turned more attention on Pacific cooperation and security. Officials in Wellington announced in July that work had started on a defense logistics agreement with Japan, intended to make it easier for the countries’ militaries to work together.

Japanese naval vessels do not often make visits so far south in the Pacific Ocean, but the rich and strategically important waters of New Zealand, Australia and smaller Pacific Island countries are increasingly contested by the world’s major powers, making it the site of a fierce battle for influence between Beijing and Western nations.

Although remote, New Zealand has recently been drawn into more fraught questions of regional security. In February, live firing exercises by Chinese naval frigates in the Tasman Sea between New Zealand and Australia drew alarm from those countries’ governments after flights were forced to divert at short notice.

The last port visit to Wellington by a Japanese naval vessel was in 1936, New Zealand’s military said. A Japanese ship visited New Zealand’s largest city, Auckland, in 2016.

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VIRAL - JAPAN SUMMER HOLIDAY TRAVEL RUSH UNDERWAY AS TRAINS, FLIGHTS FULL- TOKYO JAPAN

VIRAL - JAPAN SUMMER HOLIDAY TRAVEL RUSH UNDERWAY AS TRAINS, FLIGHTS FULL- TOKYO JAPAN

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TOKYO

Japan's summer holiday travel rush got underway Saturday, with many shinkansen bullet train services and flights fully booked as people returned to their hometowns or set off on domestic and overseas vacations.

JR Tokyo Station was crowded from the early morning as all seats on the Nozomi shinkansen bullet train services to the major metropolises of Nagoya, Osaka and Fukuoka were booked out, with long lines of passengers seeking unreserved seats on other trains.

Traffic jams snaked along the country's expressways, while travelers at train stations crowded concourses and waiting rooms to shelter from the summer heat on the platforms.

Keisuke Nakagawa, 7, who was returning with his father to Otsu in Shiga Prefecture, western Japan, from Chiba Prefecture neighboring Tokyo, said he planned to play in the water at Lake Biwa and see his grandparents.

Throngs of people passed through JR Shin-Osaka Station on the Tokaido and Sanyo shinkansen lines in western Japan. Karin Takimura, 10, from Utsunomiya city in Tochigi Prefecture, met her father in Osaka before they set off on a family trip to Hiroshima.

"I learned about Itsukushima Shrine in school, and want to go and see it," she said.

Yoko Nishio, 75, and her friends, all wearing matching t-shirts, were headed to western prefecture of Kochi to perform at the yosakoi dance festival there. "We've been practicing since June," she said. "Even though it is supposed to rain, we hope to enjoy dancing."

A malfunction of the E8-series shinkansen trains in June had led to a reduction in the number of direct trains between Tokyo and northeastern Yamagata Prefecture, with regular services resuming only at the beginning of the month.

"It is challenging to make transfers with small children," said Takamichi Okudaira, 36, at JR Yamagata Station on his way home to Sagae in the prefecture with his family after coming from Saitama, near Tokyo. "I am grateful to be able to make it here directly."

Rail operators said Tokaido Shinkansen bookings were nearly full on Saturday morning for bullet trains departing from Tokyo.

While regular trains on the Yamagata Shinkansen are operating normally, the number of extraordinary services has decreased, with operators calling for passengers to spread out their travel dates.

All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines flights departing from Tokyo's Haneda airport were fully booked out on routes to Okinawa Prefecture in southern Japan, where the new theme park Junglia Okinawa opened last month.

Departure flights from the Narita airport, the other hub serving the capital, were also robust.

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VIRAL - JAPAN AT NUCLEAR CROSSROADS 80 YEARS AFTER A-BOMBINGS AS SURVIROS AGE - NAGASAKI JAPAN

VIRAL - JAPAN AT NUCLEAR CROSSROADS 80 YEARS AFTER A-BOMBINGS AS SURVIROS AGE - NAGASAKI JAPAN

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NAGASAKI

Eighty years after the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan faces with growing urgency the question of how to carry forward the moral voice for ridding the world of nuclear weapons as generational memory fades and nuclear risks rise amid the advancement of technology.

Atomic bomb survivors, who have helped shape the nuclear taboo over the past decades, are now on average over the age of 86, meaning that the generation of those who witnessed firsthand the horrific effects of nuclear weapons is nearing its end, leaving a void increasingly difficult to fill.

Positioned close to an assertive China and North Korea that is honing its nuclear capabilities, the Japanese government is unlikely to give up its reliance on the U.S. nuclear deterrent anytime soon, despite viewing its mission as advocating for a world without nuclear weapons.

Following this week's 80th atomic bomb commemorative events, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said at a press conference Saturday that the government is committed to defending the country and its people, while at the same time working to eliminate nuclear weapons.

"So how do we balance these two issues? I firmly believe that we have to fulfill both responsibilities," he said.

Heigo Sato, a professor with expertise on security issues at Takushoku University in Tokyo, said Japan, the only country to have suffered nuclear attacks in war, should continue to play a key role in leading global efforts toward nuclear disarmament through what he calls a "multiple-pronged approach," given the challenges seen in international treaties regarding nuclear weapons.

While the U.N. nuclear ban treaty lacks the support of nuclear weapon states, a broader arms control regime based on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is increasingly under strain. In June, the United States carried out air strikes on Iran to degrade its nuclear programs, leading Tehran to issue threats to withdraw from the NPT.

"We should neither be too dominated by talks on nuclear deterrence, nor be obsessed with the nuclear ban treaty," Sato said, suggesting that other approaches could include reinforcing a system to prevent nuclear proliferation or "fostering an international social movement that rejects nuclear weapons."

As nuclear weapon states continue to modernize and expand their arsenals amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, conflicts in the Midde East and other geopolitical tensions, the landscape could be further complicated as artificial intelligence is eventually incorporated into nuclear command and control systems.

Melissa Parke of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, which won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize, warned of a "perilous" nuclear age in which AI, rather than human judgment, drives decision-making.

She argues that this technological detachment makes it all the more urgent that policymakers heed the messages of those who have experienced the consequences of nuclear weapons firsthand.

"We need global leaders to be listening to the hibakusha (survivors) about the reality of what nuclear weapons actually do to people. They talk in very abstract terms about nuclear weapons and nuclear deterrence," said Parke. "But the reality is actually what the hibakusha are talking about."

The testimonies of the survivors to convey the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons can only increase its significance as time passes, with both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki city governments training future generations to become "storytellers" to carry forward the account.

But Sato is doubtful about the effectiveness of such efforts, saying that future storytellers are "no different from a game of telephone" as they are essentially recounting someone else's story.

"As with any game of telephone, the further along the chain you go, the more the message gets distorted or loses impact," he said.

Mitsuhiro Hayashida, whose grandfather survived the atomic blast in Nagasaki, said a broader understanding of history, including Japan's aggression in the lead-up to and during World War II, will help encourage the youth to link the stories with present day action to realize peace.

In contrast to Germany, where children study the history of World War II in the hope of preventing future atrocities, the discourse in Japan tends to focus on victimhood, he said.

"We need to explain the atomic bombings not just as isolated events, but in connection with the broader history of the war -- why that war happened, and what kind of reflection followed in postwar Japan," said the 33-year-old, who founded Peace Education Lab Nagasaki in 2023 to provide such training.

While the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize last year to Nihon Hidankyo, Japan's leading group of atomic bomb survivors, has helped to reinvigorate citizens' movements and individual activists, a significant impact on a government policy level has yet to be seen.

Terumi Tanaka, 93, who has long played a key role in Nihon Hidankyo, said that the government, as a democracy, reflects the will of the people.

"If we have a government that supports policies like nuclear deterrence, ultimately, it's the responsibility of the citizens," Tanaka, a co-chair of the group, said at an event in Nagasaki on Friday.

For Tanaka, who was exposed to the bombing in the city at age 13, seeing his efforts culminate in the signing and ratification of the nuclear ban treaty by Japan and meaningful steps toward eliminating nuclear weapons is one of his greatest wishes in life.

"If we can begin to see a path to abolition, I think I can finally say farewell with peace in my heart," he said.

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JAPAN PUBLISHER SORRY FOR COLUMN TARGETING PEOPLE WITH FOREIGN ROOTS - TOKYO JAPAN

JAPAN PUBLISHER SORRY FOR COLUMN TARGETING PEOPLE WITH FOREIGN ROOTS - TOKYO JAPAN 

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TOKYO

A Japanese publisher has apologized for running a column in its weekly magazine last month that was criticized as discriminatory toward people with foreign roots and for promoting xenophobia.

In the column in the July 31 issue of "Shukan Shincho," published by Shinchosha, journalist Masayuki Takayama discussed naturalization and attacked author Ushio Fukazawa -- who is of Korean descent -- for speaking out against discriminatory attitudes in Japan.

Shinchosha said in a statement, "We offer our sincerest apologies. We are acutely aware of, and take responsibility for, our shortcomings as a publisher."

"We recognize that while 'freedom of speech and expression' is extremely important, the scope of that freedom varies depending on the subject matter and social context, and changes over time," the publisher added.

At a press conference the same day, Fukazawa said, "I wonder how frightened people with foreign roots must feel." She added, "I hope Japan remains a country where people from diverse backgrounds can live with pride."

Comments condemning the column from around 40 individuals, including novelist Natsuo Kirino and manga artist Akiko Higashimura, were also presented.

In the column, Takayama also bashed model Kiko Mizuhara for accusing a producer in the Japanese film industry of sexual harassment, saying, "She was born to an American and a Korean, and has absolutely no connection or ties to a Japanese."

"It's hard to accept someone using a Japanese name while sounding as if they are exposing Japan from the inside. Shouldn't they speak openly under a foreign name instead?" he wrote.

Shinchosha previously suspended publication of its monthly magazine "Shincho 45" after it was lambasted in 2018 for running a contributing piece that used a derogatory term to describe the LGBT community.

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JAPAN SETS RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 41.8 C IN GUNMA; WORRIES MOUNT OVER RICE CROPS - TOKYO JAPAN

JAPAN SETS RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 41.8 C IN GUNMA; WORRIES MOUNT OVER RICE CROPS - TOKYO JAPAN

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TOKYO

Japan recorded its highest-ever temperature of 41.8 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, prompting the government to advise residents to stay indoors and promise steps to ease weather-related damage to rice crops.

The city of Isesaki, in Gunma prefecture, set the record to surpass the previous high of 41.2 degrees Celsius marked last week in the city of Tamba in Hyogo Prefecture, the country's meteorological agency said.

In Tokyo, the highest temperature was 40.4 degrees in Ome City.

"Today is murderously hot," said 63-year-old auto worker Takeshi Ishikawa, who was filling his water bottle at a fountain in central Tokyo.

So far this summer, more than 53,000 people have been taken to hospital for heatstroke, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.

Average temperatures across Japan have continued to climb after marking a record high in July for the third year in a row, while the northeastern region along the Sea of Japan saw critically low levels of rainfall, raising concerns over the rice harvest.

High temperatures have caused a proliferation of stink bugs in some rice-growing areas, even as the government is set to officially adopt a new policy on Tuesday of increased rice production to prevent future shortages.

"We need to act with speed and a sense of crisis to prevent damage" from high temperatures, Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said at a press conference. The government will offer support for pest control and measures to tackle drought, he said.

Extreme heat in 2023 had damaged the quality of rice, causing an acute shortage last year that was exacerbated by the government's misreading of supply and demand. That led to historically high prices of the all-important staple food, causing a national crisis.

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JAPAN'S OLDEST PERSON IS A 114-YEAR-OLD RETIRED DOCTOR WHO CARRIED AN OLYMPIC TORCH IN YEAR 2021 - TOKYO JAPAN

JAPAN'S OLDEST PERSON IS A 114-YEAR-OLD RETIRED DOCTOR WHO CARRIED AN OLYMPIC TORCH IN YEAR 2021 - TOKYO JAPAN

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TOKYO

Shigeko Kagawa, a 114-year-old retired physician from Nara Prefecture, has became Japan’s oldest living person, following the death of 114-year-old Miyoko Hiroyasu, according to Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

Kagawa, a symbol of Japan’s extraordinary longevity, graduated from medical school before World War II, served at a hospital in Osaka during the war, and later ran her family’s clinic as an obstetrician and gynecologist. She retired at 86.

At 109, Kagawa became one of the oldest torchbearers in Olympic history during the Tokyo 2021 torch relay.

“I don’t have any,” Kagawa told TOS News in 2023 when asked about the secret to her longevity. “I just play every day. My energy is my greatest asset. I go where I want, eat what I want and do what I want. I’m free and independent.”

Her predecessor as Japan's oldest person led a similarly active life. Born in 1911, Hiroyasu studied art in Tokyo, taught in Hiroshima Prefecture and raised three children.

She died in a nursing home in Oita Prefecture, where she spent her days reading newspapers, sketching and playing card games.

“I am grateful to be healthy,” she said on her 113th birthday.

Despite an overall population decline, Japan’s elderly population continues to grow. As of September 1, 2024, a record 36 million people — 29% of the population — were aged 65 or older, the highest proportion of seniors in the world. Those aged 80 and above now make up 10% of the population, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

There are 95,119 centenarians across the country.

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HIROSHIMA MARK 80 YEARS ANNIVERSARY OF ATOMIC BOMBING - HIROSHIMA JAPAN

HIROSHIMA MARK 80 YEARS ANNIVERSARY OF ATOMIC BOMBING - HIROSHIMA JAPAN 

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HIROSHIMA

Hiroshima called Wednesday for young people to take on the challenge of ridding the world of nuclear weapons and urged nations to rise above self-interest to end conflicts, as the city marked the 80th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing amid growing global instability.

"Despite the current turmoil at the nation-state level, we, the people, must never give up," Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui said in the Peace Declaration read during the annual memorial ceremony, which took place after Japan's leading group of atomic bomb survivors was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year.

"Our youth, the leaders of future generations, must recognize that misguided policies regarding military spending, national security, and nuclear weapons could bring utterly inhumane consequences," he said. "We urge them to step forward with this understanding and lead civil society toward consensus."

A moment of silence was observed at 8:15 a.m., the exact time when the uranium bomb was dropped by the U.S. bomber Enola Gay and detonated over the city on Aug. 6, 1945, in the final stage of World War II, killing an estimated 140,000 people by the end of the year.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said it is Japan's mission as the only country to have experienced the horror of nuclear devastation in war to advance global efforts to realize a world free of nuclear weapons, especially amid increasing divisions over disarmament.

With the 80-year milestone, a record 120 nations and regions attended the ceremony at the Peace Memorial Park, located near the hypocenter, according to the city of Hiroshima.

Following a controversy last year over whether to invite countries involved in armed conflicts to Japan's atomic bomb commemorations, which are aimed at promoting peace, Hiroshima has shifted from sending invitations to simply notifying all countries and regions of its event.

The ceremony, attended by around 55,000 people, followed the awarding of last year's Nobel Peace Prize to Nihon Hidankyo, also known as the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, for its decades-long campaign against nuclear weapons using the testimony of survivors.

But opportunities to hear directly from those who witnessed the atomic bombings are declining, with the combined number of officially recognized survivors of the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki falling below 100,000 for the first time. Their average age exceeded 86.

The momentum toward nuclear disarmament has diminished in recent years with growing global instability amid the war in Ukraine, the conflict in Gaza, and President Donald Trump's pursuit of an "America First" foreign policy and transactional approach to diplomacy.

In a dangerous escalation of Middle East tensions, the United States in June struck three sites in Iran with the stated aim of destroying its nuclear weapons infrastructure.

Matsui said policymakers in some countries believe "nuclear weapons are essential for national defense" and that the developments "flagrantly disregard the lessons the international community should have learned from the tragedies of history."

Criticizing security policies focused on "narrow self-interest" that foment international conflicts, he urged all world leaders to visit Hiroshima to witness the consequences of atomic bombs and called for nations strengthening their military forces to engage in dialogue aimed at abandoning reliance on nuclear weapons.

Matsui also reiterated the city's call for Japan to sign the U.N. treaty outlawing nuclear weapons, saying doing so would comply with the wishes of the atomic bomb survivors, including Nihon Hidankyo.

While advocating for a world without nuclear weapons, Japan has not joined the nuclear ban treaty as a complete prohibition would conflict with its policy of relying on U.S. nuclear deterrence.

Ishiba said in his speech that the Japanese government will explore specific steps both nuclear and non-nuclear states can work together on, without touching on the treaty, which none of the nuclear powers are part of.

Warning that the risk of nuclear conflict is growing, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres lamented in a statement that "the very weapons that brought such devastation to Hiroshima and Nagasaki are once again being treated as tools of coercion."

But he noted that Nihon Hidankyo's Nobel Prize win was a sign of hope, saying in the statement read out by U.N. disarmament chief Izumi Nakamitsu that "countries must draw strength from the resilience of Hiroshima and from the wisdom" of the survivors.

Many survivors braved the intense summer heat to offer prayers and flowers near the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims, an arch-shaped monument at the park, early in the morning.

Among them was Shinobu Ono, who was just 4 years old when the bomb dropped. Her family home, nestled at the foot of a mountain, was spared from the firestorm, but her father, who had been outside at the time, suffered serious burns to his face.

Now 84, Ono said she was too young to fully grasp what happened at the time but returns every year to honor her family and pray for peace.

"I am grateful for the efforts of those who can share their stories. Since I can't contribute, all I can do is pray," she said. "When I look at what is happening in Ukraine now, it just breaks my heart."

The United States and Russia together possess around 90 percent of all nuclear weapons, while China's arsenal has grown faster than any other country's with around 100 warheads added each year since 2023, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said in its latest annual report.

Three days after the first atomic bomb, nicknamed "Little Boy," decimated Hiroshima in western Japan, a second one, dubbed "Fat Man," was dropped on Nagasaki in the southwest. Japan surrendered to the Allied forces six days later, marking the end of World War II.

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