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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