Hiroshima marked the 80th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing on Wednesday, with a call for young people to take on the challenge of building broader support toward ridding the world of nuclear weapons as the survivors age and concerns of nuclear conflict grow.
"Our youth, the leaders of future generations, must recognize that misguided policies regarding...nuclear weapons could bring utterly inhumane consequences," 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.
"We urge them to step forward with this understanding and lead civil society toward consensus," he said."We, the people, must never give up."
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said in the ceremony that 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.
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 stages of World War II, killing an estimated 140,000 people by the end of the year.
A record 120 nations and regions, along with the European Union, took part in the ceremony at the Peace Memorial Park, located near the hypocenter, according to the city of Hiroshima. Around 55,000 people attended.
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.
While Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, was absent again this year, its close ally, Belarus, attended for the first time in four years, according to the city. The two countries had not been invited since the start of war.
Palestine and Taiwan also participated in the ceremony for the first time.
The event followed the awarding of 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 U.S. President Donald Trump's pursuit of an"America First" foreign policy and transactional approach to diplomacy.
Matsui said a belief in some countries that nuclear weapons are essential for national defense"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 also 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 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.
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 continue its efforts to"identify concrete measures" that should be taken jointly by nuclear and non-nuclear states, 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 atomic 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.
© KYODO
