Hiroshima marks 81st atomic bombing anniversary

Hiroshima on Thursday marked the 81st anniversary of the US atomic bombing of the western Japanese city, with its mayor criticizing major powers for waging wars and urging them to stop portraying nuclear weapons as a means of deterrence.

“Downplaying the inhumanity of nuclear weapons and accepting the use of force to pursue one’s own prosperity risk cycles of violent retaliation that could ultimately result in another Hiroshima or Nagasaki,” Mayor Kazumi Matsui said.

In his peace declaration at a ceremony in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, Matsui said too many political leaders still view nuclear deterrence as a realistic approach and continue to justify violence, which “simply pushes a world without nuclear weapons further into the distance.”

He also urged people to learn from the past and take action to prevent such tragedies from happening again.

Around 50,000 people, including representatives from about 120 countries and regions, including the United States and Iran, were expected to attend the ceremony. A minute of silence was observed as a peace bell rang at 8:15 a.m., the exact time when a US B-29 bomber dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, attending the memorial ceremony for the first time as prime minister, said Japan would take “a realistic approach” toward achieving a world without the use of nuclear weapons, within the framework of the United Nations treaty aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons.

This year’s ceremony comes amid speculation that Takaichi’s hawkish government, which supports nuclear deterrence, could ease Japan’s postwar three non-nuclear principles when it prepares new security and defense documents later this year.

Takaichi has supported reviewing the principles, including the possibility of dropping the third principle, which prohibits Japan from allowing nuclear weapons to be brought into the country.

She said Japan has maintained the three non-nuclear principles since the end of World War II but stopped short of committing to maintaining the policy in the future.

Survivors have expressed concern and frustration over growing international support, including in Japan, for possessing nuclear weapons as a deterrent.

Japan is protected under the US nuclear umbrella and has repeatedly sought assurances from Washington about its commitment to Japan’s security and stronger protection. As a result, the Japanese government has rejected survivors’ calls for the country to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons or attend its meetings as observers.

The atomic bombing of Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, destroyed much of the city and killed around 140,000 people. A second atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki three days later killed about 70,000. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, ending World War II and its nearly half-century of aggression in Asia.

The number of atomic bomb survivors has fallen to 91,105, about one-fourth of the original number, with their average age now above 86. Survivors are increasingly concerned that memories of the bombings could fade, as the youngest survivors were too young to clearly remember the attacks.