HIROSHIMA: Hiroshima on Wednesday marked the 80th anniversary of the US atomic bombing of the western Japanese city, with many aging survivors expressing frustration about the growing support of global leaders for nuclear weapons as a deterrence.<\/p>\n
With the number of survivors rapidly declining and their average age now exceeding 86, the anniversary is considered the last milestone event for many of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere will be nobody left to pass on this sad and painful experience in 10 years or 20 years,\u201d Minoru Suzuto, a 94-year-old survivor, said after he kneeled down to pray at the cenotaph. \u201cThat\u2019s why I want to share (my story) as much as I can.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bombing of Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, destroyed the city and killed 140,000 people. A second bomb dropped three days later on Nagasaki killed 70,000. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, ending World War II and Japan\u2019s nearly half-century of aggression in Asia.<\/p>\n
Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui warned against a growing acceptance of military buildups and of using nuclear weapons for national security amid Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine and conflicts in the Mideast, with the United States and Russia possessing most of the world\u2019s nuclear warheads.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese developments flagrantly disregard the lessons the international community should have learned from the tragedies of history,\u201d he said. \u201cThey threaten to topple the peacebuilding frameworks so many have worked so hard to construct.\u201d<\/p>\n
He urged younger generations to recognize that such \u201cmisguided policies\u201d could cause \u201cutterly inhumane\u201d consequences for their future.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have much time left, while we face a greater nuclear threat than ever,\u201d said Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese grassroots organization of survivors that won the Nobel Peace Prize last year for its pursuit of nuclear abolishment.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur biggest challenge now is to change, even just a little, nuclear weapons states that give us the cold shoulder,\u201d the organization said in its statement.<\/p>\n
About 55,000 people, including representatives from a record 120 countries and regions, including Russia and Belarus, were expected to attend the ceremony. A minute of silence was held while a peace bell rang out at 8:15 a.m., the time when a US B-29 dropped the bomb on the city.<\/p>\n
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, the city\u2019s mayor and other officials laid flowers at the cenotaph. Dozens of white doves, a symbol of peace, were released after the mayor\u2019s speech.<\/p>\n
Hours before the official ceremony, as the sun rose over Hiroshima, survivors and their families started paying tribute to the victims at the peace memorial park.<\/p>\n
Kazuo Miyoshi, a 74-year-old retiree, came to honor his grandfather and two cousins who died in the bombing and prayed that the \u201cmistake\u201d will never be repeated.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do not need nuclear weapons,\u201d Miyoshi said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is hope,\u201d UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in a statement read by Izumi Nakamitsu, UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, noting Nihon Hidankyo\u2019s Nobel Peace Prize and countries\u2019 re-commitment to a nuclear free world in \u201cthe Pact for the Future\u201d adopted last year.<\/p>\n
Guterres stressed the importance to carry forward the survivors\u2019 testimony and message of peace and added: \u201cRemembering the past is about protecting and building peace today and in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wednesday\u2019s anniversary comes at a time when possession of nuclear weapons for deterrence is increasingly supported by the international community, including Japan.<\/p>\n
Some survivors said they were disappointed by President Donald Trump\u2019s recent remark justifying Washington\u2019s attack on Iran in June by comparing it to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the mild response from the Japanese government.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s ridiculous,\u201d said Kosei Mito, a 79-year-old former high school teacher who was exposed to radiation while he was still in his mother\u2019s womb. \u201cI don\u2019t think we can get rid of nuclear weapons as long as it was justified by the assailant.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV said Tuesday that he was praying that the 80th anniversary of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima \u201cwill serve as a call to the international community to renew its commitment to pursuing peace for our own human family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Japan\u2019s government has rejected the survivors\u2019 request to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons or attend its meetings as observers because it is under the protection of the US nuclear umbrella.<\/p>\n
Matsui, the city\u2019s mayor, in his speech Wednesday, urged Japan\u2019s government to sign and ratify the nuclear weapons ban treaty, a request also made by several groups of survivors in their meeting with Ishiba after the ceremony.<\/p>\n
Ishiba, in a speech, reiterated his government\u2019s pledge to work toward a world without nuclear weapons, but did not mention the treaty and again indicated his government\u2019s support for nuclear weapons possession for deterrence.<\/p>\n
At a news conference later Wednesday, Ishiba justified Japan\u2019s reliance on US nuclear deterrence, saying Japan, which follows a non-nuclear principle, is surrounded by neighbors that possess nuclear weapons. The stance, he said, does not contradict Japan\u2019s pursuit of a nuclear-free world.<\/p>\n
Past prime ministers have stressed Japan\u2019s status as the world\u2019s only country to have suffered nuclear attacks and have said Japan is determined to pursue peace, but survivors say it\u2019s a hollow promise.<\/p>\n
The Japanese government has only paid compensation to war veterans and their families, even though survivors have sought redress for civilian victims. They have also sought acknowledgment by the US government of its responsibility for the civilian deaths.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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