Hiroshima observes 81st atomic bomb anniversary, calls for a nuclear-free world

Hiroshima marked the 81st anniversary of the US atomic bombing on Thursday, with Mayor Kazumi Matsui urging world leaders to abandon nuclear deterrence and warning that growing reliance on nuclear weapons risks repeating the devastation suffered by Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Speaking at the annual memorial ceremony at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, Matsui criticised major powers for pursuing military force and justifying 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,” he said, calling on governments and citizens alike to work towards a world free of nuclear weapons.

Around 50,000 people, including representatives from about 120 countries and regions, attended the ceremony. A minute of silence was observed at 8:15 a.m. — the exact time a US B-29 bomber dropped the atomic bomb on the city on Aug. 6, 1945.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, attending the memorial for the first time as premier, said Japan would pursue “a realistic approach” to ensuring nuclear weapons are never used while working within the framework of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The ceremony came amid speculation that Takaichi's government could review Japan's long-standing three non-nuclear principles as part of new national security and defence policies later this year. Takaichi, who has previously suggested reconsidering the principle barring the introduction of nuclear weapons into Japan, said only that the country had maintained the policy since the war.

Atomic bomb survivors have voiced concern over growing international support for nuclear deterrence, including in Japan, which remains under the protection of the US nuclear umbrella. The government has continued to reject calls from survivors to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons or attend its meetings as an observer.

The atomic bombing of Hiroshima killed about 140,000 people by the end of 1945. A second bomb dropped on Nagasaki three days later killed about 70,000 more, leading to Japan's surrender on Aug. 15 and the end of World War II.

The number of registered survivors has declined to 91,105, with their average age now exceeding 86, raising concerns that first-hand memories of the bombings are fading.