Japan Commemorates 81st Anniversary of Hiroshima Atomic Bombing

HIROSHIMA, Japan, Aug 6: Hiroshima on Thursday observed the 81st anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of the city, with Mayor Kazumi Matsui warning against the growing acceptance of nuclear weapons and urging world leaders to reject war and deterrence-based security policies.

Addressing the annual memorial ceremony at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, Matsui said justifying the possession of nuclear weapons in the name of deterrence only increases the risk of future devastation.

“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.

The mayor criticized political leaders who continue to view nuclear deterrence as a practical security strategy, saying such thinking pushes the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons even further away. He also urged individuals to learn from history and take action to promote peace.

Around 50,000 people, including representatives from about 120 countries and regions, among them the United States and Iran, attended the ceremony. A minute of silence was observed at 8:15 a.m. — the exact time a U.S. B-29 bomber dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 — as the Peace Bell rang across the memorial park.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, attending the ceremony for the first time as Japan's prime minister, reaffirmed her commitment to pursuing a world where nuclear weapons are never used. She said Japan would continue to take a "realistic approach" within the framework of the United Nations treaty aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons.

The anniversary comes amid speculation that Takaichi's government, which supports the concept of nuclear deterrence, could revise Japan's postwar security policy later this year. Reports suggest the government may reconsider the country's three non-nuclear principles, particularly the provision that prohibits the introduction of nuclear weapons into Japan.

Although Takaichi said Japan has upheld its postwar non-nuclear principles, she stopped short of pledging that the policy would remain unchanged in the future.

Atomic bomb survivors have voiced growing concern over increasing international support for nuclear deterrence, including within Japan, warning that such trends undermine decades of efforts toward global nuclear disarmament.