Hiroshima marks 80 years since atomic bombing as ageing survivors worry about growing nuke threat

Hiroshima marked on Wednesday the 80th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of the western Japanese city, with many ageing survivors expressing frustration about growing support among global leaders for nuclear weapons possession for deterrence.

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.

Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui warned against a growing acceptance to nuclear weapons for national security and military buildups amid Russia’s war in Ukraine and the Mideast conflicts, with the United States and Russia possessing most of the world’s nuclear warheads.

“These developments flagrantly disregard the lessons the international community should have learned from the tragedies of history,” he said. “They threaten to topple the peacebuilding frameworks so many have worked so hard to construct.”

He urged younger generations to recognize that such “misguided policies” could cause “utterly inhumane” consequences for their future.

“We don’t have much time left, while we face greater nuclear threat than ever,” said Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese grassroots organization of survivors that won the Nobel Peace Prize last year for its pursuit of nuclear abolishment.

“Our biggest challenge now is to change nuclear weapons states that give us cold shoulders even just a little,” the organisation said in its statement.

The bombing of Hiroshima on August 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 August 15, ending World War II and Japan’s nearly half-century of aggression in Asia.

Representatives from a record 120 countries and regions, including Russia and Belarus, were expected to attend the ceremony. A minute of silence was held as the sound of a peace bell rang out at 8.15am, the time when a US B-29 dropped the bomb on the city.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, the city’s mayor and other officials laid flowers at the cenotaph. Dozens of white doves, a symbol of peace, were released after the mayor’s speech.

Hours before the official ceremony, survivors and their families started paying tribute to the victims at the peace memorial park as the sun rose over Hiroshima.

Kazuo Miyoshi, a 74-year-old retiree, came to pay tribute to his grandfather and two cousins who died in the bombing and prayed that the “mistake” will never be repeated — as the cenotaph inscription says.

Nuclear threats have escalated so much recently, he said. “I just hope the situation won’t worsen” a setback from the goal of abolishing nuclear weapons.

“We do not need nuclear weapons,” Miyoshi said.

Wednesday’s anniversary comes at a time when possession of nuclear weapons for deterrence is increasingly supported by the international community, including Japan.

Some survivors said they were disappointed by US President Donald Trump’s recent remark justifying Washington’s attack on Iran in June by comparing it to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the mild response from the Japanese government.

“It’s ridiculous,” said Kosei Mito, a 79-year-old former high school teacher who was exposed to radiation while he was still in his mother’s womb. “I don’t think we can get rid of nuclear weapons as long as it was justified by the assailant.”

Japan’s government has rejected the survivors’ desperate request to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons or attend its meeting as observers because it is under the protection of the U.S. nuclear umbrella.

Matsui, the city’s mayor, in his speech Wednesday urged Japan’s government to sign and ratify the nuclear weapons ban treaty to manifest the spirit of Hiroshima and address supplications of the survivors, or hibakusha.

Past prime ministers have stressed Japan’s status as the world’s only country to have suffered nuclear attacks and have said Japan is determined to pursue peace, but survivors say it’s a hollow promise.

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.