Hiroshima survivors mark 80 years since atomic bomb devastated city and warn against nuclear rhetoric
With the number of survivors rapidly declining and their average age exceeding 86, the anniversary is considered the last milestone event for many of them.
'There will be nobody left to pass on this sad and painful experience in 10 years or 20 years,' Minoru Suzuto, a 94-year-old survivor, said after he kneeled down to pray at the cenotaph. 'That's why I want to share (my story) as much as I can.'
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 the Second World War and Japan's nearly half-century of aggression in Asia.
Mayor of Hiroshima City Kazumi Matsui delivers a speech (Louise Delmotte/AP)
Hiroshima mayor Kazumi Matsui warned against a growing acceptance of military build-ups and of using nuclear weapons for national security amid Russia's war in Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East, 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 peace-building frameworks so many have worked so hard to construct.'
He urged younger generations to recognise that such 'misguided policies' could cause 'utterly inhumane' consequences for their future.
'We don't have much time left, while we face a greater nuclear threat than ever,' said Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese grassroots organisation of survivors that won the Nobel Peace Prize last year for its pursuit of nuclear abolition.
'Our biggest challenge now is to change, even just a little, nuclear weapons states that give us the cold shoulder,' the organisation said in its statement.
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 8.15am local time, 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, as the sun rose over Hiroshima, survivors and their families started paying tribute to the victims at the Peace Memorial Park, near the centre of the nuclear blast 80 years ago.
Kazuo Miyoshi, a 74-year-old retiree, came to honour his grandfather and two cousins who died in the bombing and prayed that the 'mistake' will never be repeated.
'We do not need nuclear weapons,' Mr Miyoshi said.
Hundreds of people went to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park (Kyodo News via AP)
'There is hope,' UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in a statement read by Izumi Nakamitsu, under-secretary-general and high representative for disarmament affairs, noting Nihon Hidankyo's Nobel Peace Prize and countries' re-commitment to a nuclear free world in 'the Pact for the Future' adopted last year.
Mr Guterres stressed the importance of carrying forward the survivors' testimony and message of peace and added: 'Remembering the past is about protecting and building peace today and in the future.'
Outside the park under high security, more than 200 protesters gathered, holding posters and flags carrying messages such as 'No Nuke, Stop War' and 'Free Gaza! No more genocide' while chanting slogans.
Local police said two people were arrested in separate cases near Hiroshima's iconic Atomic Bomb Dome, each on suspicion of assaulting a security guard.
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 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.'
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