Hiroshima Day 2025: History, significance, and all you need to know
Hiroshima was selected as the target due to its military significance, industrial base, and dense population. The U.S. intended to force Japan into surrender by demonstrating the devastating power of nuclear weaponry. Just three days later, another atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, leading to Japan's official surrender on August 15, 1945.LONG-TERM IMPACT ON SURVIVORSThose who lived through the attack, known as Hibakusha, suffered long-term health issues including chronic illnesses, cancer, genetic damage, and psychological trauma. Generations were affected, with ongoing debates about the ethical and humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons.SIGNIFICANCE OF HIROSHIMA DAYHiroshima Day goes beyond memorialising the victims. It aims to educate people about the dangers of nuclear arms and promote a global culture of peace, disarmament, and non-violence. Events such as peace ceremonies, candlelight vigils, and educational sessions are organised around the world.With over 13,000 nuclear warheads still in existence today, Hiroshima Day is more relevant than ever. Countries and international bodies like the United Nations, ICAN, and various peace organisations use the occasion to push for treaties like the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) and to urge nuclear powers to disarm.WHY REMEMBERING HIROSHIMA STILL MATTERSIn an age of global conflict, political instability, and advanced weapon technologies, Hiroshima Day 2025 is a powerful reminder of what is at stake. Remembering the past helps shape a more conscious future—one where peace is prioritised over power.- EndsMust Watch
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The Hindu
19 hours ago
- The Hindu
Restored Nagasaki bell rings in 80 years since A-bomb
Twin cathedral bells rang in unison on Saturday (August 9, 2025) in Japan's Nagasaki for the first time since the atomic bombing of the city 80 years ago, commemorating the moment of horror. On August 9, 1945, at 11:02 a.m., three days after a nuclear attack on Hiroshima, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki. After heavy downpours Saturday morning, the rain stopped shortly before a moment of silence and ceremony in which Nagasaki mayor Shiro Suzuki urged the world to 'stop armed conflicts immediately'. 'Eighty years have passed, and who could have imagined that the world would become like this? 'A crisis that could threaten the survival of humanity, such as a nuclear war, is looming over each and every one of us living on this planet.' About 74,000 people were killed in the southwestern port city, on top of the 140,000 killed in Hiroshima. Days later, on August 15, 1945, Japan surrendered, marking the end of World War II. Historians have debated whether the bombings ultimately saved lives by bringing an end to the conflict and averting a ground invasion. 'Invisible terror' But those calculations meant little to survivors, many of whom battled decades of physical and psychological trauma, as well as the stigma that often came with being a hibakusha. Ninety-three-year-old survivor Hiroshi Nishioka, who was just three kilometres (1.8 miles) from the spot where the bomb exploded, told ceremony attendees of the horror he witnessed as a young teenager. 'Even the lucky ones (who were not severely injured) gradually began to bleed from their gums and lose their hair, and one after another they died,' he recalled. 'Even though the war was over, the atomic bomb brought invisible terror.' Nagasaki resident Atsuko Higuchi told AFP it 'made her happy' that everyone would remember the city's victims. 'Instead of thinking that these events belong to the past, we must remember that these are real events that took place,' the 50-year-old said. On Saturday, 200-300 people attending mass at Nagasaki's Immaculate Conception Cathedral heard the two bells ring together for the first time since 1945. One of them, 61-year-old Akio Watanabe, said he had been waiting since he was a young man to hear the bells chime together. The restoration is a 'symbol of reconciliation', he said, tears streaming down his face. The imposing red-brick cathedral, with its twin bell towers atop a hill, was rebuilt in 1959 after it was almost completely destroyed in the monstrous explosion just a few hundred meters away. Only one of its two bells was recovered from the rubble, leaving the northern tower silent. With funds from U.S. churchgoers, a new bell was constructed and restored to the tower, and chimed Saturday at the exact moment the bomb was dropped. 'Working together for peace' The cathedral's chief priest, Kenichi Yamamura, told AFP 'it's not about forgetting the wounds of the past but recognising them and taking action to repair and rebuild, and in doing so, working together for peace'. He also sees the chimes as a message to the world, shaken by multiple conflicts and caught in a frantic new arms race. Nearly 100 countries were set to participate in this year's commemorations, including Russia, which has not been invited since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Israel, whose ambassador was not invited last year over the war in Gaza, was in attendance. An American university professor, whose grandfather participated in the Manhattan Project, which developed the first nuclear weapons, spearheaded the bell project. During his research in Nagasaki, a Japanese Christian told him he would like to hear the two bells of the cathedral ring together in his lifetime. Inspired by the idea, James Nolan, a sociology professor at Williams College in Massachusetts, embarked on a year-long series of lectures about the atomic bomb across the United States, primarily in churches. 'In tears' He managed to raise $125,000 from American Catholics to fund the new bell. When it was unveiled in Nagasaki in the spring, 'the reactions were magnificent. There were people literally in tears', said Nolan. Many American Catholics he met were also unaware of the painful history of Nagasaki's Christians, who, converted in the 16th century by the first European missionaries and then persecuted by Japanese shoguns, kept their faith alive clandestinely for over 250 years. This story was told in the novel 'Silence' by Shusaku Endo, and adapted into a film by Martin Scorsese in 2016. He explains that American Catholics also showed 'compassion and sadness' upon hearing about the perseverance of Nagasaki's Christians after the atomic bomb, which killed 8,500 of the parish's 12,000 faithful. They were inspired by the 'willingness to forgive and rebuild'.
News18
a day ago
- News18
Nagasaki Marks 80th A-Bomb Anniversary As Survivors Put Hopes Of Nuke Ban In The Hands Of Youth
The southern Japanese city of Nagasaki marked 80 years since the U.S. atomic attack that killed tens of thousands and left survivors who hope their harrowing memories can help make their hometown the last place on Earth to be hit by a nuclear United States launched the Nagasaki attack on Aug. 9, 1945, killing 70,000 by the end of that year, three days after the bombing of Hiroshima that killed 140,000. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945, ending World War II and the country's nearly half-century of aggression across Asia. News18 Mobile App -
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Business Standard
a day ago
- Business Standard
Nagasaki marks 80th A-bomb anniversary as survivors push for nuke ban
Nagasaki is marking the US atomic bomb attack on the southern Japanese city 80 years ago and survivors of the attack are working to make their hometown the last place on earth hit by the bomb. Despite their pain from wounds, discrimination and illnesses from radiation, survivors have publicly committed to a shared goal of abolishing nuclear weapons. But recently they worry about the world moving in the opposite direction as the anniversary is commemorated on Saturday. The atomic bomb dropped by the United States on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, killed some 70,000 people, three days after the bombing of Hiroshima killed 140,000. Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945, ending World War II and the country's nearly half-century of aggression across Asia. Aging survivors and their supporters in Nagasaki now put their hopes of achieving nuclear weapons abolition in the hands of younger people, telling them the attack is not distant history, but an issue that remains relevant to their future. Teruko Yokoyama, an 83-year-old member of a Nagasaki organisation supporting survivors, said she feels the absence of those she has worked, which fuels her strong desire to document the lives of remaining survivors. The number of survivors has fallen to 99,130, about a quarter of the original number, with their average age exceeding 86. Survivors worry about fading memories, as the youngest of the survivors were too young to recall the attack clearly. We must keep records of the atomic bombing damages of the survivors and their lifetime story, said Yokoyama, whose two sisters died after suffering illnesses linked to radiation. Her organisation has started to digitalise the narratives of survivors for viewing on YouTube and other social media platforms with the help of a new generation. There are younger people who are beginning to take action, Yokoyama told The Associated Press on Friday. So I think we don't have to get depressed yet. On Saturday at 11.02 am, the moment the plutonium bomb exploded above Nagasaki, participants are to set to observe a moment of silence as a peace bell rings. About 3,000 people, including representatives from 95 countries, were expected to attend the event at Nagasaki Peace Park, where Mayor Shiro Suzuki and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba were scheduled to speak. Survivors and their families started paying tribute at the park hours before the official ceremony. The twin bells at Urakami Cathedral, which was destroyed in the bombing, are to ring together again for the first time. One of the bells had gone missing after the attack but was restored by volunteers. Nagasaki invited representatives from all countries to attend the ceremony on Saturday. China notably notified the city it would not be present without providing a reason. The ceremony last year stirred controversy due to the absence of the US ambassador and other Western envoys in response to the Japanese city's refusal to invite Israel.
