Hiroshima: Officials attend 80th anniversary of atomic bombing
The bombs killed more than 200,000 people - some from the immediate blast and others from radiation sickness and burns.The legacy of the weapons continues to haunt survivors today."My father was badly burned and blinded by the blast. His skin was hanging from his body - he couldn't even hold my hand," Hiroshima survivor Shingo Naito told the BBC. He was six years old when the bomb struck his city, killing his father and two younger siblings.Mr Naito has been sharing his story with a group of students in Hiroshima, who are turning his memories of the tragedy into art.
In 2024, Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese group of atomic bomb survivors won the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to rid the world of nuclear weapons.In a speech on Wednesday, Hiroshima mayor Matsui warned of an "accelerating trend toward military build-up around the world" and "the idea that nuclear weapons are essential for national defence"."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."Matsui said that the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which aims to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy, was "on the brink of dysfunctionality".He also called on the Japanese government to ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons - an international agreement banning nuclear weapons that came into force in 2021.More than 70 countries have ratified the treaty, but nuclear powers like the US and Russia have opposed it, pointing to the deterrence function of nuclear arsenals.Japan has also rejected such a ban, arguing that its security is enhanced by US nuclear weapons.The nuclear issue is a divisive one in Japan. On the streets leading up to the Peace Memorial Park, there were small protests calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons.Saitoshi Tanaka, another atomic bomb survivor who suffered multiple cancers from radiation exposure, said that seeing the bloodshed in Gaza and Ukraine today conjures up his own suffering."Seeing the mountains of rubble, the destroyed cities, the children and women fleeing in panic, it all brings back memories of what I went through," he told the BBC. "We are living alongside nuclear weapons that could wipe out humanity multiple times over.""The most urgent priority is to push the leaders of nuclear-armed countries. The people of the world must become even more outraged, raise their voices louder, and take massive action."
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The Independent
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‘Apocalyptic' pictures of Gaza's devastation echo the destruction of the Hiroshima bomb 80 years on
As shocking new images of Gaza's flattened landscape smothered in ash and dust emerge, the world is pausing to remember another conflict that produced widespread devastation: the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. On 6 August 1945, 'Little Boy' was unleashed on the Japanese city by the United States, vaporizing tens of thousands of people in seconds and killing upwards of 140,000 over the months that followed. Japan surrendered soon after, ending World War II. On the 80th anniversary of the blast, human rights organisations and Japanese activists from Hiroshima alike have voiced their fears about Gaza and that the lessons of the past have still not been learned. 'When images of Gaza are placed alongside those of Hiroshima 80 years ago, the parallels are striking,' said Kristyan Benedict, the UK's crisis response manager for Amnesty International, told The Independent. 'Like Hiroshima, the devastation in Gaza is apocalyptic - entire families wiped out, children buried beneath rubble, and hospitals and schools reduced to dust.' Juliette Touma, a spokesperson for Palestinian refugee agency Unrwa told The Independent that one of her colleagues had recently been in Rafah, an area of southern Gaza which has been largely razed to the ground by Israeli bombardment. 'She drove to get out of Gaza by Arafat in the south, and she said that Rafah looked like Hiroshima. I asked her if she had photos of Rafah, and she said they were not allowed to take any photos. But then we both Googled photos from Hiroshima, and she said: 'That's exactly how [Rafah] looks like today'.' Israel maintains that Hamas is responsible for both the war - that began after around 1,200 people were killed and around more 250 abducted by the terror group on 7 October 2023 - and the scale of the destruction in Gaza. When asked about the 'levelling' of Gaza in a recent Sky News interview, a spokesman for the Israeli government said: 'We regard any harm to civilians as a tragedy, while this terrorist organisation of Hamas, it is their strategy. They endanger innocent people and they use them as human shields. Israel, by contrast, makes every effort to prevent and minimise as much as possible harm to civilian population including evacuating civilians from combat areas.' Thousands of miles away in Hiroshima, fears about Gaza's future were shared at an event to mark the anniversary on Wednesday. "No Nuke, Stop War" and "Free Gaza! No more genocide" read some of the slogans held by hundreds of protestors who demonstrated outside the Peace Memorial Park, where prime minister Shigeru Ishiba attended an official ceremony. A Palestinian representative also joined the event for the first time. Around 55,000 people, including representatives from a record 120 countries and regions - including Russia and Belarus -were set to attend. The city held a minute of silence as a peace bell rang out at 8:15am, the same time a US B-29 dropped the bomb on the city. Hiroshima's mayor Kazumi Matsui warned against a growing acceptance of using nuclear weapons for national security during 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 peacebuilding frameworks so many have worked so hard to construct.' In June, Israel launched 'Operation Rising Lion' with attacks on Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile facilities in a bid to scupper any attempt by Tehran to develop a weapon of mass destruction. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly raised fears about what would happen if Iran had access to nuclear weapons and the devastation they would bring. Some Hiroshima survivors said on Wednesday they were disappointed by Donald Trump's recent remark justifying Washington's own attack on Iran in June by comparing it to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. '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.' In the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV said Wednesday he was praying for those who suffered physical, psychological and social effects from the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, adding that the event remains 'a universal warning against the devastation caused by wars and, in particular, by nuclear weapons.'
The Independent
6 hours ago
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Survivor of the Hiroshima bomb says Trump is ‘a huge mess' as he gives stark warning to the world
A survivor of the Hiroshima nuclear attack has denounced Donald Trump as a 'huge mess', in a striking warning about the threat of an atomic weapon being used in the 21st century. Toshiyuki Mimaki, 83, was just a toddler when the 'Little Boy' bomb exploded above the southern Japanese city, decimating huge swathes of the city and killing upwards of 140,000 people. A long-time advocate for nuclear disarmament, Mr Mimaki last year accepted the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of Nihon Hidankyō, an organisation which he co-chairs, representing survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki attacks since 1956. "Right now is the most dangerous era," Mr Mimaki told Sky News in an interview ahead of the 80th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing on Wednesday. "Russia might use it [a nuclear weapon], North Korea might use it, China might use it. And President Trump - he's just a huge mess,' he added, without elaborating. 'In the future, you never know when they might use it. Russia-Ukraine, Israel-Gaza, Israel-Iran. There is always a war going on somewhere.' Nihon Hidankyō has been appealing for a world without war or nuclear weapons but countries around the world are 'not listening', Mr Mimaki said. 'I didn't hear a sound.' "Why do these animals called humans like war so much? We keep saying it, we keep telling them, but it's not getting through, for 80 years no-one has listened.' The city of Horishima held commemorations on Wednesday, attended by 55,000 people, including representatives from a record 120 countries and regions, including Russia and Belarus. Japanese prime minister Shigeru Ishiba was among the attendees alongside mayor Kazumi Matsui, who echoed Mr Mimaki's stark warnings about a growing acceptance of military buildups. "These developments flagrantly disregard the lessons the international community should have learned from the tragedies of history," Mr Matsui said of the developments in nuclear warfare and arsenals. "They threaten to topple the peacebuilding frameworks so many have worked so hard to construct." In a statement, Mr Mimaki's organisation Nihon Hidankyo said: "We don't have much time left, while we face a greater nuclear threat than ever. "Our biggest challenge now is to change, even just a little, nuclear weapons states that give us the cold shoulder.' Kazuo Miyoshi, a 74-year-old retiree, came to honor 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. But the Japanese government has rejected calls by survivors to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons or attend its meetings as observers, because it remains under the protection of the US nuclear umbrella. Mr Matsui urged Japan's government to sign and ratify the nuclear weapons ban treaty, a request also made by several groups of survivors in their meeting with Mr Ishiba after the ceremony. While Mr Ishiba reiterated his government's pledge to work toward a world without nuclear weapons during his speech on Wednesday, he did not mention the treaty.
The Independent
7 hours ago
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Hiroshima mayor shares sobering message 80 years after nuclear bombing
Hiroshima marked the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing with a ceremony attended by residents, survivors, and representatives from 120 countries. Mayor Kazumi Matsui urged world leaders to visit Hiroshima to witness the reality of nuclear weapons and condemned the global nuclear military buildup. Matsui warned that the increasing belief in possessing nuclear weapons, particularly by the US and Russia, disregards historical lessons and undermines peace-building frameworks. The atomic bombing on 6 August 1945 instantly killed up to 80,000 people, with a total of more than 210,000 deaths in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, leading to Japan 's surrender. Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba affirmed the nation's mission to lead global disarmament efforts, while the UN Secretary-General warned against the re-emergence of nuclear coercion.
