Hiroshima survivors fear rising nuclear threat on the 80th anniversary of atomic bombing

Boston Globe

2 days ago

The bombing of Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, destroyed the city and killed 140,000 people. A second bomb dropped three days later on
Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui warned against a growing acceptance of military buildups and of using nuclear weapons for national security during Russia's war in Ukraine and conflicts in the Mideast, with the United States and Russia possessing most of the world's nuclear warheads.
Advertisement
'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.
Advertisement
'We don't have much time left, while we face a 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, even just a little, nuclear weapons states that give us the cold shoulder,' the organization said in its statement.
About 55,000 people, including representatives from a record 120 countries and regions, including Russia and Belarus, attended the ceremony. A minute of silence was held while a peace bell rang out at 8:15 a.m., the time when a US B-29 dropped the bomb on the city.
Japanese Prime Minister
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 hypocenter of the nuclear blast 80 years ago.
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,' Miyoshi said.
'There is hope,' UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in a statement read by Izumi Nakamitsu, UN 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.
Guterres stressed the importance to carry forward the survivors' testimony and message of peace and added: 'Remembering the past is about protecting and building peace today and in the future.'
Advertisement
Near Hiroshima's iconic Atomic Bomb Dome 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, 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 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.'
In the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV said Wednesday that 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.'
Japan's government has rejected the survivors' request to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons or attend its meetings as observers because it is under the protection of the US nuclear umbrella.
Matsui, the city's mayor, in his speech Wednesday, 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 Ishiba after the ceremony.
Advertisement
Ishiba, in a speech, reiterated his government's pledge to work toward a world without nuclear weapons, but did not mention the treaty and again indicated his government's support for nuclear weapons possession for deterrence.
At a news conference later Wednesday, Ishiba justified Japan's reliance on US nuclear deterrence, saying Japan, which follows a non-nuclear principle, is surrounded by neighbors that possess nuclear weapons. The stance, he said, does not contradict Japan's pursuit of a nuclear-free world.
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.