Hiroshima Day 2025: Date, history, significance, and powerful quotes & all about world's first nuclear attack
However, in recent years, some ageing survivors have begun to share their stories. They hope their words will inspire future generations to demand a world free from nuclear weapons. In a powerful moment last year, a group of these atomic bombing survivors was honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize for their lifelong efforts in the fight for nuclear disarmament.
In 2025, on the 80th anniversary, the day carries even more weight as the world continues to face growing tensions and nuclear threats. This article covers the date, history, significance, and inspiring quotes related to Hiroshima Day 2025 to help you understand why it remains a global reminder of peace and resilience.
Hiroshima Day 2025 date
Hiroshima Day is marked annually on 6 August. In 2025, it will fall on a Wednesday. The date commemorates the day in 1945 when the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, forever changing the course of world history.
History of Hiroshima Day
On 6 August 1945, during World War II, the city of Hiroshima was bombed by the United States. The bomb, nicknamed "Little Boy", instantly killed over 70,000 people and ended up killing over 140,000. Tens of thousands more died from radiation exposure in the following months and years. This marked the first use of nuclear weapons in war, followed by another bombing three days later in Nagasaki on 9 August 1945 that killed over 200,000 people by the end of the year. The event was a turning point that led to Japan's surrender and the end of World War II on August 15.
Why Hiroshima Day is significant
Remembrance: It honours the victims who lost their lives in the bombing.
Awareness: Highlights the horrifying impact of nuclear weapons on humanity and the environment.
Peace Advocacy: Promotes nuclear disarmament and peaceful conflict resolution.
Global Solidarity: Encourages nations to unite for a future without nuclear threats.
How Hiroshima Day is observed around the world
Every year on Hiroshima Day, peace marches, memorial services, and educational programmes are held to remind the world of the horrors caused by nuclear weapons. Schools, universities, and peace groups organise debates, exhibitions, and candlelight vigils. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Japan sees thousands of visitors. Countries and organisations use the day to urge nuclear treaties and disarmament.
Inspiring quotes for Hiroshima Day 2025
Here are a few powerful quotes that reflect the spirit of Hiroshima Day:
'The release of atomic energy has not created a new problem. It has merely made more urgent the necessity of solving an existing one.' – Albert Einstein
'When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.' – Jimi Hendrix
'Remembering Hiroshima is to commit ourselves to peace.' – Pope Francis
'Hiroshima teaches us the true meaning of resilience.' – Unknown
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On August 6, 1945, Tsutomu Yamaguchi was preparing to leave Hiroshima when the first atomic bomb fell on the city. Just as he was getting ready, the skyline changed in an instant as the United States dropped its first atomic bomb, named 'Little Boy'. He survived the blast. Three days later, he was in Nagasaki, where he once again escaped the wrath of the bomb. Here is his story read more Yamaguchi was getting ready to leave Hiroshima when the first atomic bomb was dropped. Image: X On August 6, 1945, towards the end of World War II, the United States dropped the first atomic bomb ever used in war on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The explosion killed around 80,000 people on the spot. Three days later, a second atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki, where nearly 40,000 people died. ALSO READ | The 2 US pilots who dropped atomic bombs on Japan's Hiroshima and Nagasaki STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD However, one man survived both atomic bombings in Japan. Tsutomu Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima when the first bomb was dropped. He survived and later also survived the bombing in Nagasaki on August 9, the day the second bomb was dropped. Yamaguchi was officially recognised as the only person to have survived both atomic bombings. He passed away in 2010 at the age of 93. But how did he manage to live through both explosions? Let's take a look: Who was Tsutomu Yamaguchi? Yamaguchi was getting ready to leave Hiroshima when the first atomic bomb was dropped. At the time, he was 29 years old and working as a naval engineer for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. He had been on a three-month business trip, according to August 6, 1945, was meant to be his final day in the city. He and his colleagues had spent the summer working on plans for a new oil tanker. Yamaguchi was eager to return home to his wife, Hisako, and their baby son, Katsutoshi. How did he survive the Hiroshima bombing? As he was preparing to leave on August 6, the skyline of Hiroshima suddenly changed when the United States dropped its first atomic bomb, named 'Little Boy'. Yamaguchi looked up and saw an American B-29 bomber flying overhead. It released a small object attached to a parachute. Moments later, the sky was filled with a bright flash. He later described it as looking like 'the lightning of a huge magnesium flare.' In this August 6, 1945 photo released by the US Army, a mushroom cloud billows about one hour after a nuclear bomb was detonated above Hiroshima, Japan. File image/AP He jumped into a ditch to protect himself, but the blast pulled him out of the ground. The shockwave threw him through the air and into a nearby field of potatoes. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD When he regained consciousness, everything around him was dark. The explosion had turned the bright morning into a blackened sky. His face and arms were severely burned, and both eardrums had burst, as per Ash was falling heavily, and above him, he could see a mushroom-shaped cloud rising over the city. In a daze, Yamaguchi made his way to the remains of the Mitsubishi shipyard. There, he found his coworkers Akira Iwanaga and Kuniyoshi Sato, who had also survived. That night, the three men took shelter in an air raid bunker. On August 7, they set off for the train station after hearing it was still running. How Yamaguchi survived Nagasaki bombing After returning to his wife and child, Tsutomu Yamaguchi received treatment at a local hospital on August 8. His injuries were so severe that even his own family could not recognise him at first. When he got home, still feverish and covered in bandages, his mother mistook him for a ghost, according to the report. Despite being weak and barely able to move, Yamaguchi got out of bed on the morning of August 9 and went to work at Mitsubishi's Nagasaki office. He attended a meeting where a company director asked him to explain what had happened in Hiroshima. As Yamaguchi tried to describe how one bomb had destroyed an entire city, the sky outside suddenly lit up with a bright white flash. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Just seconds before the shockwave hit, Yamaguchi dropped to the floor. The explosion shattered the office windows, and glass and debris flew across the room. This photo shows the devastated city of Nagasaki after an atomic bomb was dropped by a US Air Force B-29 on August 9, 1945. AFP/File Photo 'I thought the mushroom cloud had followed me from Hiroshima,' he later said in an interview with The Independent. In 2009, a year before he died, Yamaguchi told reporters, 'My double radiation exposure is now an official government record. It can tell the younger generation the horrifying history of the atomic bombings even after I die.' Yamaguchi passed away in 2010 at the age of 93, after battling stomach cancer. It is believed that around 165 people may have experienced both atomic bombings. However, Yamaguchi was the only person officially recognised by the Japanese government as a 'nijyuu hibakusha', meaning 'twice-bombed person'. Japan remains the only country to have suffered atomic bomb attacks. Around 140,000 people died in Hiroshima and 70,000 in Nagasaki, according to The Washington Post.
