Nagasaki marks 80 years since atomic bombing with renewed calls for nuclear abolition
The United States dropped the plutonium bomb on Aug. 9, 1945, killing 70,000 people by year's end, three days after Hiroshima was devastated by an atomic blast that killed 140,000.
Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, ending World War II and its decades-long military aggression across Asia.
About 2,600 people, including representatives from more than 90 countries, attended a memorial ceremony at Nagasaki Peace Park. At 11:02 a.m. — the moment the bomb detonated — a bell tolled and participants observed a minute of silence.
Survivor Hiroshi Nishioka, 93, recalled that many who escaped initial injuries later suffered from bleeding gums, hair loss, and radiation-related deaths. 'Never use nuclear weapons again, or we're finished,' he said.
Mayor Shiro Suzuki, whose parents survived the attack, pledged to make Nagasaki 'the last atomic bombing site now and forever,' and to work with global citizens toward abolishing nuclear weapons.Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba vowed to push for dialogue between nuclear and nonnuclear states, centering on the Non-Proliferation Treaty ahead of its 2026 review conference in New York.Survivors criticized Japan's refusal to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, citing reliance on the U.S. nuclear deterrent.With the average age of survivors exceeding 86 and their number dwindling to fewer than 100,000, activists are digitizing their testimonies for younger generations.'We must keep records of the atomic bombing damages of the survivors and their lifetime story,' said Teruko Yokoyama, whose two sisters died from radiation-linked illnesses.The ceremony ended with the release of doves, a symbol of peace, while church bells in Nagasaki's Urakami Cathedral rang in unison — one restored after going missing following the bombing.Survivors expressed hope that their stories will inspire a world without war. — Agencies
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Nagasaki marks 80 years since atomic bombing with renewed calls for nuclear abolition
NAGASAKI, Japan — The southern Japanese city of Nagasaki on Saturday commemorated the 80th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing that killed tens of thousands, as aging survivors urged the world to ensure it is the last city to suffer such an attack. The United States dropped the plutonium bomb on Aug. 9, 1945, killing 70,000 people by year's end, three days after Hiroshima was devastated by an atomic blast that killed 140,000. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, ending World War II and its decades-long military aggression across Asia. About 2,600 people, including representatives from more than 90 countries, attended a memorial ceremony at Nagasaki Peace Park. At 11:02 a.m. — the moment the bomb detonated — a bell tolled and participants observed a minute of silence. Survivor Hiroshi Nishioka, 93, recalled that many who escaped initial injuries later suffered from bleeding gums, hair loss, and radiation-related deaths. 'Never use nuclear weapons again, or we're finished,' he said. Mayor Shiro Suzuki, whose parents survived the attack, pledged to make Nagasaki 'the last atomic bombing site now and forever,' and to work with global citizens toward abolishing nuclear Minister Shigeru Ishiba vowed to push for dialogue between nuclear and nonnuclear states, centering on the Non-Proliferation Treaty ahead of its 2026 review conference in New criticized Japan's refusal to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, citing reliance on the U.S. nuclear the average age of survivors exceeding 86 and their number dwindling to fewer than 100,000, activists are digitizing their testimonies for younger generations.'We must keep records of the atomic bombing damages of the survivors and their lifetime story,' said Teruko Yokoyama, whose two sisters died from radiation-linked ceremony ended with the release of doves, a symbol of peace, while church bells in Nagasaki's Urakami Cathedral rang in unison — one restored after going missing following the expressed hope that their stories will inspire a world without war. — Agencies
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One Piece, first published in 1997 as a manga by Eiichiro Oda, is one of the most popular franchises in the world. The manga has sold more than 520 million copies while the TV series has run for more than 1,100 series has a large and dedicated fan base in Indonesia, where Japanese anime is well the same way the pirates in the series, led by their leader Monkey D Luffy, raise the Jolly Rogers as a symbol of freedom against their government, some Indonesian residents say raising the flag is a "symbol that we love this country, but don't completely agree with its policies".The anime reflects the injustice and inequality that Indonesians experience, said Ali Maulana, a resident of Jayapura city in the Papua province."Even though this country is officially independent, many of us have not truly experienced that freedom in our daily lives," he told BBC him and many others, the decision to fly the flag was a response to a speech given by President Prabowo in late July."Raise the red and white flag wherever you are. Red represents the blood shed for our independence, white represents the purity of our souls," Prabowo had Christanto, who owns the Wik Wiki apparel store in Central Java, said he has received "thousands of orders" for the flags following the president's speech."Since the end of July, I received hundreds of orders a day from all over Indonesia," Dendi told news outlet Jakarta top officials however, have been less than House Speaker Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, widely regarded as Prabowo's right-hand man, described the movement as "a coordinated attempt to divide the nation"."We must collectively resist such actions," he had said earlier last lawmaker from the centre-right Golkar Party, Firman Soebagyo, suggested that displaying these flags could even amount to on Tuesday, the country's state secretary minister Prasetyo Hadi said the president himself had "no objection" to the flags as a form of "creative expression"."However, it should not be used to challenge or diminish the significance of the red and white flag. The two should not be placed side by side in a way that invites comparison or conflict," his office said in a Indonesia, there are no laws that restrict the display of fictional flags, but the law stipulates that if they are flown alongside the red-and-white national flags, the country's flag must always be hoisted in the capital Jakarta have said they are "monitoring the use of non-national flags and symbols that don't align with the spirit of nationalism, including pirate or fictional-themed flags".Indonesia's hard-won democracy, the third largest in the world, has faced growing challenges in recent popular former leader Joko Widodo rose to power as a promising democrat, but his one-of-us image lost some of its sheen towards the end of his second term, when he revived the death penalty for drug traffickers and appointed Prabowo, a controversial ex-general, as his defence frustration has intensified since Prabowo took over as president last October. In February, thousands took to the streets to protest budget cuts and legislative changes that would allow the military to take a bigger role in government."The red-and-white flags are too sacred for us to raise now," said one user on Instagram, in a post that has been widely while some lawmakers have criticised the display of the Jolly Rogers, others say they accept it as a form of public are a way for people to "convey their expectations", said Deputy Home Affairs Minister Bima Arya Sugiarto. "Such a form of expression is a natural phenomenon in a democracy.""This kind of symbolic action is better than street protests that could turn violent," said Deddy Yevri Sitorus from the opposition Democratic Party of of One Piece's popularity among Indonesians of all ages, the flags have offered a way to "raise awareness around political issues in a different and unique way", said Dominique Nicky Fahrizal, a researcher at the Center for Strategic and International for some Indonesians, the government's mixed response to the Jolly Roger underscores the symbol's power."By treating a cartoon flag as a threat to national security, they have inadvertently validated the entire premise of the protest," Farhan Rizqullah wrote on the Medium publishing platform."They have shown that the dream of Monkey D Luffy, the simple, unwavering desire to be free, is the one thing they truly fear." — BBC
