The Japanese city of Hiroshima held a memorial service on Sunday to mark 78 years since the United States dropped the nuclear bomb that destroyed the city at the end of World War II
Japanese officials criticized increased reliance on nuclear weapons as a deterrent, expressing concern about their possible use as Russian aggression in Ukraine continues.
“What supporters of nuclear weapons as a deterrent need to do now is to face reality, to admit that they cannot take such responsibility. They must use wisdom and act together to find ways to eliminate nuclear weapons, regardless of the security situation,” said Hiroshima Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki.
“Leaders around the world must face the fact that the theory of nuclear weapons to prevent conflict has failed,” said Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said his country will do its best to ensure that nuclear weapons are never used again.
“The horrors caused by the nuclear bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki must never be repeated. Japan, the only country that has experienced nuclear war, will continue to make tireless efforts for a world without nuclear weapons, adhering to the Three Non-Nuclear Principles,” said Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister of Japan.
In 1968, Japan adopted the principles of not possessing, producing and allowing the introduction of nuclear weapons.
A memorial ceremony will be held on August 9 in Nagasaki, the day the United States dropped the second atomic bomb on Japanese soil.
On August 6, 1945, the atomic bomb dropped by the American B-29 fighter plane Enola Gay destroyed Hiroshima and killed about 140,000 people out of the city’s then 350,000 population.
On August 9, the United States dropped another atomic bomb on Nagasaki, killing more than 75,000 people. Japan surrendered on August 15.
Thousands of people later died from injuries and illnesses related to nuclear radiation.
