Hiroshima Commemorates 79th Anniversary of Bombing

Hiroshima marked the 79th anniversary of its atomic bombing by the United States, with its mayor urging people to unite in prompting world leaders to shift away from nuclear deterrence amid global conflicts including Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas war in the Middle East.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who represents a constituency in Hiroshima, cautioned in his speech at the ceremony that the momentum toward a world without nuclear weapons is on the verge of reversal for the first time since the height of the Cold War.

"It is our duty as the sole country to have experienced the use of nuclear weapons in war to steadily work toward realizing a world without nuclear weapons," he said.

A moment of silence was observed at 8:15 a.m., the exact time that the nuclear bomb was dropped by the U.S. bomber Enola Gay and detonated over the city on Aug. 6, 1945, killing an estimated 140,000 people by the end of the year.

The ceremony was attended by around 50,000 people, including representatives from 109 nations and the European Union, at a time when nuclear threats have been repeatedly made by Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, while Israel's war with Hamas risks spilling into a wider conflict.

The Hiroshima city government invited Israel, widely regarded as a nuclear-armed state, alongside a call for an immediate cease-fire to the conflict in the Palestinian territory, which has drawn increasing international opposition.

But the invitation has been criticized as a double standard by some, as Russia and Belarus have been barred from the ceremony for three consecutive years over the invasion of Ukraine.

During the ceremony, Izumi Nakamitsu, U.N. undersecretary general and high representative for disarmament affairs, read out a statement by U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres in which he noted, "Since last year, global mistrust and division have only deepened... some are recklessly rattling the nuclear saber once more."