Nagasaki held its annual commemoration ceremony on Sunday marking 81 years since the U.S. atomic bombing of the southwestern city. The event drew representatives from more than 90 countries to the Peace Park, where attendees observed a moment of silence at 11:02 a.m., the moment when the plutonium bomb known as “Fat Man” was dropped from a B-29 aircraft.
Mayor Shiro Suzuki used the occasion to deliver a forceful message about the dangers of nuclear weapons. He characterized nuclear arms as an “absolute evil” that can never coexist with humanity, rejecting arguments by some nations that nuclear possession serves as an effective deterrent against potential adversaries. Suzuki specifically warned that relying on nuclear deterrence theory actually increases the likelihood of nuclear conflict rather than preventing it. The mayor also called on the Japanese government to uphold the country’s war-renouncing Constitution, participate in the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons review conference later this year, and maintain Japan’s three postwar non-nuclear principles.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who attended the ceremony, reiterated her government’s commitment to pursuing a world without nuclear weapons through what she described as a “realistic and pragmatic approach.” However, she remained noncommittal regarding the three non-nuclear principles, stating only that Japan currently maintains the policy. The prime minister’s government has been revising the country’s defense policy to expand the military’s offensive capabilities, raising questions about whether restrictions on nuclear weapons might be loosened. Takaichi supports the first two non-nuclear principles but has not clearly committed to the third, which prohibits allowing nuclear weapons into Japan.
Bomb survivors, known as hibakusha, have expressed frustration with the government’s evolving stance on nuclear deterrence, viewing it as inconsistent with Japan’s pacifist legacy. The survivor population has declined significantly to approximately 91,105 individuals, with an average age exceeding 86 years. Concerns about fading memories and historical knowledge have prompted survivors to vocalize their opposition to policy shifts, particularly given that the youngest survivors lack clear personal recollections of the bombing.
Article Attribution | Read More at Article Source
Article summary produced by Claude AI