Hiroshima on Wednesday marked the 80th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of the city, with the aging survivors’ calls for nuclear weapons never to be used again growing more urgent amid global instability.
At the first ceremony since Japan’s leading group of atomic bomb survivors was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui is expected to urge political leaders to end their reliance on nuclear deterrence, while calling on younger generations to take action to build a broad public consensus for the elimination of nuclear weapons.
A moment of silence will be observed at 8:15 a.m., the exact time when the uranium 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.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is also scheduled to speak at the ceremony.
The ceremony is expected to be attended by representatives from a record 120 nations and regions, according to the city of Hiroshima.
Hiroshima has decided to be more open to countries and regions seeking to attend the memorial ceremony, shifting from sending invitations to simply notifying all countries and regions of the event.
The 80th anniversary comes after Nihon Hidankyo, also known as the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons through witness testimony.
Still, the momentum toward eliminating nuclear weapons remains low, with the global security situation tense amid wars in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip and U.S. foreign policy increasingly uncertain under President Donald Trump, who is pursuing an “America First” agenda and taking a transactional approach to diplomacy.
Russia and the United States together possess around 90 percent of all nuclear weapons, while China’s arsenal has grown faster than any other country’s with around 100 warheads added each year since 2023, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said in its latest annual report.
Three days after the world’s first-ever nuclear attack decimated Hiroshima, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki in southwestern Japan. Japan surrendered to the Allied forces six days later, marking the end of World War II.
The combined number of officially recognized survivors of the two atomic bombings, known as hibakusha, stood at 99,130 as of March, falling below 100,000 for the first time. Their average age exceeded 86.
