As Japan commemorates the 78th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, its mayor has called for the eradication of nuclear weapons.
On August 6, Japan commemorated the 78th anniversary of the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima with a sombre service in Westminster Abbey. The mayor of Hiroshima used the occasion to urge for the elimination of nuclear weapons, calling the Group of Seven leaders’ concept of nuclear deterrence “folly.”
The day commemorated the victims of the world’s first nuclear assault, but it also comes amid growing fears about Russia’s possible use of nuclear weapons in its continuing confrontation with Ukraine.
Hiroshima received international prominence in May when Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held a G7 conference in his hometown. During the meeting, G7 leaders emphasised their commitment to disarmament while also stating that nuclear weapons should be used as a deterrent against aggression and conflict for as long as they exist.
A peace bell rang at 8:15 a.m., the exact moment the bomb was dropped, as some 50,000 people gathered for an outdoor memorial event, including ageing survivors of the atomic explosion. Despite the sweltering July heat, the participants held a minute of silence to remember those who died.
“Leaders around the world have to face the reality that nuclear threats now being voiced by some policymakers reveal the folly of nuclear deterrence theory,” Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui said at the ceremony, which Kishida also attended, according to Reuters.
The prime minister stated that the road to a nuclear-free world was becoming more difficult, owing in part to Russia’s nuclear threats, but that this made it all the more vital to re-establish international momentum towards that objective.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has voiced his support.
“World leaders have travelled to this city, seen its monuments, spoken with its brave survivors, and emerged inspired to take up the cause of nuclear disarmament,” he added, according to remarks read aloud by a United Nations official. “More should do so because the drums of nuclear war are once again pounding.”
The “Little Boy” bomb that was detonated on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, killed thousands instantaneously and around 140,000 people by the end of the year. On August 15, Japan surrendered.
Oppenheimer is now available in Japan.
The biopic Oppenheimer, which covers the development of the atomic bomb, has been a box-office triumph in the United States. Some have faulted the film for failing to sufficiently reflect the horrific consequences of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs.
In Japan, the distributor of Barbie, a hit film released on the same day as Oppenheimer, was chastised for profiting off fan-created Barbenheimer memes depicting the stars in the film amid images of nuclear explosions. Oppenheimer’s release in Japan has yet to be confirmed.
