The Japanese city of Nagasaki has marked 80 years since the atomic bomb was dropped on it. At the height of the anniversary, the city warned that the threat of nuclear war in the world is growing, and called on humanity to learn from history and for Nagasaki to remain the last city to suffer such destruction, Kyodo reported, quoted by BTA.
"The existential crisis of humanity has become inevitable for each of us who live on Earth," said Mayor Shiro Suzuki in a Declaration of Peace read during the annual commemorative ceremony. He painted a bleak picture of the future of a world caught in a "vicious cycle of confrontation and fragmentation".
In addition to calling on world leaders to take concrete action to eliminate nuclear weapons, Suzuki noted that last year, "Nihon Hindankyo", Japan's largest organization of atomic bomb survivors, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The mayor said the award was a vivid example of how strong civil society can be when united.
"Isn't this perspective of the "global citizen" the driving force for unifying our fragmented world?", he said.
At exactly 11:02 a.m. local time, a minute of silence was observed. This is the hour when, in the closing days of World War II, a plutonium device codenamed "Fat Man" was dropped by an American bomber and exploded over the city's harbor. The bombing came after the one in Hiroshima, making Nagasaki the second city in world history to be targeted by a nuclear attack, Kyodo noted.
In his speech, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba reaffirmed his country's long-standing commitment not to possess, produce or permit the deployment of nuclear weapons.
The Japanese government will work steadfastly at the forefront of global efforts to "build a world without nuclear war and without nuclear weapons," the prime minister said, although he did not address the issue of the 2021 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, signed by a number of countries around the world at a UN conference – despite calls from Hiroshima and Nagasaki for Japan to join.
The commemorative event at Nagasaki Peace Park was attended by representatives from 94 countries and the region.
Last year's ceremony, which drew a record 100 countries and the region, was marred by controversy after the city did not invite Israel due to the conflict in the Gaza Strip, prompting ambassadors from the United States and other G7 members to skip the ceremony. The city decided to take a more inclusive approach this year, sending invitations to all countries with diplomatic missions in Japan.
In a statement, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stressed that "peace and security cannot be achieved through an arms race" and called on States to take action to strengthen the global disarmament regime, with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, supplemented by the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, at its centre.
The nuclear attack on Nagasaki was carried out on 9 August 1945, three days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in western Japan. It is estimated that by the end of the year, some 74,000 people in the city had died from the effects of the attack, with many more continuing to suffer from them.
On 15 August 1945, Japan surrendered, ending World War II.
The number of officially recognised hibakusha, or survivors of the atomic bombings, stood at 99,130 as of March this year, falling below 100,000 for the first time. Their average age is 86 years.