Prime Minister Abe, who in a speech at the ceremony called for abolishing nuclear weapons, answered his critics by arguing that the legislation was essential to ensure Japan’s safety.
Advertisement
Doves fly over the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in western Japan on August 6, 2015 during a memorial ceremony to mark the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
The U.S. bomb, “Little Boy“, the first nuclear weapon used in war, killed 140,000 people.
Historically, the U.S. rationale for the bombs was to avoid what would have been a bloody ground assault on the Japanese mainland.
Mr Abe said that as the sole country to face a nuclear attack, Japan had a duty to push for the elimination of nuclear weapons.
He renewed an invitation to world leaders to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki to see the scars themselves, during the G-7 summit in Japan next year.
“Aspiring sincerely to an global peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling worldwide disputes”, that article states. Since 1968, each of the city’s mayors has written a letter of protest to every country thought to be in possession of nuclear weapons, and the letters hang on the wall of the Peace Memorial Museum. A “Don’t repeat the war” conference was held, and choirs performed.
Moscow residents also brought 1,000 origami cranes to the US embassy in central Moscow to commemorate the (at least) 200,000 victims of the atomic bombing of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which occurred on 6 and 9 August 1945 respectively.
Sadako Sasaki survived the bombing at the age of two.
Some of the national attendants at this year’s anniversary included U.S Ambassador Caroline Kennedy and various representatives from all over the world including Britain, France and Russian Federation, reported CTV News.
That’s despite the fact that most of today’s weapons are many factors more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
Greenpeace Japan revealed last month that radiation in one of the most contaminated districts is still so widespread and at such a high level that those who were evacuated can not return home safely, despite decontamination efforts.
Tens of thousands gathered in Hiroshima yesterday to mark 70 years since the dropping of the first atomic bomb, with opinion still divided over whether its deadly destruction was justified.
Advertisement
Thursday’s anniversary comes at the height of a debate in Japan over its role in conflicts overseas.
