President Obama, who became the first US sitting president to visit site of the first atomic bomb, met with Mori at the May 27 ceremony, and gave him a hug which immediately took the world’s attention.
Advertisement
A peace bell tolled at 8:15 a.m. (2315 GMT on Friday), the time a USA warplane dropped the bomb.
At last year’s ceremony to mark 70 years since the Hiroshima bombing, Japanese President Shinzo Abe announced Japan’s plans to submit a draft resolution to the United Nations on nuclear disarmament.
About 50,000 people attended the ceremony Saturday at Hiroshima’s Peace Park near the bomb’s epicenter.
In Japan, the mayor of Hiroshima also urged world leaders to emulate Mr Obama and visit the city.
“Those nations like my own that hold nuclear stockpiles, we must have the courage to escape the logic of fear, and pursue a world without them”, Obama said.
“It is terrifying that Donald Trump, the Republican Party’s nominee to be our next Commander in Chief, is so anxious to use nuclear weapons”.
A woman lights a candle as she prays Saturday for the atomic bomb victims in front of the cenotaph at the Hiroshima Peace Mem.
The bomb was dropped in Hiroshima 71 years ago, immediately claiming the lives of around 80,000 people.
Another atomic bomb hit Nagasaki on August 9 the same year, and Japan surrendered to Allied Forces on August 15, six days after the Nagasaki nuclear attack, bringing an end to the war.
Another bomb was dropped on the port city of Nagasaki three days later, killing an estimated 70,000 residents.
“At the same time, the world is facing a nuclear threat unparalleled since the height of the Cold War, with escalating tensions at NATO Russian borders, and a USA plan to spend one trillion dollars upgrading its nuclear arsenal”.
He urged him to join Obama in taking leadership toward ridding the world of nuclear weapons. Six days after the Nagasaki atomic blast, Japan surrendered, effectively ending WWII.
“The doctrine of mutually assured destruction played a positive role in stopping the use of nuclear weapons, but that model is becoming obsolete due to the appearance of new and more unsafe players”, he said, and warned about the consequences of terrorist groups getting access to nuclear weapons.
Advertisement
Last year, the Abe administration forced the passage of new security bills, which changed Japan’s long-held principle of “not engaged in wars”, said Izua.
