HIROSHIMA, Japan (Kyodo) – Hiroshima on Saturday marked the 71st anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing, with Mayor Kazumi Matsui calling on world leaders to follow up U.S. President Barack Obama’s historic visit to the western Japan city in May with trips of their own and to do more to abolish nuclear weapons.
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“It’s a time to remember the victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 in which many innocent lives were lost in this horrific act of war”, said Terumi Kuwada, a former president of the National Association of Japanese Canadians.
Event organizer Jenny Isaacs said that the Doylestown Friends Meeting has been holding a peace vigil on the anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing annually since 1980.
As part of the vigil, peace advocates had a table where people could fill out postcards meant to encourage President Obama to scale back America’s nuclear arsenal and to sign a “no first use” pledge – essentially saying the US would only use nukes if such weapons were first deployed by an adversary. “We need to think about the future, we need to concentrate all our powers on creating a world without nuclear weapons”, Tsuboi said.
Matsui said Obama’s statement reflected the victims’ belief that such a horrific tragedy should not be experienced by anyone else, and called for other world leaders to visit the atomic bombed city.
A video documenting rare footage from Hiroshima and Nagasaki days after the atomic bombings was released over the weekend.
Hiroshima Bombings: Aug. 6, 1945 A file photo dated September 1945 of the remains of the Prefectural Industry Promotion Building after the bombing of Hiroshima, which was later preserved as the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, Atomic Bomb Dome or Genbaku Dome.
It was the second-largest number of represented countries, after the 100 that marked the 70th anniversary past year. But through successful diplomacy (backed by tremendous public pressure), the United States and Russian Federation were able to reduce the number of nuclear weapons and greatly decreased the likelihood of a nuclear attack. for a while. From the United States, Robert Rapson, minister in charge of political affairs, attended as charge d’affaires.
The ceremony began on 8:15 a.m. local time (or 23:15 GMT on Friday) – the exact time the atomic bomb was dropped – with the toll of a peace bell.
Japanese tourists also joined the ceremony.
He urged him to join Obama in taking leadership toward ridding the world of nuclear weapons.
The U.S. must lead the world in ending the threat from nuclear weapons.
“I am convinced Obama’s visit brought a great hope for people in Japan, in the world and in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, who believe in a world without nuclear arms”, he said.
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United States forces dropped another atomic bomb on the southern city of Nagasaki on August 9. They were children or young adults on August 6, 1945 when the atomic bomb was dropped on them from over 30,000 feet and their average age is now over 80. Several died of the long-term effects of radiation sickness.
