Japan marks 78th anniversary of Hiroshima bombing

Kazumi Matsui, the mayor of Hiroshima, calls for the abolition of nuclear weapons as Japan marks the 78th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing.

He also called the Group of Seven leaders’ notion of nuclear deterrence a “folly”.

Tagged “Little Boy”, the atomic bomb was detonated on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. It killed thousands instantly and around 140,000 people by the end of the year.

On Sunday, a peace bell tolled at 8:15 a.m. (2315 GMT on Saturday), the time the bomb was dropped.

About 50,000 participants in the outdoor memorial ceremony, including ageing survivors, observed a moment of silence, with the summer heat hitting 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit).

“Leaders around the world must confront the reality that nuclear threats now being voiced by certain policymakers reveal the folly of nuclear deterrence theory,” Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui said at the ceremony, also attended by Kishida.

According to the prime minister, the road to a nuclear-free world was becoming more difficult, owing in part to Russia’s nuclear threats.

The day to commemorate the victims of the world’s first nuclear attack comes as Russia has raised the spectre of using nuclear weapons in its war with Ukraine.

Reuters