On Wednesday, Hiroshima celebrated the eighty anniversary of the atomic bombing of the United States of the Western Japanese city, where many elderly survivors expressed frustration with the increasing support of global leaders of nuclear weapons as a deterrent.
As the number of survivors decreases quickly and their average age is now more than 86, the anniversary is the last teacher’s event for many of them.
“No one will be left to pass this sad and painful experience for 10 years or 20 years,” said Minoro Suzoto, 94 -year -old survivor, after kneeling to pray in Tabout. “That is why I want to share as much as possible.”
On August 6, 1945, the Hiroshima bombing destroyed the city and killed 140,000 people. A second bomb decreased three days after Nagasaki killed 70,000. Japan surrendered on August 15, ending the Second World War and half of the aggression in Japan in Asia.
Since then, the Japanese government has only compensated compensation to old warriors and their families, although the survivors have requested a remedy for civilian victims. They also sought to recognize the US government for its responsibility for civil deaths.
About 55,000 in attendance
The mayor of Hiroshima Kazumi Matsui warned of the increasing acceptance of military accumulation and the use of nuclear weapons for national security during the Russian war in Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East, with the United States and Russia possessing most of the world’s warheads.
“These developments stically ignore the lessons that the international community should learn from the tragedies of history,” he said. “They threaten to drop the frameworks of building peace, and many have worked hard to build it.”
He urged young generations to realize that such “misleading policies” can cause “completely inhumane consequences” for their future.
“We do not have much time remaining, while we are facing a larger nuclear threat ever,” said Nihon Hudaidkio, the Japanese Survivor Survivors Organization, which won the Nobel Peace Prize last year for its endeavor to cancel nuclear weapons.
The ceremony was attended by about 55,000 people, including representatives from 120 countries and regions. A minute of silence was held while the peace bell came out at 8:15 am, the time when the US B-29 was dropped the bomb on the city.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigro Eshiba, Matsoy and other officials have developed flowers at Cenotap. Dozens of white doves, a symbol of peace, were launched after the mayor’s speech.
Near the famous atomic bomb dome in Hiroshima, more than 200 demonstrators gathered, and he held posters and flags carrying messages such as “La Nuki,” War stop “and” Free Gaza! No more genocide “while chanting slogans.
Japan is not signed for the nuclear treaty
Hours before the official celebration, when the sun risen over Hiroshima, the survivors and their families began honoring the victims at the Peace Memorial Park, near the nuclear explosion center 80 years ago.
Kazu Miushi, a 74 -year -old retired, came to honor his grandfather and cousin who died in the bombing and prayed until the “error” will never be repeated.
“We do not need nuclear weapons,” Miushi said.
UN Secretary -General Antonio Guterres said in a statement he read at the ceremony. Guterres stressed the importance of moving forward in the testimony of survivors and the message of peace.
“There is hope,” said Guterres. The statement referred to the Nihon Hidel’s Noblel’s Nobel PEACE award and the commitment of the two countries to a world free of nuclear weapons in it An agreement for the futureAn international agreement adopted last year.
In the Vatican, Pope Liu XIV said on Wednesday that he was praying for those who suffered from physical, psychological and social effects of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, adding that the event is still a “global warning against the destruction caused by wars, and in particular, through nuclear weapons.”
The Japan government refused to request survivors to sign the treaty to ban nuclear weapons or attend its meetings as observers because it is under the protection of the American nuclear umbrella.
In his speech on Wednesday, Matsui, the mayor of the city, urged the Japanese government to sign and ratify the Nuclear Weapons Convention Treaty, a request that he also submitted several groups of survivors at their meeting with Ishiba after the ceremony.
In a speech, Ishiba repeated his government’s pledge to work towards a world without nuclear weapons, but he did not mention the treaty and pointed out once again to support his government to possess nuclear weapons to deter.
At a later press conference on Wednesday, Ishiba justified Japan’s dependence on the American nuclear deterrence, saying that Japan, which follows a non -nuclear principle, is surrounded by neighbors with nuclear weapons. He said that the situation does not contradict Japan’s endeavor with a world free of nuclear weapons.
Former prime ministers emphasized the situation of Japan as the only country in the world that has suffered from nuclear attacks and said that Japan was determined to follow peace, but the survivors say it is a hollow promise.
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