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Japan marks 75th anniversary of Hiroshima atomic bombing

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Japan on Thursday marked 75 years since the world's first atomic bomb attack, with the coronavirus pandemic forcing a scaling back of ceremonies to remember the victims.

Survivors, relatives and a handful of foreign dignitaries attended this year's main event in Hiroshima to pray for those killed or wounded in the bombing and call for world peace.

But the general public was kept away, with the ceremony instead broadcast online.

Participants, many of them dressed in black and wearing face masks, offered a silent prayer at exactly 8:15 am (2315 GMT Wednesday), the time the first nuclear weapon used in wartime was dropped over the city.

Atomic bombing of Hiroshima
Atomic bombing of Hiroshima
, AFP

Speaking afterwards, Hiroshima mayor Kazumi Matsui warned against the nationalism that led to World War II and urged the world to come together to face global threats, like the coronavirus pandemic.

"We must never allow this painful past to repeat itself. Civil society must reject self-centred nationalism and unite against all threats," he said.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has been criticised by some for his attempts to revise a key pacifist clause of the country's constitution, pledged in his address to "do my best for the realisation of a world without nuclear weapons and peace for all time".

And UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who addressed the gathering by video message because of the pandemic, warned that "the only way to totally eliminate nuclear risk is to totally eliminate nuclear weapons".

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows in front of the Cenotaph after delivering a speech during th...
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows in front of the Cenotaph after delivering a speech during the 75th anniversary service for atomic bomb victims at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima
Philip FONG, AFP

The bomb attack on Hiroshima killed around 140,000 people, many of them instantly, with others perishing in the weeks and months that followed, suffering radiation sickness, devastating burns and other injuries.

Three days later, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, where 74,000 people were killed.

- 'No one can escape' -

Many of the traditionally sombre events to mark the anniversary have been cancelled because of the pandemic, a global threat that carries an all-too-familiar fear for some survivors, including 83-year-old Keiko Ogura, who lived through the Hiroshima bombing.

A man plays his guitar in front of  the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall  now commonl...
A man plays his guitar in front of the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, now commonly known as the atomic bomb dome
Philip FONG, AFP

With the outbreak of the virus, "I recall the fear I felt right after the bombing... no one can escape", she told journalists last month.

She too urged people around the world to recognise the need to fight common challenges as one.

"Whether it's the coronavirus or nuclear weapons, the way to overcome it is through solidarity among mankind," she said.

The number of survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings -- known as hibakusha -- is shrinking...
The number of survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings -- known as hibakusha -- is shrinking, lending an urgency to their message
Philip FONG, AFP

The landmark anniversary this year underscores the dwindling number of bomb survivors, known in Japan as "hibakusha", many of whom suffered physically and psychologically after the attack.

Those who remain were mostly infants or young children at the time, and their work to keep the memory of the bombings alive and call for a ban on nuclear weapons has taken on increasing urgency as they age.

Activists and survivors have created archives of everything from the recorded testimony of hibakusha to their poems and drawings.

Visitors burn incense at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park to mark 75 years since the world's f...
Visitors burn incense at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park to mark 75 years since the world's first atomic bomb attack
Philip FONG, AFP

But many fear interest in the bombings is fading as they recede beyond the horizon of lived experience and into history.

- 'Unspeakable horror' -

"Just storing a pile of records... is meaningless," said Kazuhisa Ito, the secretary general of No More Hibakusha Project, an NGO that compiles documents and testimonial accounts from survivors.

"What we want is to engage young people with this issue and exchange views with them, globally," he told AFP.

The mushroom cloud created when the atomic bomb dropped by the B-29 bomber Enola Gay exploded in the...
The mushroom cloud created when the atomic bomb dropped by the B-29 bomber Enola Gay exploded in the city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945
Handout, Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum/AFP/File

The historical assessment of the bombings remains the subject of some controversy. The United States has never apologised for the bombings, which many see as having brought an end to the war.

Japan announced its surrender just days later on August 15, 1945, and some historians argue the bombings ultimately saved lives by avoiding a land invasion that might have been significantly more deadly.

But in Japan, the attacks are widely regarded as war crimes because they targeted civilians indiscriminately and caused unprecedented destruction.

In 2016, Barack Obama became the first sitting US president to visit Hiroshima, where he offered no apology but embraced survivors and called for a world free of nuclear weapons.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki were key stops on Pope Francis's first trip to Japan last year, where he denounced the "unspeakable horror" of the attacks.

Japan on Thursday marked 75 years since the world’s first atomic bomb attack, with the coronavirus pandemic forcing a scaling back of ceremonies to remember the victims.

Survivors, relatives and a handful of foreign dignitaries attended this year’s main event in Hiroshima to pray for those killed or wounded in the bombing and call for world peace.

But the general public was kept away, with the ceremony instead broadcast online.

Participants, many of them dressed in black and wearing face masks, offered a silent prayer at exactly 8:15 am (2315 GMT Wednesday), the time the first nuclear weapon used in wartime was dropped over the city.

Atomic bombing of Hiroshima

Atomic bombing of Hiroshima
, AFP

Speaking afterwards, Hiroshima mayor Kazumi Matsui warned against the nationalism that led to World War II and urged the world to come together to face global threats, like the coronavirus pandemic.

“We must never allow this painful past to repeat itself. Civil society must reject self-centred nationalism and unite against all threats,” he said.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has been criticised by some for his attempts to revise a key pacifist clause of the country’s constitution, pledged in his address to “do my best for the realisation of a world without nuclear weapons and peace for all time”.

And UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who addressed the gathering by video message because of the pandemic, warned that “the only way to totally eliminate nuclear risk is to totally eliminate nuclear weapons”.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows in front of the Cenotaph after delivering a speech during th...

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows in front of the Cenotaph after delivering a speech during the 75th anniversary service for atomic bomb victims at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima
Philip FONG, AFP

The bomb attack on Hiroshima killed around 140,000 people, many of them instantly, with others perishing in the weeks and months that followed, suffering radiation sickness, devastating burns and other injuries.

Three days later, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, where 74,000 people were killed.

– ‘No one can escape’ –

Many of the traditionally sombre events to mark the anniversary have been cancelled because of the pandemic, a global threat that carries an all-too-familiar fear for some survivors, including 83-year-old Keiko Ogura, who lived through the Hiroshima bombing.

A man plays his guitar in front of  the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall  now commonl...

A man plays his guitar in front of the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, now commonly known as the atomic bomb dome
Philip FONG, AFP

With the outbreak of the virus, “I recall the fear I felt right after the bombing… no one can escape”, she told journalists last month.

She too urged people around the world to recognise the need to fight common challenges as one.

“Whether it’s the coronavirus or nuclear weapons, the way to overcome it is through solidarity among mankind,” she said.

The number of survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings -- known as hibakusha -- is shrinking...

The number of survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings — known as hibakusha — is shrinking, lending an urgency to their message
Philip FONG, AFP

The landmark anniversary this year underscores the dwindling number of bomb survivors, known in Japan as “hibakusha”, many of whom suffered physically and psychologically after the attack.

Those who remain were mostly infants or young children at the time, and their work to keep the memory of the bombings alive and call for a ban on nuclear weapons has taken on increasing urgency as they age.

Activists and survivors have created archives of everything from the recorded testimony of hibakusha to their poems and drawings.

Visitors burn incense at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park to mark 75 years since the world's f...

Visitors burn incense at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park to mark 75 years since the world's first atomic bomb attack
Philip FONG, AFP

But many fear interest in the bombings is fading as they recede beyond the horizon of lived experience and into history.

– ‘Unspeakable horror’ –

“Just storing a pile of records… is meaningless,” said Kazuhisa Ito, the secretary general of No More Hibakusha Project, an NGO that compiles documents and testimonial accounts from survivors.

“What we want is to engage young people with this issue and exchange views with them, globally,” he told AFP.

The mushroom cloud created when the atomic bomb dropped by the B-29 bomber Enola Gay exploded in the...

The mushroom cloud created when the atomic bomb dropped by the B-29 bomber Enola Gay exploded in the city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945
Handout, Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum/AFP/File

The historical assessment of the bombings remains the subject of some controversy. The United States has never apologised for the bombings, which many see as having brought an end to the war.

Japan announced its surrender just days later on August 15, 1945, and some historians argue the bombings ultimately saved lives by avoiding a land invasion that might have been significantly more deadly.

But in Japan, the attacks are widely regarded as war crimes because they targeted civilians indiscriminately and caused unprecedented destruction.

In 2016, Barack Obama became the first sitting US president to visit Hiroshima, where he offered no apology but embraced survivors and called for a world free of nuclear weapons.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki were key stops on Pope Francis’s first trip to Japan last year, where he denounced the “unspeakable horror” of the attacks.

AFP
Written By

With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.

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