Thousands gathered in Nagasaki on Saturday to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the city’s atomic bombing, with Mayor Shiro Suzuki warning that ongoing global conflicts risk bringing the world to the brink of nuclear war.
On 9 August 1945, the western Japanese city was devastated when the United States dropped a 10,000-pound plutonium-239 bomb, known as “Fat Man”, killing an estimated 27,000 people instantly from a population of about 200,000. By the end of that year, the death toll from acute radiation exposure had risen to around 70,000. The bombing occurred three days after a uranium-235 bomb destroyed Hiroshima, prompting Japan’s surrender on 15 August and the end of World War Two.
At 11:02 a.m., the moment of the blast, participants observed a minute of silence before Suzuki urged world leaders to return to the principles of the United Nations Charter and take tangible steps to abolish nuclear weapons, stressing that further delay was “no longer permissible”. Calling the situation “a crisis of human survival”, he recounted a survivor’s account of horrific injuries and deaths, and appealed for a “global citizen” approach based on mutual understanding and solidarity.
Nagasaki was reportedly chosen by the U.S. military for its strategic importance as an industrial and port hub, with its hilly terrain believed to magnify the destructive force of the explosion.
The ceremony at Nagasaki Peace Memorial Park was attended by representatives from 95 countries and territories, including the United States, Israel, and Russia, the latter holding the world’s largest nuclear arsenal.
Speaking to Reuters, 14-year-old visitor Daiji Kawanaka from Osaka echoed the mayor’s call, saying the anniversary sparked peace discussions even among young people, and that it was important to take personal initiative toward peace.
Japan’s leading A-bomb survivors’ organisation, Nihon Hidankyo- awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year for its anti-nuclear campaign continues to highlight the long-term suffering of survivors, or hibakusha, from radiation exposure and discrimination. With the number of survivors now below 100,000, their testimonies remain central to efforts advocating for a nuclear-free world.
Japan maintains its commitment to nuclear disarmament but is not a signatory or observer of the U.N. treaty banning nuclear weapons.
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