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Hiroshima anniversary: mayor says Ukraine and Middle East crises show world ignoring nuclear ‘tragedies

Justin McCurry , Guardian, 6 Aug 25

On 80th anniversary of atomic bombing, Kazumi Matsui urges younger people to recognise ‘inhumane’ consequences of nuclear weapons as a deterrent.

The mayor of Hiroshima has led calls for the world’s most powerful countries to abandon nuclear deterrence, at a ceremony to mark 80 years since the city was destroyed by an American atomic bomb.

As residents, survivors and representatives from 120 countries gathered at the city’s peace memorial park on Wednesday morning, Kazumi Matsui warned that the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East had contributed to a growing acceptance of nuclear weapons.

“These developments flagrantly disregard the lessons the international community should have learned from the tragedies of history,” he said in his peace declaration, against the backdrop of the A-bomb dome – one of the few buildings that survived the attack eight decades ago.

“They threaten to topple the peace-building frameworks so many have worked so hard to construct,” he added, before urging younger people to recognise that acceptance of the nuclear option could cause “utterly inhumane” consequences for their future.

Despite the global turmoil, he said, “we, the people, must never give up. Instead, we must work even harder to build civil society consensus that nuclear weapons must be abolished for a genuinely peaceful world.”

As applause rang out, white doves were released into the sky, while an eternal “flame of peace” burned in front of a cenotaph dedicated to victims of the world’s first nuclear attack.

The ceremony is seen as the last opportunity for significant numbers of ageing hibakusha – survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – to pass on first-hand warnings of the horror of nuclear warfare.

Just under 100,000 survivors are still alive, according to recent data from the health ministry, with an average age of just over 86………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Successive Japanese governments have faced criticism for refusing to ratify a 2021 treaty to ban the possession and use of nuclear weapons. Dozens of countries have signed the treaty, but they do not include any of the recognised nuclear powers or countries, including Japan, that are dependent on the US nuclear umbrella.

After laying a wreath in front of the cenotaph, the prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, did not mention the treaty but said it was Japan’s “mission” as the only country to have been attacked by nuclear weapons to lead global efforts towards disarmament.

The UN secretary general, António Guterres, said in a statement that “the very weapons that brought such devastation to Hiroshima and Nagasaki are once again being treated as tools of coercion”. Guterres added, however, that Nihon Hidankyo’s Nobel prize was cause for hope, adding that “countries must draw strength from the resilience of Hiroshima and from the wisdom of the hibakusha”. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/06/hiroshima-mayor-ukraine-middle-east-nuclear-history-atomic-bombing-80th-anniversary

August 6, 2025 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | weapons and war