Hiroshima Marks 81 Years Since U.S. Atomic Bombing, Mayor Condemns Ongoing Nuclear Militarism
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Tens of thousands gathered in Hiroshima to honor the victims of the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing, as officials condemned the continued global reliance on nuclear weapons and the dangerous logic of nuclear deterrence.
On Thursday, Hiroshima held its annual remembrance ceremony, marking 81 years since the United States unleashed nuclear devastation on the city—a stark reminder of imperialist violence and the catastrophic consequences of militarism. Around 50,000 people, including representatives from about 120 countries, assembled at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, observing a minute of silence at 8:15 a.m., the precise moment the bomb was dropped.
Mayor Kazumi Matsui forcefully denounced the persistent global dependence on nuclear deterrence, warning that minimizing the horror of nuclear weapons perpetuates cycles of violence and retaliation, threatening humanity with another Hiroshima or Nagasaki. He called on citizens to reject the normalization of nuclear arms and to mobilize for a world free from such inhumane threats.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, attending the memorial for the first time in her capacity, promised a so-called “realistic approach” to nuclear disarmament within the United Nations framework. Yet, her government’s ongoing support for nuclear deterrence and the looming review of Japan’s post-war non-nuclear principles expose the contradictions in official rhetoric and the pressures of militarist alliances.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, in a written statement, described the bombing as “a lesson of Hiroshima,” urging the world to make the threat or use of nuclear weapons unthinkable and to choose dialogue and cooperation over division and militarization.
The ceremony also drew attention to the shrinking number of hibakusha (survivors), now just over 91,000 with an average age above 86, and their fears that as memories fade, so too will the public’s resolve to resist the normalization of nuclear violence.