Nagasaki observes 76 years of nuclear bombing

NAGASAKI, the Japanese city that faced an atomic attack on August 9, 1945, commemorated the tragedy’s 76th anniversary on Monday amid a restricted gathering because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Tomihisa Taue, the mayor of the city, called for the global community on the occasion to build on a new nuclear ban treaty.

Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga was also present on the occasion. He said, “As the only country that has suffered atomic bombings during the war, it is our unchanging mission to steadily advance the efforts of the international community, step by step, towards realisation of a world free of nuclear weapons.”

Nagasaki was the second city to face the devastating attack that killed 74,000 people, three days after Hiroshima was nuclear bombed by the US. The twin attacks marked the end of the Second World War but rang in the nuclear age and made Japan the only country to have experienced nuclear attacks.

On Monday, survivors of the attack and a few foreign dignitaries offered a silent prayer at 11.02 am local time – the exact time of the Nagasaki nuclear attack. Last year, too, the occasion saw limited participation because of the pandemic.

The ceremony is the first since an international treaty banning nuclear arms came into force in 2020.

The treaty has not been signed by countries in possession of nuclear weapons but activists feel it will have a gradual deterrent effect.

“World leaders must commit to nuclear arms reductions and build trust through dialogue, and civil society must push them in this direction,” Tue said, AFP reported.

Japan has not signed the treaty either, arguing that it carries little significance without buy-in from nuclear powered-states.

Ironically, Japan today also finds itself under the nuclear umbrella of the US, the same country which had nuked it seven decades ago but is responsible for its defence against regional enemies like China and North Korea.

“As the only country that has suffered atomic bombings during the war, it is our unchanging mission to steadily advance the efforts of the international community, step by step, towards realisation of a world free of nuclear weapons," Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said at the ceremony.

On Friday (6), the country observed the 76th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima where 140,000 people died.

Former US president became the first sitting American president to visit Hiroshima in 2016 but Washington has never met the demands for an apology over the bombings.

Last month, International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach went to Hiroshima ahead of the start of the Tokyo Olympics to mark the start of an Olympic truce, a tradition that seeks to halt global conflicts and allow safe passage of athletes. The Games concluded on Sunday (8) and Hiroshima’s officials were disappointed that the IOC refused to stage a minute of silence at the Games on Friday to mark the anniversary, AFP reported.