Hiroshima anniversary resonates after Beirut explosion
Bells tolled in Hiroshima on Thursday for the 75th anniversary of the world’s first atomic bombing, with ceremonies reduced in size owing to the coronavirus.
Although thousands usually pack the Peace Park in the centre of the Japanese city to pray, sing and offer paper cranes as a symbol of peace, entrance was strictly limited and only survivors and their families could attend the memorial ceremony.
The city said the significance of the anniversary of the bombing that killed 140,000 people before the end of 1945 prompted its decision to hold the ceremony despite the spread of the virus, but with strict precautions.
The city’s mayor urged countries to reject what he described as selfish nationalism and called on them to unite to fight all threats.
“On August 6, 1945, a single atomic bomb destroyed our city. Rumour at the time had it that ‘nothing will grow here for 75 years,’” Kazumi Matsui said. “And yet, Hiroshima recovered, becoming a symbol of peace.”
At 8.15am that day, US B-29 warplane Enola Gay dropped a bomb nicknamed Little Boy and obliterated the city and its estimated population of 350,000. Thousands more died later from injuries and radiation.
The bombing of Hiroshima was followed by the bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, instantly killing more than 75,000 people. Japan surrendered six days later, ending the Second World War.
On Thursday, as cicadas shrilled in the heavy summer heat and the Peace Bell sounded, the crowd stood to observe a moment of silence at the exact time the bomb exploded.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended as usual, but the number of foreign visitors was down.
Mr Matsui urged Japan to ratify a 2017 UN pact banning nuclear arms, but Mr Abe said only that Japan would “work as a bridge between nations”.
Keiko Ogura, who was eight when the bomb blast knocked her off her feet, has dedicated her life to working for peace.
“The nuclear danger is spreading around the world, and under that mushroom cloud, no one can escape,” she told a recent news conference.
The anniversary trended on Japanese Twitter as users offered prayers for world peace, although one drew a parallel with this week’s huge blast in Beirut.
“I really hadn’t been able to imagine it before.
“But looking at the damage from the Beirut explosion and imagining something several times more powerful, I was struck with a huge sense of fear,” wrote one commentator.