Survivors mark 75th anniversary of world’s 1st atomic attack
HIROSHIMA, Japan — Survivors of the world’s first atomic bombing gathered in diminished numbers near an iconic, blasted dome Thursday to mark the attack’s 75th anniversary, many of them urging the world, and their own government, to do more to ban nuclear weapons.
An upsurge of coronavirus cases in Japan meant a much smaller than normal turnout, but the bombing survivors’ message was more urgent than ever. As their numbers dwindle — their average age is about 83 — many nations have bolstered
or maintained their nuclear arsenals, and their own government refuses to sign a nuclear weapons ban treaty.
Amid cries of Japanese government hypocrisy, survivors, their relatives and officials marked the 8:15 a.m. blast anniversary with a minute of silence.
The United States dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, destroying the city and killing 140,000 people. It dropped a second bomb three days later on Nagasaki, killing another 70,000. Japan surrendered Aug. 15, ending World War II and its nearly halfcentury of aggression in Asia.
But the decades since have seen the weapons stockpiling of the Cold War and a nuclear standoff among nations that continues to this day.
Amid the solemn remembrances at Hiroshima’s peace park, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was confronted Thursday by six members of survivors’ groups over the treaty.
“Could you please respond to our request to sign the Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty?” Tomoyuki Mimaki, a member of a major survivors’ group, Hidankyo, implored Mr. Abe. “The milestone 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing is a chance” to change course.
Mr. Abe insisted on Japan’s policy not to sign the treaty, vaguely citing a “different approach,” although he added that the government shares the goal of eliminating nuclear weapons.
“Abe’s actions don’t seem to match his words,” said Manabu Iwasa, 47, who came to the park to pray for his father, a bombing survivor who died at age 87 in March. “Japan apparently sides with the United States, but it should make more efforts to eliminate nuclear weapons.”
Even though Tokyo renounces its own possession, production or hosting of nuclear weapons, Japan is a top U.S. ally, hosts 50,000 American troops and is protected by the U.S. nuclear umbrella. This complicates the push to get Tokyo to sign the treaty adopted in 2017, especially as it steps up its military role amid North Korea’s continuing pursuit of a stronger nuclear program.
Mr. Abe, in his speech at the ceremony, said a nuclear-free world cannot be achieved overnight and has to start with dialogue.
“Japan’s position is to serve as a bridge between different sides and patiently promote their dialogue and actions to achieve a world without nuclear weapons,” Mr. Abe said.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, there were fewer than 1,000 attendees — one-tenth of those attending in past years — at Thursday’s peace ceremony at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.
Some survivors and their relatives prayed at the park’s cenotaph before the ceremony. The registry of the atomic bombing victims is stored at the cenotaph, whose inscription reads, “Let all the souls here rest in peace, for we shall not repeat the mistake.”
The bombing’s survivors expressed anger over what they said was the Japanese government’s reluctance to help and listen to those who suffered. They want world leaders to visit Hiroshima and see the reality of the atomic bombing.
”The only way to totally eliminate nuclear risk is to totally eliminate nuclear weapons,” U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in a video message from New York. Mr. Guterres’ expected visit to Hiroshima was canceled because of the coronavirus.
“Seventy-five years is far too long not to have learned that the possession of nuclear weapons diminishes, rather than reinforces, security,” he said. “Today, a world without nuclear weapons seems to be slipping further from our grasp.”