Hiroshima has marked the 80th anniversary of the US atomic bombing of the western Japanese city, with many aging survivors expressing frustration about growing support among global leaders for nuclear weapons possession for deterrence.
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See subscription optionsWith the number of survivors rapidly declining and their average age now exceeding 86, Wednesday's anniversary is considered the last milestone event for many of them.
"We don't have much time left, while we face greater nuclear threat than ever," Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese grassroots organisation of survivors that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2024 for its pursuit of nuclear abolishment, said in a statement.
"Our biggest challenge now is to change nuclear weapons states that give us cold shoulders even just a little."
The bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, destroyed the city, killing 140,000 people. A second bomb dropped three days later on Nagasaki killed 70,000 more. Japan surrendered on August 15, ending World War II and Japan's nearly 50-year aggression in Asia.
The anniversary comes at a time that possession of nuclear weapons for deterrence is increasingly supported by the international community, including Japan.
US President Donald Trump 's remark justifying Washington's attack in June on Iran by comparing it to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the mild response from the Japanese government, disappointed the survivors.
"It's ridiculous," said Kosei Mito, a 79-year-old former high school teacher who was exposed to radiation in his mother's womb.
"I don't think we can get rid of nuclear weapons as long as it was justified by the assailant."
Japan's government has rejected the survivors' desperate request to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons or attend its meeting as observers because it is under the protection of the US nuclear umbrella.
Past prime ministers have stressed Japan's status as the world's only country to have suffered nuclear attacks and have said Japan is determined to pursue peace, but survivors say it's a hollow promise.
The Japanese government has only paid compensation to war veterans and their families, even though survivors have sought redress for civilian victims. They have also sought acknowledgement by the US government of its responsibility for the civilian deaths.
Australian Associated Press
