Nagasaki marks 81 years since atomic bombing, mayor warns on deterrence

Nagasaki on Sunday observed the 81st anniversary of the US atomic bombing that devastated the city in 1945, with officials using the occasion to renew calls for global nuclear disarmament.

A memorial ceremony at Nagasaki Peace Park drew representatives from more than 90 countries. At 11:02 am — the precise moment the plutonium bomb detonated over the city — participants observed a minute of silence as a bell tolled.

Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki used his address to challenge the growing reliance on nuclear deterrence among world powers, including Japan. He argued that such policies increase, rather than reduce, the risk of nuclear war.

Suzuki also pressed the Japanese government to attend the first Review Conference of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons later this year, calling it a historic responsibility for the only nation to have suffered atomic bombings in wartime.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi offered condolences to the victims and reaffirmed Japan's commitment to its Three Non-Nuclear Principles. She said the devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki must never be repeated and pledged a realistic approach toward a nuclear-free world within the framework of the UN's non-proliferation treaty.

The bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, killed an estimated 70,000 people, three days after Hiroshima's bombing claimed 140,000 lives. Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945, ending World War II.