The day served as a remembrance for the victims of the world’s first nuclear attack, but it comes amid rising concerns over Russia’s potential use of nuclear weapons in its ongoing conflict with Ukraine.

Hiroshima previously garnered international attention in May when Prime Minister Fumio Kishida hosted a G7 summit in the city, his hometown. During the summit, G7 leaders expressed their commitment to achieving disarmament but also maintained that nuclear weapons should serve as a deterrent against aggression and war as long as they exist.

On the commemorative day, a peace bell rang at 8:15 a.m., the exact time the bomb was dropped, as around 50,000 participants gathered for an outdoor memorial ceremony, including aging survivors of the atomic attack. Despite the scorching summer heat, the attendees observed a moment of silence to honor the memory of those who lost their lives.

“Leaders around the world must confront the reality that nuclear threats now being voiced by certain policymakers reveal the folly of nuclear deterrence theory,” Reuters quoted Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui as saying at the ceremony, also attended by Kishida.

The prime minister said the road to a world without nuclear weapons was getting steeper, due in part to Russia’s nuclear threats, but that this made it all the more important to bring back international momentum towards that goal.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed his support.

“World leaders have visited this city, seen its monuments, spoken with its brave survivors, and emerged emboldened to take up the cause of nuclear disarmament,” he said in remarks read by a U.N. representative. “More should do so, because the drums of nuclear war are beating once again.”

The bomb dropped on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, nicknamed “Little Boy”, killed thousands instantly and about 140,000 by the end of the year. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15. 

Oppenheimer release in Japan

In the United States, the biopic Oppenheimer which chronicles the creation of the atomic bomb, has become a box-office success. However, some have criticised the film for not adequately addressing the devastating impact of the bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

In Japan, the distributor of Barbie, a blockbuster movie released on the same day as Oppenheimer, faced controversy for capitalising on fan-made Barbenheimer memes that depicted the actors in the film alongside images of nuclear explosions. The release of Oppenheimer in Japan is yet to be announced.

(With Reuters inputs)

Updated: 06 Aug 2023, 06:36 AM IST