The Nagasaki authorities used this Wednesday the 78th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the Japanese city by the United States to urge world powers to abolish nuclear weapons, including for deterrent purposes.
The call came after the group of seven industrial powers (G7) adopted a document on nuclear disarmament in May that called for the use of nuclear weapons as a deterrent.
Japan is part of the G7, along with Germany, Canada, the United States, France, Italy and the United Kingdom.
“As long as states depend on nuclear deterrence, we cannot build a world without nuclear weapons,” said the mayor of Nagasaki, Shiro Suzuki, quoted by the US agency AP.
Russia’s nuclear threat has encouraged other countries to step up or increase their nuclear capabilities, further increasing the risk of nuclear war, Suzuki said.
Since they invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Russian authorities have been warning the West that involvement in the conflict could lead to nuclear war.
The United States dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, destroying the city and killing 140,000 people.
Three days later, a second attack in Nagasaki killed another 70,000 people.
Japan surrendered six days later, on August 15, ending World War II and nearly half a century of aggression in Asia.
At 11:02 local time (3:10 am in Lisbon), when the bomb exploded over the city in southern Japan, the participants in the ceremony held this Wednesday for the event observed a minute of silence with the sound of a peace. Campaign
Suzuki expressed the survivors’ concern that the tragedy will be forgotten as time passes and memories fade.
Concern rose after a widespread reaction in Japan to social media posts about “Barbenheimer,” a combination of the movie titles “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” released in the summer.
Many Japanese saw the doll’s association with J. Robert Oppenheimer, who helped develop the atomic bomb, as a way to minimize the number of bombing casualties.
Shiro Suzuki, whose parents were hibakusha (people affected by the explosion), said that the testimonies of the survivors are a real deterrent to the use of nuclear weapons.
In a video message, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida acknowledged that the road to a world without nuclear weapons has become more difficult due to rising tensions and conflicts, including Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Kishida, who represents Hiroshima in parliament, angered the survivors by justifying the possession of nuclear weapons for deterrence and by refusing to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
Suzuki demanded speedy approval of the treaty “to clearly show Japan’s determination to abolish nuclear weapons,” despite tensions sparked by China and North Korea.
In March, 113,649 survivors, with an average age of 85, were certified as hibakusha and eligible for government medical support, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
Many others, including those known to have been victims of the “black rain” that fell outside the initially designated areas, remain without support.
Source: TSF
