HIROSHIMA – Hiroshima on Aug 6 urged world leaders to abolish nuclear weapons amid rising global tensions, as the city marked the 81st anniversary of the US atomic bombing, lamenting that they continue to be used by major powers as “tools of intimidation” in military conflicts.

“Downplaying the inhumanity of nuclear weapons and accepting the use of force to pursue one’s own prosperity risk cycles of violent retaliation that could ultimately result in another Hiroshima or Nagasaki,” Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui said in the Peace Declaration read during the annual memorial ceremony.

His warning came after the failure of the latest review conference for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to produce a consensus document, and amid ongoing conflicts, including the US-led war on Iran and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Surely you (policymakers) understand that any use of nuclear weapons would inflict catastrophic damage on humanity, and that nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament can only be addressed through multilateral efforts,” he said. “You must surely recognise the imperative to lead by example.”

A moment of silence was observed at 8.15am, the exact time when the uranium bomb was dropped by the US bomber Enola Gay and detonated over the city on Aug 6, 1945, killing an estimated 140,000 people by the end of 1945.

Debate is growing over whether to rethink the country’s longstanding three principles of not producing, possessing or allowing nuclear weapons on its territory amid worsening regional security conditions.

In her speech, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Japan upholds the three non-nuclear principles, and as the only country to have experienced the horror of nuclear devastation in war, has the mission to continue persevering in its efforts to realise a world free of nuclear weapons.

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