International
Bells tolled and thousands bowed their heads in prayer in Hiroshima on Thursday at ceremonies marking the 70th anniversary of the world's first atomic bombing while survivors warned about Japan's moves away from its pacifist constitution.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his government are pushing security bills through parliament that could send Japanese troops into conflict for the first time since World War Two, sparking massive protests around the country.
Many with memories of the war and its aftermath are scathing about Abe's steps away from Japan's pacifist constitution in pursuit of a more robust security stance, and survivors of the bombing lambasted Abe at a meeting after the commemoration ceremony.
“These bills will bring the tragedy of war to our nation once again,” said Yukio Yoshioka, 86. “They must be withdrawn.”
Abe, who in a speech at the ceremony called for abolishing nuclear weapons, replied by repeating his view that the legislation was essential to ensure Japan's safety.
At 8:15 a.m., the exact time the bomb dropped by the B-29 aircraft, the Enola Gay, exploded on Aug. 6, 1945, the crowd stood for a moment of silence in the heavy summer heat while cicadas shrilled, the Peace Bell rang and hundreds of doves were released into the sky.
Keigo Miyagawa, 89, was 19 at the time. “It felt like lightning. I saw this strong flash, and it was followed by this sound, and it swept me off my feet. I lost consciousness,” he recalled. “When I woke up … I was injured and bleeding.”
The U.S. bomb, nicknamed Little Boy, the first nuclear weapon used in war, killed 140,000 people in Hiroshima. A second bomb, “Fat Man,” dropped over Nagasaki three days later, killed another 70,000, prompting Japan's surrender in World War II. The bombings remain the only use of nuclear weapons for warfare in history.
Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui urged that nuclear weapons, which he called “the absolute evil and ultimate inhumanity,” be abolished and demanded the creation of security systems that do not rely on military might.
He renewed an invitation to world leaders to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki to see the scars themselves, during the G-7 summit in Japan next year.
“President Obama and other policymakers, please come to the A-bombed cities, hear the hibakusha (surviving victims) with your own ears, and encounter the reality of the atomic bombings,” he said. “Surely, you will be impelled to start discussing a legal framework, including a nuclear weapons convention.”
Many of those gathered for the ceremony renewed their calls for peace. With the average age of survivors now exceeding 80 for the first time this year, passing on their stories is considered an urgent task. There were 5,359 hibakusha who died over the past year, bringing the total death toll from the Hiroshima bombing to 297,684.
“My grandfather died here at that time and I keep wondering what he felt then,” said Tomiyo Sota. “He was still 21 years old and it pains me to think he died so young.”
Al Jazeera with wire services
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