The western Japanese city of Nagasaki commemorates the 71st anniversary of the atomic bombing on Tuesday.
The city was hit August 9th, 1945 by an American bomber, 3 days after a similar attack on Hiroshima.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and representatives from 53 countries and territories are scheduled to attend a memorial ceremony that starts at 10:35AM.
Participants will observe a moment of silence at 11:02 AM, the exact time the bomb was dropped on that day.
In this year’s peace declaration, Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue will touch on the significance of US President Barack Obama’s visit to Hiroshima in May and ask the heads of other nuclear powers to follow suit.
Taue also plans to call on nations to rally the wisdom of mankind to realize a world without nuclear arms and urge Japan’s government to take the initiative as the only country to have suffered nuclear bombing.
He is expected to ask the government to explore ways to create a security framework that doesn’t rely on nuclear deterrence.
Tuesday will be a chance for Nagasaki to renew their calls for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
As the city marks 71 years since the atomic bombing, the number of survivors leading the abolition campaign is declining.
Source and image: NHK
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