People pray in front of the cenotaph for the victims of the 1945 atomic bombing, on the anniversary of the world’s first atomic bombing, at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, western Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo August 6, 2023. Mandatory Credit Kyodo/via Reuters
The day to commemorate the victims of the world’s first nuclear attack comes as Russia has raised the specter of using nuclear weapons in its war against Ukraine.
It also happens that the biopic “Oppenheimer”, about the creation of the atomic bomb, became a box office success in the United States. Some have criticized the film for largely ignoring the destruction by arms of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – bombed three days later on August 9, 1945.
The film’s release in Japan has yet to be announced.
Also causing controversy in Japan, the distributor of “Barbie,” a blockbuster released the same day as “Oppenheimer,” latched onto fan-produced “Barbenheimer” memes that depicted the actors in the title roles alongside of nuclear explosions.
Hiroshima was in the spotlight in May, when Prime Minister Fumio Kishida hosted a G7 summit in the western city, his home constituency. G7 leaders issued a statement expressing their commitment to achieving disarmament, but said that as long as nuclear weapons exist, they should be used to deter aggression and prevent war.
On Sunday, a peace bell rang at 8:15 a.m. (2315 GMT Saturday), the time the bomb was dropped. About 50,000 attendees of the outdoor memorial ceremony, including aging survivors, observed a moment of silence as the summer heat reached 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit)
“Leaders around the world must face the reality that the nuclear threats currently being voiced by some policy makers expose the folly of nuclear deterrence theory,” Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui said at the ceremony. which Kishida also attended.
The prime minister said the road to a world without nuclear weapons was getting steeper, in part because of Russia’s nuclear threats, but that made it all the more important to restore 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 have come out emboldened to champion the cause of nuclear disarmament,” he said in remarks read by a UN official. . “Others should, because the drums of nuclear war are beating again.”
The bomb dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, nicknamed “Little Boy”, killed thousands instantly and an estimated 140,000 by the end of the year. Japan surrendered on August 15.
