TOKYO, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Hiroshima on Thursday marked the 81st anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of the city amid growing concerns over nuclear risks and rising global tensions.
During an annual memorial ceremony held at the Peace Memorial Park in the western Japanese city, Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui delivered the Peace Declaration, highlighting the catastrophic consequences of nuclear weapons and calling for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament through multilateral efforts.
"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," the mayor warned.
As the number of atomic bombing survivors continues to decline, Matsui also called on younger generations to take the initiative and build a broad consensus toward the abolition of nuclear weapons.
A moment of silence was observed at 8:15 a.m. local time, the exact moment when an atomic bomb dropped by a U.S. bomber detonated over the city on Aug. 6, 1945, killing around 140,000 people by the end of that year.
Three days after the world's first-ever nuclear attack decimated Hiroshima, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki in southwestern Japan.
As the only country in the world to have suffered atomic bombings, Japan has long upheld the Three Non-Nuclear Principles, which prohibit possessing, producing or permitting the introduction of nuclear weapons into Japanese territory.
In recent years, however, calls to revise the principles have grown in the country, especially within the ruling bloc. Local media previously reported that the government of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi was considering revising the principle prohibiting the introduction of nuclear weapons into Japan. The reported move has sparked widespread concern among various sectors of Japanese society.
The Tokyo Shimbun reported on Wednesday that since Takaichi took office in October last year, at least 128 local assemblies from 36 prefectures across Japan have submitted written opinions to the Diet, Japan's parliament, urging the government to uphold the Three Non-Nuclear Principles. The figure marks a record high. ■
