About 2,600 people, including representatives from more than 90 countries, attended a memorial event at Nagasaki Peace Park, where Mayor Shiro Suzuki and Prime Minister\u00a0Shigeru Ishiba\u00a0spoke, among other guests. At 11:02 a.m., the exact time when the plutonium bomb exploded above Nagasaki, participants observed a moment of silence as a bell rang.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven after the war ended, the atomic bomb brought invisible terror,\u201d 93-year-old survivor Hiroshi Nishioka said in his speech at the memorial, noting that many who had survived without severe wounds started bleeding from gums and losing hair and died.<\/p>\n
\u201cNever use nuclear weapons again, or we\u2019re finished,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Doves released<\/p>\n
Dozens of doves, a symbol of peace, were released after a speech by Suzuki, whose parents are survivors of the attack. He said that the city\u2019s memories of the bombing are \u201ca common heritage and should be passed down for generations\u201d in and outside Japan.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe existential crisis of humanity has become imminent to each and every one of us living on Earth,\u201d Suzuki said. \u201cIn order to make Nagasaki the last atomic bombing site now and forever, we will go hand-in-hand with global citizens and devote our utmost efforts toward the abolition of nuclear weapons and the realization of everlasting world peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018A world without war\u2019<\/p>\n
Survivors and their families gathered Saturday in rainy weather at Peace Park and nearby Hypocenter Park, located below the bomb\u2019s exact detonation spot, hours before the official ceremony.<\/p>\n
\u201cI simply seek a world without war,\u201d said Koichi Kawano, an 85-year-old survivor who laid flowers at the hypocenter monument decorated with colorful origami paper cranes and other offerings.<\/p>\n
Some others prayed at churches in Nagasaki, home to\u00a0Catholic converts who went deep underground\u00a0during centuries of violent persecution in Japan\u2019s feudal era.<\/p>\n
![\"80th](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/2025-08-09T110346Z_2000282046_RC2M3GAY4OI1_RTRMADP_3_WW2-ANNIVERSARY-NAGASAKI-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
People walk with the head of the atom-bombed statue of the Virgin Mary, as they march from Urakami Cathedral for a peace march to Hypocenter Park, on the 80th anniversary of the bombing of the city, in Nagasaki, southwestern Japan, Aug. 9, 2025. Photo by Issei Kato\/Reuters<\/p>\n
The twin bells at\u00a0Urakami Cathedral, which was destroyed in the bombing, also rang together again after one of the bells that had gone missing following the attack was restored by volunteers.<\/p>\n
Despite their pain from wounds,\u00a0discrimination and illnesses from radiation, survivors have publicly committed to a shared goal of abolishing nuclear weapons. But they worry about the world moving in the opposite direction.<\/p>\n
Passing down lessons<\/p>\n
Aging survivors\u00a0and their supporters in Nagasaki now put their hopes of achieving nuclear weapons abolition in the hands of younger people, telling them the attack isn\u2019t distant history, but an issue that remains relevant to their future.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are only two things I long for: the abolition of nuclear weapons and prohibition of war,\u201d said Fumi Takeshita, an 83-year-old survivor. \u201cI seek a world where nuclear weapons are never used and everyone can live in peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
READ MORE:<\/strong> At 80th anniversary of Hiroshima bombing, survivors fear lessons may be forgotten as nuclear threat rises<\/a><\/p>\n In the hope of passing down the lessons of history to current and future generations, Takeshita visits schools to share her experience with children.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you grow up and remember what you learned today, please think what each of you can do to prevent war,\u201d Takeshita told students during a school visit earlier this week.<\/p>\n Teruko Yokoyama, an 83-year-old member of a Nagasaki organization supporting survivors, said that she thinks of the growing absence of those she had worked with, and that fuels her desire to document the lives of others who are still alive.<\/p>\n The number of survivors has fallen to 99,130, about a quarter of the original number, with their average age exceeding 86. Survivors worry about fading memories, as the youngest of the survivors were too young to clearly recall the attack.<\/p>\n \u201cWe must keep records of the atomic bombing damages of the survivors and thier lifetime story,\u201d said Yokoyama, whose two sisters died after suffering illnesses linked to radiation.<\/p>\n Her organization has started to digitize the narratives of survivors for viewing on YouTube and other social media platforms with the help of a new generation.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are younger people who are beginning to take action,\u201d Yokoyama told The Associated Press on Friday. \u201cSo I think we don\u2019t have to get depressed yet.\u201d<\/p>\n Nagasaki hosted a \u201cpeace forum\u201d on Friday where survivors shared their stories with more than 300 young people from around the country. Seiichiro Mise, a 90-year-old survivor, said that he\u2019s handing seeds of \u201cflowers of peace\u201d to the younger generation in hopes of seeing them bloom.<\/p>\n Japan\u2019s security dilemma<\/p>\n Survivors are frustrated by a growing nuclear threat and support among international leaders for developing or possessing nuclear weapons for deterrence. They criticize the Japanese government\u2019s refusal to sign or even participate in the\u00a0Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons\u00a0as an observer because Japan, as an American ally, says it needs U.S. nuclear possession as deterrence.<\/p>\n In Ishiba\u2019s speech, the prime minister reiterated Japan\u2019s pursuit of a nuclear-free world, pledging to promote dialogue and cooperation between countries with nuclear weapons and nonnuclear states at the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons review conference scheduled for April and May 2026 in New York. Ishiba didn\u2019t mention the nuclear weapons ban treaty.<\/p>\n \u201cCountries must move from words to action by strengthening the global disarmament regime,\u201d with the\u00a0Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons<\/a>, or NPT, at the center, complemented by the momentum created by the nuclear weapons ban treaty, said U.N. Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres, in his message read by Under-Secretary-General Izumi Nakamitsu in Nagasaki.<\/p>\n Nagasaki invited representatives from all countries to attend the ceremony on Saturday. The government\u00a0in China\u00a0notably notified the city that it wouldn\u2019t be present without providing a reason.<\/p>\n The\u00a0ceremony last year\u00a0stirred controversy because of the absence of the U.S. ambassador and other Western envoys in response to the Japanese city\u2019s refusal to invite officials\u00a0from Israel.<\/p>\n Mari Yamaguchi reported from Tokyo.<\/p>\n \n We’re not going anywhere.\n <\/p>\n \n Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on!\n <\/p>\n