Hiroshima Mayor Says Ukraine, Mideast Crises Show Global Apathy to Nuclear Tragedies
Published : 18:31, 6 August 2025
On the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Mayor Kazumi Matsui delivered a powerful peace declaration during a memorial ceremony in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. Speaking before tens of thousands of attendees and dignitaries from around the world, he sounded the alarm that the ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have fueled a dangerous normalisation of nuclear weapons.
Mayor Matsui cautioned that mounting global tensions and the rhetoric surrounding military deterrence reveal a profound disregard for lessons learned from past nuclear devastation. He urged international political leaders to visit Hiroshima and confront the reality of nuclear warfare firsthand, warning that continued reliance on nuclear arms undermines the foundations of global peacebuilding efforts.
This year’s ceremony was led with solemn solemnity: a one-minute silence at exactly 8:15 a.m., the precise moment the bomb was dropped on August 6, 1945, followed by the release of white doves and prayers offered by survivors, city officials and international representatives. The event also saw the names of nearly 5,000 more victims added to the city’s memorial registry.
Survivors of the bombing, now with an average age exceeding 86, reiterated their demand for nuclear disarmament, expressing frustration over the shifting global consensus that views nuclear weapons as necessary deterrence tools. The population of "hibakusha" continues to dwindle, heightening the urgency to preserve their testimonies before they are lost.
While Japan reaffirmed its commitment to a world without nuclear weapons, it again stopped short of joining the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, maintaining its security reliance on the U.S. nuclear umbrella. Meanwhile, survivor groups emphasised that achieving disarmament depends on reshaping the policies of nuclear-armed states, currently turning away from the moral weight of Hiroshima’s legacy.
Sources: The Guardian, AP News.
