The southern Japanese city of Nagasaki on Saturday marked 80 years since the US atomic attack that killed tens of thousands and left survivors who hope their harrowing memories can help make their hometown the last place on Earth to be hit by a nuclear bomb.
The United States launched the Nagasaki attack on August 9, 1945, killing 70,000 by the end of that year, three days after the bombing of Hiroshima that killed 140,000. Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945, ending World War II and the country’s nearly half-century of aggression across Asia.
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 Shigeru Ishiba spoke, 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.
Israeli Ambassador to Japan Gilad Cohen participated in the commemorations a year after he was snubbed over the war in Gaza.
Dozens of doves, a symbol of peace, were released after a speech by Suzuki. He said the city’s memories of the bombing are “a common heritage and should be passed down for generations” in and outside Japan.
A woman offers prayer in the rain at the Atomic Bomb Hypocenter Park, in Nagasaki, Japan, during the 80th annual commemoration of the day the US dropped an atomic bomb on the southwestern Japanese city, August 9, 2025.(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
“The existential crisis of humanity has become imminent to each and every one of us living on Earth,” Suzuki said. “In 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.”
Praying for nuclear abolition and no war
Survivors and their families gathered Saturday in rainy weather at Peace Park and nearby Hypocenter Park, located below the bomb’s exact detonation spot, hours before the official ceremony.
“I simply seek a world without war,” said Koichi Kawano, an 85-year-old survivor who laid flowers at the Hypocenter monument decorated with colorful paper cranes and other offerings.
Some others prayed at churches in Nagasaki, home to Catholic converts who went deep underground during centuries of violent persecution in Japan’s feudal era.
The twin bells at Urakami 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.
Despite their pain from wounds, discrimination 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.
Survivors put their hopes in younger hands
Aging survivors and their supporters in Nagasaki now put their hopes of achieving nuclear weapons abolition in the hands of younger people, telling them the attack is not distant history, but an issue that remains relevant to their future.
“There are only two things I long for: the abolition of nuclear weapons and the prohibition of war,” survivor Fumi Takeshita said. “I only see a world where nuclear weapons are never used and everyone can live in peace.”
In hopes of passing on the lessons of history, Takeshita visits schools to share her experience with children.
Hiroshi Nishioka (L), an atomic bomb survivor, or ‘hibakusha,’ prepares to speak as a representative of survivors during an annual commemoration marking 80 years since the US nuclear bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, at the city’s Peace Park on August 9, 2025. (JIJI PRESS / AFP)
“When you grow up and remember what you learned today, please think about what each of you can do to prevent war,” Takeshita, 83, told students during a school visit earlier this week.
Teruko Yokoyama, an 83-year-old member of a Nagasaki organization supporting survivors, said she feels the absence of those she has worked with, which fuels her strong desire to document the lives of remaining survivors.
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 recall the attack clearly.
“We must keep records of the atomic bombing damages of the survivors and their lifetime story,” said Yokoyama, whose two sisters died after suffering illnesses linked to radiation.
People observe a minute of silence at the Atomic Bomb Hypocenter Park in Nagasaki, Japan, during the 80th annual commemoration of the day the US dropped an atomic bomb on the southwestern Japanese city, August 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Her organization has started to digitalize the narratives of survivors for viewing on YouTube and other social media platforms with the help of a new generation.
“There are younger people who are beginning to take action,” Yokoyama told The Associated Press on Friday. “So I think we don’t have to get depressed yet.”
Nagasaki hosted a “peace forum” 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 he is handing seeds of “flowers of peace” to the younger generation in hopes of seeing them bloom.
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’s refusal to sign or even participate in the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons because Japan, as an American ally, needs US nuclear possession as deterrence.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba gives a speech during an annual commemoration marking 80 years since the US nuclear bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, at the city’s Peace Park on August 9, 2025. (JIJI PRESS / AFP)
In Ishiba’s speech, the Japanese prime minister reiterated his country’s pursuit of a nuclear-free world and pledged to promote dialogue and cooperation between countries with nuclear weapons and non-nuclear states at the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons review conference scheduled for April and May 2026 in New York City. Ishiba, however, did not mention the nuclear weapons ban treaty.
Israeli envoy attends a year after controversy
The ceremony in Nagasaki last year stirred controversy due to the absence of the US ambassador and other Western envoys in response to the Japanese city’s refusal to invite Cohen.
Suzuki, the mayor of Nagasaki said at the time that Cohen was not invited due to the fear of protests against the Israel-Hamas war. Cohen, for his part, said the snub “sends a wrong message” and accused Suzuki of “hijacking this ceremony for his political motivations.”
On Friday, Cohen shared on X a photo of himself laying a wreath in Nagasaki “to mourn the dead and honor their memory.”
“On behalf of the State of Israel, I express heartfelt solidarity with the people of Nagasaki,” he wrote. “We join Japan and the international community in remembrance and in our shared pursuit of peace.”
Today I laid a wreath in Nagasaki to mourn the dead and honor their memory.
On behalf of the State of Israel, I express heartfelt solidarity with the people of Nagasaki.
We join Japan and the international community in remembrance and in our shared pursuit of peace. pic.twitter.com/gdVzpOx3NT— Gilad Cohen ????????????️ (@GiladCohen_) August 8, 2025
This year, Nagasaki invited representatives from all countries to attend the ceremony.
Nearly 100 countries were set to participate, including Russia, which had not been invited since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
China notably notified the city it would not be present, without providing a reason.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
