Japan marks 78th anniversary of Hiroshima atomic bombing
Japan marks 78th anniversary of Hiroshima atomic bombing
Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui called out the nuclear deterrence policy of G7 leaders as "folly" at the memorial ceremony of the atomic bombing that was also attended by Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
Japan on Sunday commemorated the 78th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in the final phase of World War II.
Considering the growing nuclear threat worldwide, the mayor of Hiroshima Kazumi Matsui called for the abolition of nuclear weapons and described the nuclear deterrence policy of G7 as "folly."
"They must immediately take concrete steps to move us from the dangerous present to our ideal world," he said as a peace bell rang on Sunday at 8:15 a.m. — exactly when on August 6, 1945, US bomber Enola Gay set off the world's first atomic bomb dropped on a population center.
This year, the G7 summit took place in Hiroshima, which happens to be Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's home constituency
"Leaders around the world must confront the reality that nuclear threats now being voiced by certain policymakers reveal the folly of nuclear deterrence theory," Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui said at the ceremony which was also attended by Kishida.
At the memorial ceremony about 50,000 people, including aging victims who survived the bombing, gathered and observed a moment of silence.
Drums of nuclear war beating again: Antonio Guterres
The anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing was commemorated amid the growing threat of nuclear weapons propelled by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The issue poses a tricky balancing act for Kishida. Japan is traditionally an advocate of nuclear disarmament, in no small part because of the legacy of the attacks on Hiroshima and then Nagasaki three days later.
However, it also supports the partly nuclear-armed G7's group stance that members with atomic weapons shall retain them for as long as they're a necessary deterrent against other nuclear powers.
"World leaders have visited this city, seen its monuments, spoken with its brave survivors, and emerged emboldened to take up the cause of nuclear disarmament," he said in remarks read by a UN representative. "More should do so, because the drums of nuclear war are beating once again."
The American atomic bomb which was dropped on Hiroshima was nicknamed "Little Boy." It is thought to have killed as many as 140,000 people by the end of 1945. Three days later, the US dropped a second bomb on Nagasaki. It is believed to have killed up to 70,000 over the next four months.
A few days after the bombings, on August 15, Japan made an official announcement that it was surrendering. Soon after, on September 2, Japan formally capitulated, bringing an end to World War II in Asia.
Whether using the bombs brought about a speedier, and possibly even more bloodless, end to the war or whether it was an ultimately unnecessary show of force remains a fierce debate among historians almost eight decades on
As much as I would love to see nuclear disarmament, the unfortunate fact remains that bad actors will continue to keep their weapons; which will, of course, later be used as a threat against those who don’t have these weapons.
Ukraine wouldn't suffer Russia's belligerence if she still had nuclear weapons.
That’s exactly it, and no country will risk disarmament now that Russia has proven how dangerous it is to live without nukes
it's a vicious cycle
Easy. I'll just keep my weapons, then, so that we're equal. Vicious cycle resolved!
Bad actors like the United States of America?
Bad actors like North Korea.
The US only used nukes to avoid a bloodbath from one of the most vile regimes in history.
I don't really get all this 'memorial' stuff for Japan. They were doing disgusting things during WW2 and needed to be put in their place. They were literally on par with nazi germany with their human rights abuses. The experiments they did on people are... horrifying.
I'm glad we domesticated that animal and shudder to think what the world would look like if we haven't. I feel bad for the innocent people who didn't support the war, but I wonder exactly how many of them were caught in the blast.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Japan on Sunday commemorated the 78th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in the final phase of World War II.
At the memorial ceremony about 50,000 people, including aging victims who survived the bombing, gathered and observed a moment of silence.
The anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing was commemorated amid the growing threat of nuclear weapons propelled by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
However, it also supports the partly nuclear-armed G7's group stance that members with atomic weapons shall retain them for as long as they're a necessary deterrent against other nuclear powers.
"World leaders have visited this city, seen its monuments, spoken with its brave survivors, and emerged emboldened to take up the cause of nuclear disarmament," he said in remarks read by a UN representative.
Whether using the bombs brought about a speedier, and possibly even more bloodless, end to the war or whether it was an ultimately unnecessary show of force remains a fierce debate among historians almost eight decades on.
I'm a bot and I'm open source!
I love that TLDR bot is already on Lemmy
War crime
It was ww2, the whole thing started with Nanking, then battle of Britain, the nasty shit in the Philippines, the Eastern front, all of it, dresden, then the firebombing of half of Japan.
So yeah, but calling warcrime in ww2 is a bit like calling offsides in a preschool soccer match.
Yeah. WW2 is a big part of WHY we have the concept of "war crimes" because of the evil done by everyone to everyone else. How much any given country acknowledges their evil varies (Germany probably came out the "best" because they refuse to let their people forget... Japan... has gone through a few political cycles), but everyone did horrific shit.
The US is just kind of unique in that we almost take pride in two particularly heinous acts (although, relative to what else was going on... it is real fucked up that nukes are a drop in the bucket). And while the "justification" of their use is massively complicated (complete with a LOT of revisionist history on all parties), it can't be denied that they pretty much kept the global north from engaging in many direct wars all the way up to today. As for the global south... yeah.
But yeah. Anyone who has the opportunity needs to take a trip to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial and museum. It is a REALLY hard day (and has a lot of that propaganda I alluded to) but the firsthand accounts and pictures are something anyone alive needs to see.
There are counties still paying today consequences of war crime sanctions of ww2
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‘Anniversary’ what are we celebrating lol
"Insert stupid US bad because bomb not needed comment"
Cue up the armchair historians almost 8 decades removed.
I mean, this shit is worth contemplating. For, you know, the future & shit.
Are there any other kinds of historians? I feel like most historians can do their job perfectly well from an armchair.
I only respect Historians who served on the front lines of history.