Mayor Asks Policymakers around World to Visit Hiroshima

Hiroshima, Aug. 6 (Jiji Press)--Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui called for policymakers around the world to visit the western Japan city in an annual peace declaration Sunday, the 78th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima. After stressing the significance of the Group of Seven Hiroshima summit in May, Matsui said, "I ask all policymakers to follow in the footsteps of the leaders who attended the G-7 Hiroshima Summit by visiting Hiroshima and sharing widely their desire for peace." Matsui read out the declaration in the city's annual peace ceremony at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, which brought together about 50,000 people including hibakusha atomic bomb survivors, bereaved relatives of victims and dignitaries such as Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The event was also attended by representatives of 111 countries, a record high, and the European Union. At 8:15 a.m., the time when the atomic bomb was dropped on Aug. 6, 1945, participants offered one-minute silent prayers as the city's Peace Bell rang. In the declaration, Matsui said that the G-7 leaders visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, spoke with hibakusha survivors and wrote messages in the guest book. "Their messages provide proof that hibakusha pleas have reached them," he said. "As they stood before the Cenotaph for the A-Bomb Victims, I conveyed the Spirit of Hiroshima underlying its inscription," he continued. "Enduring past grief, overcoming hatred, we yearn for genuine world peace with all humanity living in harmony and prosperity. I believe our spirit is now engraved in their hearts." "However, leaders around the world must confront the reality that nuclear threats now being voiced by certain policymakers reveal the folly of nuclear deterrence theory," Matsui said. "They must immediately take concrete steps to lead us from the dangerous present toward our ideal world." Kishida also delivered a speech, saying that the G-7 Hiroshima summit has once again increased the momentum in the international community toward progress in nuclear disarmament. He pledged to work actively to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons. The annual ceremony was held on a smaller scale in the past three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but this year, the event has returned to normal. During this year's ceremony, a name list of 5,320 hibakusha survivors who were confirmed dead in the past year was placed in the Cenotaph for the A-Bomb Victims. Including those in the new list, the official count of deaths among those who suffered the atomic bomb attack in Hiroshima reached 339,227. According to the welfare ministry, there were 113,649 hibakusha survivors nationwide at the end of March. Their average age was 85.01, up 0.48 from a year before. END