Hiroshima honors atomic bomb victims as survivor population dwindles

HIROSHIMA, Japan — More than 50,000 people gathered at this city’s Peace Memorial Park on Thursday to remember the victims of the world’s first atomic bombing and hear a renewed appeal for world leaders to abandon nuclear deterrence.

At 8:15 a.m. — the moment the bomb detonated over the city on Aug. 6, 1945 — the crowd observed a moment of silence. The drone of cicadas and the tolling of the park’s Peace Bell were the only sounds.

Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui used the occasion to challenge what he described as the growing acceptance of nuclear weapons as instruments of security.

“Policymakers of the world, civil society demands the immediate abolition of nuclear weapons,” he said. “How much longer do you intend to disappoint us?”

Visitors at Peace Memorial Park pay their respects on the 81st anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 2026. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)

Flowers are laid on the cenotaph at Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 2026, marking the 81st anniversary of the world's first atomic bombing. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)

Water is ceremonially offered to atomic bombing victims at Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 2026. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)

The names of 4,393 atomic-bomb victims whose deaths were confirmed during the past year were added to a registry inside the park’s cenotaph, bringing the total to 353,639. A separate list of unidentified victims is also kept inside the monument.

The cenotaph’s arched roof is intended to shelter the souls of those who died in the bombing.

Bereaved family members and hibakusha — survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki — made ritual offerings of water and flowers at the cenotaph.

About 91,000 hibakusha remain alive — roughly 8,000 fewer than a year ago — and their average age is now just over 86, according to Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

“Even still, they continue to convey the reality of the atomic bombing and appeal for the preciousness of peace based on their fervent plea that no one else should ever suffer as they have,” Hiroshima City Council Chairman Norihiko Hachijo said at the ceremony.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, center, arrives at Peace Memorial Park for a ceremony marking the 81st anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 2026. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)

A moment of silence is observed at Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 2026, to mark the 81st anniversary of the world's first atomic bombing. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)

Amano Kokichi, 87, is among the survivors. He was 6 and sitting at home, about a mile from the bomb’s hypocenter, when he saw a flash and heard the explosion.

His house collapsed instantly, he said during a Wednesday seminar at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Once he and his family escaped the house, he recalled the severity of the damage and the large number of injured and dead.

Kokichi hopes communities, rather than individuals, will take on the task of sharing survivors’ stories.

“People need to know,” he told Stars and Stripes after the seminar.

Two sixth-grade students from Hiroshima, Yu Kakikazi and Kazuki Kono, urged those attending Thursday’s ceremony to accept personal responsibility for preserving peace.

“Peace is not something that is handed to us,” they said together. “It is something that all of us around the world must build together.”

U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Glass did not attend. Deputy Chief of Mission Aaron Snipe represented the United States, according to the embassy.

In a statement released Tuesday, Glass described Hiroshima and Nagasaki as “inspiring symbols of peace and hope for the world.” He said the cities also serve as reminders that the U.S.-Japan alliance must continue working to preserve peace and protect freedom in the region.

On Aug. 6, 1945, the B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay dropped the uranium bomb known as Little Boy over Hiroshima. It detonated about 1,900 feet above the city with a force equivalent to approximately 15,000 tons of TNT.

The explosion killed tens of thousands immediately. Hiroshima estimates that about 140,000 people had died from the bombing and its effects by the end of 1945.

Three days later, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Japan announced its surrender on Aug. 15, 1945, bringing World War II to an end.