Nagasaki, Japan – Nagasaki is marking the atomic attack of the United States against the Japanese city of the South 80 years ago and the survivors of the attack are working to make their hometown the last place on earth run over by the bomb.
Despite their pain due to wounds, discrimination and radiation diseases, survivors have publicly committed themselves to a shared objective of abolishing nuclear weapons. But recently they care that the world moves in the opposite direction as the anniversary is commemorated on Saturday.
The atomic bomb fell through the United States in Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, killed about 70,000 people, three days after Hiroshima bombing killed 140,000. Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945, ending World War II and the almost half a century of aggression in Asia.
Major survivors and their supporters in Nagasaki now put their hopes of achieving the abolition of nuclear weapons in the hands of younger people, telling them that the attack is not a distant story, but a problem that remains relevant to their future.
Teruko Yokoyama, an 83 -year -old member of a Nagasaki organization that supports the survivors, said he feels the absence of those who have worked, which feeds his strong desire to document the life of the remaining survivors.
The number of survivors has fallen to 99,130, approximately a quarter of the original number, with their average age greater than 86. Survivors care about the memories that vanished, since the youngest of the survivors were too young to remember the attack clearly.
“We must keep records of the atomic bombardment damage of the survivors and their life history,” said Yokoyama, whose two sisters died after suffering diseases linked to radiation.
Its organization has begun to digitize the survivors’ stories to see on YouTube and other social media platforms with the help of a new generation.
“There are younger people who start taking action,” Yokoyama told The Associated Press on Friday. “So I think we still don’t have to get depressed.”
Nagasaki organized a “Peace Forum” on Friday where survivors shared their stories with more than 300 young people from all over the country. Seiichiro Mise, a 90 -year -old survivor, said he is delivering seeds of “peace flowers” to the youngest generation in the hope of seeing them flourish.
On Saturday at 11:02 am, at the time the plutonium bomb exploded over Nagasaki, participants must observe a moment of silence when a peace bell rings.
It was expected that around 3,000 people, including representatives from 95 countries, attend the event in Nagasaki Peace Park, where Mayor Shiro Suzuki and Prime Minister Shigeru Ihiba were scheduled to speak.
The twin bells in the Urakami Cathedral, which was destroyed in the bombing, will play together for the first time. One of the bells had disappeared in favor of the attack, but was restored by volunteers.
The survivors and their families began to pay tribute to the park, as well as in the near Hypocenter Park, hours before the official ceremony.
The survivors are frustrated by a growing threat and nuclear support and support among international leaders to develop or possess nuclear weapons for deterrence. They criticize the refusal of the Japanese government to sign or even participate in the treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons because Japan, as an American ally, needs nuclear possession of the United States as a deterrence.
Nagasaki invited representatives from all countries to attend the ceremony on Saturday. China significantly notified the city that would not be present without providing a reason.
Last year’s ceremony caused controversy due to the absence of the United States ambassador and other Western envoys in response to the Japanese city’s refusal to invite Israel.
