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On the 6th August 1945 the United States dropped an atomic bomb called ' Little Boy" on Hiroshima, Japan which is estimated to have killed 100,000 to 180,000 people out of a population of 350,000. Then three days later, on 9th August 1945 a second atomic bomb called "Fat Man" was dropped on the city of Nagasaki in an act of unspeakable violence which is often neglected in the wake of Hiroshima..The Nagasaki bomb, bigger and more powerful, wiped out whole communities in seconds. killing between 40,000 and 75,000 people that day with another 60,000 seriously injured. Over the next five years, more than 100,000 deaths resulted from the bombing.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki were both largely civilian towns, meaning there wasn't a strong military reason to drop the atomic bombs over those particular cities. No one was excluded from the horrors of the atomic bomb, a "destroyer of worlds" burnt hotter than the sun. Some people were vaporised upon impact, while others suffered burns and radiation poisoning that would kill them days, weeks or even months later. Others were crushed by debris, burned by unimaginable heat or suffocated by the lack of oxygen.
Many survivors suffered from Leukemia and other cancers like thyroid and lung cancer at higher rates than those not exposed to the bombs. Mothers were more likely to lose their children during pregnancy or shortly after birth. Children exposed to radiation were more likely to have learning disabilities and impaired growth. Leukemia was the first cancer to be observed in children from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In continuing Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission studies on survivors for sixty years and continued by the Radiation Effects Research Foundation, children in comparison with older individuals have developed increased susceptibility to other forms of cancer.
Those that did manage to survive would be traumatised for the rest of their lives. Hibakusha is a term widely used in Japan, that refers to the victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it translates as 'explosion effected Survivor of Light. These survivors speak of the deep, unabating grief they felt in the days, months and decades since the attack They have described the shame of being a survivor , many were shunned, feared for unknown damage to their bodies that could affect others. Women were afraid to sign up for healthcare as it would make it public that they were survivors, and no one would marry them. Decades later, some children of survivors, felt obliged to tell the parents of people they wanted to marry that history. others were unable to find jobs, or live any sort of normal life.
They have said that many Hibakusha never speak of the day, instead choosing to suffer in silence. They told what it was like to be suddenly alone in middle age, to lose their parents, spouses, children, and livelihoods in a single instant. In memory of them, we should make sure that the misery and devastation caused by nuclear weapons is never forgotten.
"Please don't make any more like us. We don't want any more hibakusha". This is the prayer of the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki - also known as "hibakusha".
The US atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing more than 200,000 civilians, was a barbaric, unjustifiable war crime. As this plaque in the Hiroshima Peace Park explains, there were peace moves afoot but they didn't suit the US cold war agenda.
Even if Japan was not fully innocent, the people of Japan did not deserve to pay the price for their nations wrongdoing, and there was absolutely no moral justification in obliterating these two cities and killing its inhabitants in what was clearly a crime against humanity and murder on an epic scale. Hiroshima and Nagasaki held no strategic importance. Members of Japan's top leadership at the time were involved in peace negotiations. and were already on the brink of surrender
Many believe that these two atrocities were a result of geopolitical posturing at its most barbaric, announcing in a catastrophic display of military capability, of inhumane intention showing America's willingness to use doomsday weapons on civilian populations. The bombings serving as warnings and the fist act of the Cold War against its imperialist rival Russia. A message to the Russians of the power of destruction and technological military capability that the US had managed to develop. Three days later U.S president Harry Truman exulted ; "This is the greatest thing in history! " and gloated that " we are now prepared to obliterate more rapidly and completely."
Then the photos began to emerge, haunting images of burned children with their skin hanging off, of bodies charred and there was Sadaki Sasaki and the 1,000 origami peace cranes she folded before her death at 12 from leukemia ten years after the bomb was dropped on her hometown of Hiroshima. The atom bombs dropped by the US on those Japanese cities served no military purpose, as the Japanese were already suing for peace. President Truman, who ordered the bombs to be dropped, lied to the American people when he said that the atom bombs had saved lives and there were few civilian deaths, The two atomic bombs killed and maimed hundreds and thousands of people. and the effects are still being felt today. The bombs dropped were of a indiscriminate and cruel character beyond comparison with weapons and projectiles of the past. Despite all this Truman never regretted his decision. .
Today as the world commemorates the lives that were lost and the unacceptable devastation caused to people and planet, we still have so much to learn from this picture of indescribable human suffering.
When American troops arrived in Nagasaki and stumbled upon one of the cameramen, from the legendary film company Nippon Eiga Sha, shooting amidst the rubble, they promptly arrested him and confiscated his film. The Americans would halt the entire production in fact. When they let it continue, they did so as producers, paying for the production and thus retaining the right to the film - and the right to keep it concealed for decades.
The atom bombs dropped by the US on those Japanese cities served no military purpose, as the Japanese were already suing for peace. President Truman, who ordered the bombs to be dropped, lied to the American people when he said that the atom bombs had saved lives and there were few civilian deaths, The two atomic bombs killed and maimed hundreds and thousands of people .and the effects are still being felt today.
After seeing the barbarous effect of these weapons, did our political and military leaders decide to rid the world of them. Far from it. Today's nuclear weapons make the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs look like water pistols in comparison, and there are enough of them to destroy not just cities but the whole world.
And who has most of these weapons of mass destruction? The only country to ever use them - the United States. It is unfathomable that it has been 80 years and the United States has not apologized yet for dropping the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In fact children in the US are still taught that this unspeakable crime was justified.
And now the US, the only country that has used nuclear weapons against a population, provides support for the Israeli bombing of Gaza, which is multiple times worse than the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. have bought B61-12 Nuclear Bombs to to be housed at RAF Lakenheath, in Suffolk contravening Article 1 of Non Proliferation Treaty. The lingering humanitarian aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki should remind us all of what is at stake and galvanise our action.
Far from protecting Europeans during wartime, these nuclear weapons would contribute to turning Europe into a radioactive wasteland. Despite the significant issues and risks involved in basing these weapons of mass destruction in Europe, neither the US nor the UK government have bothered to inform citizens or parliament that they have been deployed here, marking the first time since 2008 that U.S. nuclear weapons have been stationed on British soil.
Remember the United States of America, the same country that unleashed the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, is now complicit in the atrocities in Gaza. History repeats itself when we turn a blind eye to inhumanity.
Today as the world commemorates the lives that were lost and the unacceptable devastation caused to people and planet, we still have so much to learn from this picture of indescribable human suffering. In today’s world, civilians can document mass atrocities in real time, and their experiences are immortalized on social media and in news accounts. From Ukraine to Gaza, there is no denying the reality on the ground. But in 1945, the horrors unleashed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were largely hidden from the outside world.
Eighty years later, thanks to the testimonies shared by those who survived the atomic bombings we have a window into the truth of what happened on those dark August days when weapons of previously unimaginable power destroyed these cities.
Through their tireless testimonies and activism, the “hibakusha” have helped fuel public demand for post-Cold War arms-control treaties that have resulted in significant stockpile reductions in the United States and Russia and helped persuade nuclear-armed countries to stop explosive weapons tests that caused grave harm to the environment and to the service members and civilians involved.
They worked to establish the “nuclear taboo” that has spared the use of nuclear weapons in warfare for eight decades. They delivered millions of petition signatures to the United Nations that have helped bring about norms and treaties to try and reduce nuclear risks.
Again and again, they have proved that progress is possible, and for their decades of work to ensure that no families, no communities, no cities, no country ever again face the unthinkable, the survivors in 2024 were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. It wasn’t the first time the prestigious Nobel committee recognized efforts to rid the world of nuclear weapons.
Grim descriptions of the immense human suffering caused by the US nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki 80 years ago dominate the discourse around their anniversaries. Every year, these attacks are a stark reminder of the existential threat nuclear weapons pose to humanity. The testimonies of survivors and the footage of the hellish aftermath in the two destroyed cities demonstrate vividly the effects of nuclear weapons like no other event.
The lessons seem clear: If two, by today’s standards, small nuclear weapons can cause such death and destruction, the consequences of the use of any number of the 12,000 nuclear weapons existing today would be catastrophic. The nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki also demonstrate that any use of nuclear weapons would almost inevitably violate basic principles of international law because it would cause unnecessary suffering, indiscriminately kill civilians and very likely would be considered disproportionate. By today’s legal standards, the US nuclear attacks on Japan would be illegal.
Yet, in striking contrast to the ritual of remembrance of the gruesome nuclear bombings on 6 and 9 August 1945, the political discourse around nuclear weapons on most other days of the year has become astoundingly light-hearted and increasingly careless.
Many decision-makers in nuclear weapons states and those allied with them speak about nuclear weapons no differently than about other weapons. They often exaggerate the security benefits of nuclear weapons, while ignoring or downplaying risks associated with their continued existence. Ethical and legal constraints on the possession and proliferation of these horrific weapons rarely get mentioned when nuclear deterrence is discussed.
While dominant voices continue to spread the irrational narrative that nuclear weapons keep us safe, that deterrence will always work, that disarmament is not possible. Nuclear weapons, they say, are a necessary evil in a dangerous world. This has always been an absurd position, and it is unconscionable at a time when the world is closer to a nuclear catastrophe than at any time since the Cold War ‒ with wars raging in regions with nuclear weapons, more countries weighing whether to develop nuclear weapons and new technologies complicating already-complex weapons systems.
Demanding a nuclear-free world isn’t naive. True naivete is believing that weapons designed to annihilate cities will keep us safe. Evil is never necessary. The only way to guarantee that these weapons are never used again is to eliminate them once and for all.
Today Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki has appealed for an end to the wars raging in the world on the 80th anniversary of the US atom bomb attack which destroyed the Japanese city. Shiro Suzuki said in a Peace Declaration at a solemn ceremony to mark the event. "If we continue on this trajectory, we will end up thrusting ourselves into a nuclear war." and called on world leaders to chart a concrete path toward abolishing nuclear weapons,
Suzuki urged countries to stop wars immediately and express concern about nuclear war, He also shared messages from hibakusha atomic bomb survivors and of the cruelty of nuclear weapons by referring to the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, or Nihon Hidankyo, which won last year's Nobel Peace Prize, and a speech by the late former Nihon Hidankyo co-chair Senji Yamaguchi. "Amid the growing threat of nuclear war, we will call on people to act as global citizens, who transcend races and borders, and make peace," He also expressed a determination to pass on the messages of hibakusha to future generations.
"Immediately cease from disputes in which 'force is met with force.' Conflicts around the world are intensifying in a vicious cycle of confrontation and fragmentation."
Mayor Shiro SUZUKI, Nagasaki Peace Declaration
Full text of Nagasaki Peace Declaration on 80th anniversary of atomic bombing
The commemoration in the rebuilt city began with a moment of silence. Nagasaki's twin cathedral bells also rang in unison for the first time since the attack, in a message of peace to the world.
As part of Saturday's ceremony, water offerings were made in a moving and symbolic gesture 80 years ago victims whose skin was burning after the blast had begged for water. Today participants of different generations including a representative of the survivors offered water in a show of respect to those who perished in nuclear fire.
Bomb survivor Hiroshi Nishioka, 93, who was just 3km (1.8 miles) from the spot where it exploded, told the ceremony of the horror he had witnessed. "Even the lucky ones [who were not severely injured] gradually began to bleed from their gums and lose their hair, and one after another they died," he said, as quoted by AFP news agency. "Even though the war was over, the atomic bomb brought invisible terror."
Hiroshi Nishioka was a teenager when the atom bomb landed on Nagasaki
On this poignant anniversary we remember the thousands who were killed in a crime against humanity, as well as the survivors who carried the pain of the past. As we mourn the lives lost at Hiroshima and Nagasaki now is the time for us to redouble our efforts to ensure that such an atrocity does not happen again,
Israel has now dropped enough bombs on Gaza to be the equivalent of the atomic bombs dropped on both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 80 years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the US-backed genocide in Gaza mirrors the same brutality. Over 65,000 tons of bombs-3 times the power of Hiroshima-have razed Gaza. From WWII to today, the US still fuels annihilation and continues to whitewash its crimes against humanity,
Today with a genocide underway in Gaza, war in Ukraine and rising nuclear threats, we must reaffirm, a collective commitment to disarmament and peace and vow to rid our world of nuclear weapons once and for all. Completely ridding the world of nuclear weapons is a humanitarian and moral imperative and it is the only way forward. Governments must be urged to pursue negotiations to prohibit the use of nuclear weapons through a legally binding international agreement.
"Nuclear weapons cannot coexist with human beings. Nuclear weapons were made by humans, and used by humans. So it is also up to the humans to abolish them by our wisdom, public conscience and responsibility. No more Hibakusha! And, no more war!" Masako Wada, Ass. Secretary General, Nihon Hidankyo
People pray in front of the Peace Statue at Nagasaki Peace Park in the city of Nagasaki in October 2024. (Mainichi/Kota Yoshida)
