Nagasaki marks bomb's 63rd anniversary

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Published Sunday, August 10, 2008


A total of 5,650 A-bomb survivors, representatives of victims' families from around the nation and Nagasaki citizens participated the ceremony.



"Human beings have no future unless nuclear weapons are eliminated. We shall clearly say no to nuclear weapons," Taue said.




At 11:02 a.m., the time the atomic bomb struck during World War II, ceremony participants offered a silent prayer. At the same time, local high school students rang the Bells of Nagasaki.

In the peace declaration, Taue read from an academic paper written by four people, including a former U.S. secretary of state, which promoted a new policy for developing nuclear weapons. The proposal encouraged countries to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. The mayor said world nuclear powers "should sincerely fulfill their responsibility of nuclear disarmament," and urged the government to pass the three nonnuclear principles into law.


The mayor referenced one of the doctor's remarks, saying: "There are no winners or losers in a war. There is only destruction."

Shigeko Mori, 72, representing survivors of the bombing, read out an oath for peace that said that Japan should promote its Constitution and the three nonnuclear principles to the rest of the world to prevent nuclear proliferation.

Fukuda gave a speech, saying, "Japan should play a responsible role in the international community as a nation cooperating for peace."