HIROSHIMA: A record 120 countries and regions, including Belarus, Taiwan, and Palestinian representatives, will attend the 80th anniversary commemoration of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima this week. The United States dropped the first nuclear weapon on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, killing approximately 140,000 people, followed by a second bombing in Nagasaki three days later that claimed 74,000 lives.
Hiroshima officials confirmed the unprecedented attendance figures, noting the inclusion of Taiwan and Palestine for the first time. This follows a change in protocol where the city notified all nations and regions about the event rather than issuing selective invitations. “This allowed us to approach economies Japan doesn’t officially recognise as countries,“ a city representative explained. Notably absent are nuclear powers Russia, China, and Pakistan.
In Nagasaki, 101 countries and regions have provisionally registered to attend their August 9 memorial, including Russia for the first time since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Last year’s Nagasaki ceremony made headlines when Israel’s ambassador was excluded, prompting a boycott by the then-US envoy to Japan. City officials maintained the decision was a safety precaution amid Gaza conflict tensions, stating, “We wanted attendees to witness the catastrophic reality of nuclear weapons.”
The dual anniversaries occur days before Japan’s August 15 surrender anniversary in World War II. A Nagasaki official emphasized the ceremonies’ purpose: “These events transcend politics to show what humanity must never repeat.” – AFP
