Commemorations were held in Hiroshima today to mark the 81st anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of the Japanese city in the final weeks of World War II. At the ceremony, which was attended by over 100 foreign dignitaries and representatives, Mayor Matsui Kazumi took nuclear-armed states to task for refusing to divest themselves of their nuclear arsenals, while criticizing all states that continue to wage war.
“Downplaying the inhumanity of nuclear weapons and accepting the use of force … risk cycles of violent retaliation that could ultimately result in another Hiroshima or Nagasaki,” Matsui said.
In recent years, it has become commonplace to read about the rise in nuclear angst and the erosion of the nuclear taboo, particularly around today’s anniversary. The reasons for alarm are by now familiar.
