Hiroshima marks A-bomb anniversary
IHT/Asahi: August 6,2008
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200808060285.html
HIROSHIMA–Hiroshima marked the 63rd anniversary of its atomic bombing Wednesday with Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba saying he hopes the new U.S. president will support the elimination of nuclear weapons.
“We can only hope that the president of the United States elected this November will listen conscientiously to the majority, for whom the top priority is human survival,” said Akiba in his Peace Declaration.
“The only way to protect citizens from a nuclear attack is the total abolition of nuclear weapons,” he added.
Akiba delivered the declaration during a somber ceremony held in the Peace Memorial Park that was attended by about 45,000 people, including hibakusha atomic-bomb survivors, bereaved families and dignitaries.
This year for the first time, the average age of surviving victims topped the 75-year mark to reach 75.1 years. The number of hibakusha living in and out of Japan has declined to 243,692.
On Wednesday, the names of 5,302 hibakusha who died during the past year were added to those stored inside the park’s cenotaph honoring the A-bomb victims. The total number of the deceased now stands at 258,310.
Chased by the flame. A survivor painted the picture of memoir, thirty years after the bombing. (Source)
As the Peace Bell tolled at 8:15 a.m., the moment the U.S. atomic bomb dubbed “Little Boy” was dropped on the city on Aug. 6, 1945, participants at the Peace Memorial Park bowed their heads in one minute of silent prayer.
Representatives from a record 55 countries attended the ceremony, including those from China, which sent delegates for the first time.
Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, attending the event for the first time since he took office last September, said at the ceremony, “Today, here in Hiroshima, I swear that our country will continue to adhere to the three nonnuclear principles, and that we will stand at the forefront of the international community toward the realization of the abolition of nuclear weapons, as well as of permanent peace.”
In April, the government set new certification standards for recognizing sufferers of atomic-bomb diseases. Since then it has lost four court cases in which plaintiffs not covered by the new standards won recognition as sufferers of radiation-caused illnesses.
Flames won!
As a result, public distrust in the government’s certification system continues to simmer.
“We will continue our efforts, so that we can assist as many people who are suffering as possible,” said Fukuda.
In his Peace Declaration, Mayor Akiba also called on the government to show more sympathy in recognizing A-bomb patients.
“Because the effects of that atomic bomb, still eating away at the minds and bodies of the hibakusha, have for decades been so underestimated, a complete picture of the damage has yet to emerge,” he said.
Akiba made a rare reference to the politics of the world’s sole nuclear superpower, expressing his hopes that the next American president will back nuclear abolition.
“Even leaders previously central to creating and implementing U.S. nuclear policy are now repeatedly demanding a world without nuclear weapons,” he said.
The statement was in a reference to recent proposals on the elimination of nuclear weapons by former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and other former U.S. political leaders. ( IHT/Asahi: August 6,2008 )
Related Video Links:
Recently publicized photos:
JapanifiK 