TOKYO, Japan – Japan marked the 81st anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki on Sunday, renewing calls for nuclear disarmament as the government strengthens the country’s defense capabilities and maintains reliance on the U.S. nuclear umbrella.
More than 90 countries were represented at a ceremony in Nagasaki’s Peace Park, where participants observed a moment of silence at 11:02 a.m., the time the United States dropped the plutonium bomb known as “Fat Man” on Aug. 9, 1945.
The anniversary comes as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government moves to expand Japan’s military capabilities, intensifying debate over how the country can pursue nuclear disarmament while relying on U.S. extended nuclear deterrence for its security.
Nagasaki mayor challenges nuclear deterrence
Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki used the anniversary ceremony to challenge the idea that nuclear weapons provide dependable security through deterrence.
Suzuki described nuclear weapons as “absolute evil” and argued that the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki demonstrated the risks of relying on a strategy in which nuclear weapons are intended to prevent conflict.
He called on leaders of nuclear-armed states and countries that depend on nuclear deterrence to recognize what he described as the growing risk of nuclear war.
Suzuki also urged the Japanese government to uphold the country’s war-renouncing Constitution, participate in a review conference later this year for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and maintain Japan’s three non-nuclear principles.
The position reflects a longstanding tension in Japan’s security policy: the country is the only nation to have experienced atomic bombings during wartime while also relying on the United States for extended nuclear deterrence.
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Takaichi maintains cautious nuclear position
Takaichi attended the Nagasaki ceremony and said Japan would continue pursuing what she described as a realistic and pragmatic approach toward achieving a world without nuclear weapons.
Her government supports Japan’s principles against possessing and developing nuclear weapons, but she has been less explicit about the third non-nuclear principle, which opposes allowing nuclear weapons to be introduced into Japan.
That position has fueled speculation over whether Japan’s changing defense policy could eventually lead to adjustments in its approach to the principle.
Takaichi did not mention the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in her ceremony speech. Japan has not signed the treaty because of its reliance on the U.S. nuclear umbrella.
She later told reporters that Japan would continue working through the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty framework and determine its approach to the nuclear weapons ban treaty based on what the government considers most effective for national security and nuclear disarmament.
Atomic bomb survivors warn of fading memories
The debate comes as the number of atomic bomb survivors, known as hibakusha, continues to decline.
The number of survivors has fallen to 91,105, about one-quarter of the original number, while their average age has risen above 86. Survivors have warned that firsthand memories of the atomic bombings could gradually disappear as the generation that experienced them grows smaller.
Some survivors have also criticized Japan’s reliance on nuclear deterrence, arguing that it conflicts with the country’s historical experience of atomic warfare.
Protests have been held in Hiroshima and Nagasaki amid concerns that the government could weaken its longstanding non-nuclear principles.
Japan balances disarmament and national security
The Nagasaki anniversary highlights the challenge facing Japan as it attempts to reconcile its nuclear disarmament identity with a more expansive defense policy and continued reliance on the United States.
The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, killing about 140,000 people by the end of that year. Three days later, the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki, where about 70,000 people were killed by the end of 1945.
Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945, ending World War II and bringing an end to decades of Japanese military expansion across Asia.
For the government, the central policy challenge is balancing its commitment to nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament with the security requirements it sees as necessary in an increasingly uncertain regional environment.
For Nagasaki’s survivors and nuclear abolition advocates, the anniversary remains a reminder of the human consequences of nuclear warfare. Japan’s evolving defense policy is likely to keep that tension at the center of its security and diplomatic debate.
This report is based on reporting by The Associated Press.
