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Services have been held in Hiroshima to mark 70 years since an atomic bomb destroyed the city.
Some 70,000 people were killed instantly in the city when the US bomber Enola Gay dropped the world's first atomic bomb on August 6th 1945.
The death toll would later rise to 140,000.
Some 70,000 people were killed instantly in the city when the US bomber Enola Gay dropped the world's first atomic bomb on August 6th 1945.
The death toll would later rise to 140,000.
Japan surrendered soon after a second bomb targeted Nagasaki, bringing an end to the Second World War.
The country's prime minister Shinzo Abe was joined by US Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy for a prayer service in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.
Children also staged a "die-in" in front of the Atomic Bomb Dome, one of the only structures left standing when the bomb hit.
Thousands of paper lanterns will be released on the Motoyasu River later on to symbolise victims' journey to the afterlife.
The country's prime minister Shinzo Abe was joined by US Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy for a prayer service in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.
Children also staged a "die-in" in front of the Atomic Bomb Dome, one of the only structures left standing when the bomb hit.
Thousands of paper lanterns will be released on the Motoyasu River later on to symbolise victims' journey to the afterlife.
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The horrors of an Atomic Attack in Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Survivors of the atomic attacks in Japan have shared their
experiences of the devastating attacks in powerful testimony and how
those two bombs changed their lives forever.
Hiroshi Harada still remembers how his leg sank into one of the bodies blocking a narrow street in the city as he fled the spreading fires after the bomb was dropped.
He also recalls stepping back in horror after a young girl grabbed him to ask for water and he noticed a chunk of flesh from her hand had stuck to his leg.
The 75-year-old said:
Hiroshi Harada still remembers how his leg sank into one of the bodies blocking a narrow street in the city as he fled the spreading fires after the bomb was dropped.
He also recalls stepping back in horror after a young girl grabbed him to ask for water and he noticed a chunk of flesh from her hand had stuck to his leg.
The 75-year-old said:
Hiroshima survivors often refrain from talking about their
experiences even with their own children, some from a feeling that the
past is too horrific.
Makiko Kato, an 85-year-old who was hit by the
explosion just 1.2 km (0.8 miles) away from ground zero at Hiroshima, is
one of those survivors.
She has led her life without ever telling her children or grandchildren what she went through.
She has led her life without ever telling her children or grandchildren what she went through.
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Speaking at a home for elderly atomic bomb survivors in the city,
the 85-year-old said: "Recently I have begun to think I need to tell
them (her children) because, at this age, there's no guarantee that I'll
be able to live to see tomorrow."
Fumiaki Kajiya, 76, is a former school teacher who took up painting to teach children about his experiences of the bombing.
He lost his sister to the atomic blast. Their parents had moved her to a rural area to keep her safe, but just before the bombing, they brought her back to the city, succumbing to her pleas to stay with the family.
While the rest of his family managed to survive, the memories of the trauma and the sight of his mother weeping for hours on end in front of a buddhist altar every August 6th, led him to become a strong anti-nuclear advocate.
The bombings at Hiroshima and Nakaski helped stop the war but
ruined two cities and left generations of Japanese suffering the
physical and psychological effects of radiation poisoning. He lost his sister to the atomic blast. Their parents had moved her to a rural area to keep her safe, but just before the bombing, they brought her back to the city, succumbing to her pleas to stay with the family.
While the rest of his family managed to survive, the memories of the trauma and the sight of his mother weeping for hours on end in front of a buddhist altar every August 6th, led him to become a strong anti-nuclear advocate.
Cancer and other related illnesses claimed a further tens of thousands of lives and survivors faced being outcasts in Japanese society.
Mayor of Hiroshima: Abolish nukes for world peace
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Seventy years after the first atomic bomb lay waste to the Japanese
city, the Mayor of Hiroshima has urged the world that to abolish
nuclear weapons and demanded the creation of security systems that do
not rely on military might.
Speaking at the official commemorations at Little Boy's ground zero in theheart of the city, Mayor Kazumi Matsui said:
Speaking at the official commemorations at Little Boy's ground zero in theheart of the city, Mayor Kazumi Matsui said:
As long as there are nuclear weapons, anyone can become a hibakusha (Japanese term for a-bomb victim).
People of the world, please listen to the voices of the victims and face this issue of nuclear proliferation as your own.
– Kazumi Matsui, Mayor of Hiroshima
The first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb is
Enola Gay
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The Enola Gay is immortalised in history as the aircraft that
dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima during the Second World War.
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, built in the US, was the first aircraft to drop such a bomb in an attack which continues to spark debate.
The aircraft was flown by Colonel Paul Tibbets, who named the plane in honor of his mother.
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, built in the US, was the first aircraft to drop such a bomb in an attack which continues to spark debate.
The aircraft was flown by Colonel Paul Tibbets, who named the plane in honor of his mother.
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In an interview with the Guardian in 2002, Tibbets, then 87, described
seeing the cloud rising up from the city after the bomb was dropped.
"It was black as hell and it had light and colours and white in it and grey colour in it and the top was like a folded-up Christmas tree."
But he said he had no regrets about dropping the atomic bomb.
"I knew we did the right thing because when I knew we'd be doing that I thought, yes, we're going to kill a lot of people, but by God we're going to save a lot of lives. We won't have to invade [Japan]."
"It was black as hell and it had light and colours and white in it and grey colour in it and the top was like a folded-up Christmas tree."
But he said he had no regrets about dropping the atomic bomb.
"I knew we did the right thing because when I knew we'd be doing that I thought, yes, we're going to kill a lot of people, but by God we're going to save a lot of lives. We won't have to invade [Japan]."
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The last survivor of the aircraft's crew, Theodore Van Kirk, died on July 28, 2014, at the age of 93.
In a 2005 interview with Associated Press, Van Kirk said he was convinced the bombing was necessary because it ended the war and avoided the allies having to invade Japan, costing more lives.
He described seeing a 40,000ft-high white cloud, and below him what he likened to "a pot of boiling black oil" after the bomb was dropped.
"I honestly believe the use of the atomic bomb saved lives in the long run," he said.
But he added: "The whole World War II experience shows that wars don’t settle anything. And atomic weapons don’t settle anything.
“I personally think there shouldn’t be any atomic bombs in the world — I’d like to see them all abolished. But if anyone has one, I want to have one more than my enemy.”
In a 2005 interview with Associated Press, Van Kirk said he was convinced the bombing was necessary because it ended the war and avoided the allies having to invade Japan, costing more lives.
He described seeing a 40,000ft-high white cloud, and below him what he likened to "a pot of boiling black oil" after the bomb was dropped.
"I honestly believe the use of the atomic bomb saved lives in the long run," he said.
But he added: "The whole World War II experience shows that wars don’t settle anything. And atomic weapons don’t settle anything.
“I personally think there shouldn’t be any atomic bombs in the world — I’d like to see them all abolished. But if anyone has one, I want to have one more than my enemy.”
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After the Second World War, the Enola Gay returned permanently to
the US in July 1946 but fell into disrepair between 1953 and 1960 due to
it being stored outdoors.
The plane was later disassembled and the parts put into storage.
Restoration work began on the aircraft in the 1980s, with staff at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington removing decades of corrosion from its metal surfaces and polishing its aluminium skin to its original shine.
In the 1990s, the museum came under fire for putting the plane's fuselage on display as part of an exhibit commemorating the 50th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
The plane was later disassembled and the parts put into storage.
Restoration work began on the aircraft in the 1980s, with staff at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington removing decades of corrosion from its metal surfaces and polishing its aluminium skin to its original shine.
In the 1990s, the museum came under fire for putting the plane's fuselage on display as part of an exhibit commemorating the 50th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
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There was much debate that it would be seen to glorify or vilify the role the aircraft played in history.
The exhibition ran for three years, ending in 1998, before the entire restored aircraft was reassembled and put on display in 2003, where it remains to this day.
The exhibition ran for three years, ending in 1998, before the entire restored aircraft was reassembled and put on display in 2003, where it remains to this day.
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