Eideard

Doves released during the ceremony at Peace Memorial Park
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Hiroshima — The United States ambassador participated for the first time in an annual ceremony to mark the anniversary of the atomic bombing here in World War II, raising hopes that President Obama may soon follow.

With the mournful gonging of a Buddhist temple bell and the release of doves, a crowd of 55,000 solemnly marked the moment 65 years ago when the world’s first atomic attack incinerated this city under a towering mushroom cloud.

During the ceremony, Hiroshima’s mayor welcomed the ambassador, John Roos, and praised President Obama as one of the world leaders who “wielded their powerful influence” to rid the world of nuclear weapons…

“We greet this August 6 with re-energized determination that no one else should ever have to suffer such horror,” said the mayor, Tadatoshi Akiba. “Clearly, the urgency of nuclear weapons abolition is permeating our global conscience.”

Mr. Roos did not speak at the ceremony, which included a minute of silence at 8:15, the moment the bomb detonated on a Sunday morning in 1945, killing more than 140,000 residents. In a statement issued by the American Embassy, Mr. Roos said, “we must continue to work together to realize a world without nuclear weapons.” While no one mentioned it during the ceremony, city officials have said they hoped Mr. Roos’s attendance would serve as a step toward a future visit by President Obama to Hiroshima, which along with Nagasaki has become a symbol of the horrors of nuclear war.

Mr. Akiba also praised the ambassadors of Britain and France and also the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, all of whom also attended the ceremony for first time.

It is time to move from “ground zero to global zero,” Mr. Ban said in a speech, referring to the elimination of nuclear weapons. “For many of you, that day endures as vivid as the white light that seared the sky, as dark as the black rain that followed.”

Overdue.

Candles float in the Motoyasu River before the Peace Memorial Park
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The United States has confirmed that the ambassador to Japan will attend a ceremony marking the anniversary of the Hiroshima atom bomb drop for the first time.

PJ Crowley, a spokesman for the US State Department, said it would be the first time a US ambassador will attend the August 6 anniversary.

About 140,000 people were killed or died within months when an American B-29 bombed Hiroshima.

Mr Crowley would not say if US officials would attend ceremonies in Nagasaki, where 80,000 people died after the United States attacked three days later. Japan surrendered on Aug 15, ending World War II.

Embassy officials from wartime allies and currently nuclear-armed Britain and France also plan to attend the event for the first time, state broadcaster NHK and Kyodo News said, citing unidentified diplomatic sources.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will also attend the ceremony this year, becoming the first chief of the world body to do so…

Many Japanese – including survivors of both atomic bombings known as “hibakusha” – hope Mr Obama will visit Hiroshima in November when he travels to Japan for a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

In a related note [does that sound diplomatic enough], I believe the people of China are still awaiting a visit from Japan’s head of state at the ceremonies honoring the anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre.

300,000 Chinese were murdered by invading Japanese soldiers – well before the United States entered the war in the Pacific.

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Tsutomu Yamaguchi was on a business trip to Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, when the first atomic bomb was dropped on the city. Shocked at the devastation, he decided to return to his home town, Nagasaki, arriving shortly before that city was similarly levelled by the “Fat Man” bomb three days later.

Yamaguchi, who died of stomach cancer in Nagasaki on Monday, only began to speak publicly about his experiences after his second son died of cancer in 2005. He had been an infant when the second bomb was dropped.

In 2006, Yamaguchi was interviewed for a documentary titled “Niju Hibaku,” (“Twice Bombed”), telling the stories of the very few people who had survived both attacks.

An outspoken critic of nuclear weapons, he told his interviewers, “The reason that I hate the atomic bomb is because of what it does to the dignity of human beings.

“I cannot understand why the world cannot understand the agony of the nuclear bombs,” he added. “How can they keep developing these weapons?”

He later went completely bald, suffered radiation poisoning and experienced medical complications for much of the rest of his life.

Around 140,000 people died in the bombing of Hiroshima, while the figure for Nagasaki is estimated at around 80,000.

He was a tough old bird. Surviving a life of pain, the loss of friends and family.

The ignorance of the West combined with frustration over a militarist theme in his own nation’s culture never let his heart and conscience rest.

Memorial lanterns on the Motoyasu River below the Atomic Dome
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Hiroshima and Nagasaki are launching a joint bid for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games.

Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba of Hiroshima and Nagasaki’s Tomihisa Taue are founding members of the Mayors for Peace 2020 Campaign, advocating for a global ban on nuclear arms, and they want to use that to springboard the world’s largest sporting event into their two cities.

The Japanese cities were the site of the 1945 atomic bombings that closed out the Second World War in the Pacific.

“The Olympics symbolize the abolition of nuclear arms and world peace, and we want to work to realize our plan to host the games,” Akiba said…

Although the two cities that the United States dropped nuclear bombs on share a tragic bond, they are quite a distance apart on a map. Hiroshima is in western Japan, about 650 kilometres from Tokyo. Nagasaki is on the island of Kyushu, roughly 320 kilometres from its fellow Olympic aspirant.

Hiroshima has held a large-scale event before, hosting the 1994 Asian Games. The competition brought 7,300 athletes from 42 countries and regions to western Japan.

Concern over the distance between the two cities is a red herring. One of the most successful World Cup Finals competitions was held in 2002 over a summer month in Japan and South Korea. They utilized facilities in a dozen-and-a-half cities as much as 1200 kilometres apart.

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Japan has certified a man aged 93 as the only known survivor of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, both hit by atomic bombs towards the end of World War II.

Tsutomu Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima on a business trip on 6 August 1945 when a US plane dropped the first atomic bomb. He suffered serious burns and spent a night there before returning to his home city of Nagasaki just before it was bombed on 9 August…

It was already recorded that Mr Yamaguchi had survived the Nagasaki bomb but officials just recognised that he had been in Hiroshima as well.

More than 200,000 people were killed in the two atomic bombings.

Certification as a hibakusha or radiation survivor qualifies Japanese citizens for government compensation, including medical check-ups, and funeral costs. His double dose of atomic bombs, however, does not mean Mr Yamaguchi’s compensation will increase, a Nagasaki city official said.

“My double radiation exposure is now an official government record,” Mr Yamaguchi told reporters. “It can tell the younger generation the horrifying history of the atomic bombings even after I die.”

If you have a chance, read John Hersey’s book, “Hiroshima“. Based on the experiences of survivors, it was an award-winner immediately after the war even though our political hacks tried like hell to suppress it.