Nagasaki on Monday marked the 76th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of the Japanese city in a ceremony held at Nagasaki Peace Park.
Mayor Tomihisa Taue urged in his speech that the United States and Russia should do more to eliminate nuclear weapons.
Taue also urged Japan’s government to take the lead in creating a nuclear-free zone in Northeast Asia rather than staying under the U.S. nuclear umbrella.
He was quoted as saying, “Please look into building a nuclear-weapons-free zone in the Northeast Asia that would create a ‘non-nuclear umbrella’ instead of a ‘nuclear umbrella’ and be a step in the direction of a world free of nuclear weapons,”
The mayor also called Japan’s government and lawmakers to quickly sign the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons that took effect in January.
The Aug. 9, 1945, bombing came three days after the United States made the world’s first atomic attack on Hiroshima, killing 140,000. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, ending World War II.
