At 8:15 a.m., the exact time the U.S. bomber Enola Gay dropped the uranium bomb on August 6, 1945, a moment of silence was observed at the Peace Memorial Park. The attack killed an estimated 140,000 people by the end of that year.
Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui is expected to call for unity and trust through dialogue in seeking a departure from nuclear deterrence in his Peace Declaration, reflecting concerns over ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who represents a Hiroshima constituency, is also scheduled to give remarks at the ceremony.
The ceremony, attended by representatives from over 100 nations and the European Union, takes place against a backdrop of nuclear threats from Russia and escalating tensions in the Israel-Hamas conflict.
However, controversy has arisen over the city's decision to invite Israel, widely regarded as a nuclear-armed state, while barring Russia and Belarus from the ceremony for the third consecutive year due to their invasion of Ukraine. The Palestinian embassy has criticized Hiroshima for not extending an invitation to Palestine.
