Hiroshima marked the 81st anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of the city on Thursday, August 6, 2026. Mayor Kazumi Matsui criticized major powers for waging wars and urged them to stop justifying the possession of nuclear weapons as a method of deterrence.

About 50,000 people, including representatives from some 120 countries and regions including the United States and Iran, attended the ceremony at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. A minute of silence was held while a peace bell rang out at 8:15 a.m., the time when a U.S. B-29 dropped the bomb on the city.

"Downplaying the inhumanity of nuclear weapons and accepting the use of force to pursue one’s own prosperity risk cycles of violent retaliation that could ultimately result in another Hiroshima or Nagasaki," Matsui said. "Too many political leaders still consider nuclear deterrence a realistic approach and legitimize violence, which simply pushes a world without nuclear weapons further into the distance," he said in his peace declaration.

Matsui called on each citizen to learn lessons from the past and take action. According to reports from asia.nikkei.com, Matsui also urged Japan to participate as an observer in the review conference of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in November.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attended the memorial for the first time as prime minister. Takaichi said she will take "a realistic approach" toward achieving a world where nuclear weapons are never used, within the framework of the United Nations' treaty to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.

Takaichi said Japan has maintained its postwar three non-nuclear principles but did not express commitment to sticking with that policy in the future. She has advocated a review of the three non-nuclear principles for the possibility of dropping the third principle, which prohibits permitting nuclear weapons to be brought into the country.

Speculation exists that Takaichi’s government may ease Japan’s postwar three non-nuclear principles when it compiles new security and defense documents later in 2026. Japan is under the protection of the U.S. nuclear umbrella and has repeatedly sought Washington's reassurance for its commitment and stronger protection.

Japan’s government has rejected survivors’ requests to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons or attend its meetings as observers. Survivors have expressed frustration and worry over growing support for the possession of nuclear weapons for deterrence by the international community, including Japan.

The number of atomic bomb survivors has fallen to 91,105, with their average age exceeding 86. Survivors worry about fading memories, as the youngest survivors were too young to clearly recall the attack.

Izumi Nakamitsu, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, spoke on behalf of UN Secretary-General António Guterres at the memorial ceremony. "Hiroshima stands as an inspiring example of resilience, renewal and hope," Nakamitsu said.

"Nuclear sabres are being rattled once again in the name of power and coercion," she said. "That promise remains unfulfilled, but not unachievable," she said, emphasising that peace is not secured through fear and might, but through trust, sustained investment in dialogue, diplomacy, and international cooperation.

"Let’s choose dialogue over division, cooperation over confrontation and common security over narrow advantage, and let’s move closer to a world where the tragedy of Hiroshima is never repeated," she said.

"The horror of nuclear weapons is just one lesson of Hiroshima. Another is the need to build a world in which the threat or use of these weapons becomes unthinkable," Guterres said in a written statement.

"Hiroshima stands as an inspiring example of resilience, renewal and hope. Across generations, its people remind us that, even after the darkest moments, we can choose — and build — a different future," Guterres said, calling for "dialogue over division, cooperation over confrontation and common security over narrow advantage." Worldwide military spending jumped to $2.9 trillion in 2025.

The bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, destroyed the city and killed 140,000 people. On August 6, 1945, the U.S. B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. A second atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, killed 70,000 people.

The two atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki killed around 120,000 people, with a similar number dying later of burn and radiation injuries. The bombings left behind 650,000 survivors, known as the hibakusha. Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945, ending World War II.

A memorial service for Korean victims of the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima was held on August 5, 2026, near a monument for Korean victims in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. An estimated 70,000 Koreans were exposed to the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with about 40,000 believed to have died shortly afterward.

Why It Matters

The anniversary shows a widening gap between survivor appeals for disarmament and the reliance of major powers on nuclear deterrence. With the average age of hibakusha now exceeding 86, their direct testimony faces extinction as political leaders debate easing Japan's non-nuclear principles. This shift in policy could alter the security framework of a nation under the U.S. nuclear umbrella while global military spending reaches record levels.