http://www.asahi.com, Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba lashes out at the U.S. for its research into small-scale nukes.
HIROSHIMA-Hiroshima's mayor on Friday admonished the United States for trying to develop smaller nuclear weapons as the city marked the 59th anniversary of its atomic bombing.
Issuing his “Peace Declaration'' at the packed memorial service here, Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba vowed that the 12 months leading up to next year's anniversary would be “a year of remembrance and action'' toward achieving a nuclear-free world.
The service at the Peace Memorial Park drew about 45,000 people, including Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
The Peace Bell tolled at 8:15 a.m., the moment the bomb was dropped on Aug. 6, 1945, by the United States on this now-bustling city of 1.14 million. The somber audience stood for one minute in silence in tribute to A-bomb victims, whose numbers continue to rise with each passing year.
Akiba talked first about the remains of 85 wartime residents discovered earlier this year at Ninoshima island off Hiroshima Port. It was where more than 10,000 people with terrible injuries were taken soon after the bomb nicknamed “Little Boy'' was dropped.
“The remains remind us of the continuing agonies from that day, the inhumanity of atomic bombs and the ugliness of war,'' Akiba said.
On the lack of progress in nuclear disarmament, Akiba had strong words for the United States.
“The egocentric view of the United States has reached the extreme,'' the mayor said. He also expressed concern about terrorists acquiring weapons of mass destruction and countries like North Korea with nuclear development programs.
“The atomic bombings were an unprecedented experience for humans,'' Akiba said. “The world should return to square one.''
Hiroshima is seeking worldwide abolition of nuclear weapons by 2020. To realize that ambitious goal, Akiba has the Review Conference of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in his sights. The conference is to be held at the United Nations headquarters in New York in May 2005. Along with citizens and cities from around the world, Hiroshima plans to request participants in the conference to work toward a nuclear-free world, Akiba said.
He also called on the central government to lead the world in calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons and protecting this nation's pacifist Constitution.
In his speech, Koizumi promised that Japan, as the only country to have experienced atomic bombings, will continue to abide by the pacifist Constitution and adhere to the “three non-nuclear principles'' of not producing, possessing, or allowing nuclear weapons on its soil.
As of the end of March, the number of hibakusha in Japan stood at 273,918. Their average age is 72.46. Over the past year, 5,142 people who suffered from the bombing in Hiroshima have died, bringing the toll to 237,062.
Hiroshima had an estimated population of 350,000 in 1945.
