On This Day US Dropped Atom Bombs On Hiroshima in WWII

Hiroshima Day was observed on the anniversary of the Aug. 6, 1945, atomic bombing, the biggest man-made disaster in modern history, in a solemn ceremony in order to remember those killed and injured in the disastrous bombings. The United States dropped two atomic bombs three days apart on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan in August 1945, during the last years of Second World War. More than 1,29,000 people were killed and a thousand others were injured due to burns and radiations from the disaster in Hiroshima.

In the ceremony, Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui introduced his speech by recounting the infernal scene of the blast took place that morning 73 years ago and explained the agony of the victims, by saying the audience to listen "as if you and your loved ones were there." Afterward, he raised concerns relating to the global rise of egocentrism and tensions and urged Japan's government to take more leadership in achieving a truly nuclear-free world.

Mayor Kazumi Matsui in his speech warned against the re-emergence of tensions over nuclear weapons turned up during the Cold War and sought logical actions by global leaders. Matsui in his speech stated that Japan's government should do more to achieve a nuclear-free world by helping the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons take effect. Japan, which hosts U.S. troops and is covered by the U.S. nuclear umbrella protecting it from attack, has not signed the treaty.

At the Peace Memorial Park, a moment of silence was marked at 8:15 a.m., the time when a U.S. bomber dropped the "Little Boy" uranium-core atomic bomb on Aug. 6, 1945. About 50,000 people, together with Hiroshima residents and representatives all around from 58 countries, attended this year's ceremony.

The 73rd anniversary is observed amid positive speculations after Pyongyang's promise of a complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula at the historic U.S.-North Korean summit in June.