Explore Business Standard
Nagasaki is marking the US atomic bomb attack on the southern Japanese city 80 years ago and survivors of the attack are working to make their hometown the last place on earth hit by the bomb. Despite their pain from wounds, discrimination and illnesses from radiation, survivors have publicly committed to a shared goal of abolishing nuclear weapons. But recently they worry about the world moving in the opposite direction as the anniversary is commemorated on Saturday. The atomic bomb dropped by the United States on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, killed some 70,000 people, three days after the bombing of Hiroshima killed 140,000. Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945, ending World War II and the country's nearly half-century of aggression across Asia. Aging survivors and their supporters in Nagasaki now put their hopes of achieving nuclear weapons abolition in the hands of younger people, telling them the attack is not distant history, but an issue that remains relevant to their ...
When the first atomic bomb detonated 80 years ago on August 6, thousands of the dead and dying were brought to the small, rural island of Ninoshima, just south of Hiroshima, by military boats with crews that had trained for suicide attack missions. Many of the victims had their clothes burned off and their flesh hung from their faces and limbs. They moaned in pain. Because of poor medicine and care, only a few hundred were alive when the field hospital closed on August 25, according to historical records. They were buried in various locations in chaotic and rushed operations. Decades later, people in the area are looking for the remains of the missing, driven by a desire to account for and honour the victims and bring relief to survivors who are still tormented by memories of missing loved ones. "Until that happens, the war is not over for these people," said Rebun Kayo, a Hiroshima University researcher who regularly visits Ninoshima to search for remains. Evidence of the missing
Japanese Empress Masako said the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, an organisation of survivors of the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, was a key event of this year that impressed and reminded her of the importance of global peace efforts. Masako, the wife of Emperor Naruhito, said she thought of the pain and suffering of the survivors and struggles of those who have long led the nuclear disarmament effort. She felt anew the importance for the people of the world to strive for mutual understanding and work together in order to build a peaceful world, Masako said in a statement released by the Imperial Household Agency for her 61st birthday Monday. Her comment comes one day before a group of 30 atomic bombing survivors will attend Tuesday's Nobel prize award ceremony in Oslo. Hidankyo was awarded for its decadeslong activism against nuclear weapons. The 30 survivors, known as hibakusha, see the prize and the international attention as a last chance to get the
The world gets frightened even today when it hears the word 'Hiroshima', Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday as he unveiled a bust of Mahatma Gandhi, an apostle of peace, here in this Japanese city. Modi, who arrived in Japan for the G7 summit on Friday, made those remarks after unveiling a 42-inch bronze bust of Gandhi in Hiroshima. The bust site, adjacent to the Motoyasu River, is close to the iconic A-Bomb Dome that is visited by thousands of people - locals and tourists alike - every day. "Even today, the world gets frightened when it hears the word Hiroshima. I got the opportunity to unveil a bust of Mahatma Gandhi during my visit to Japan for the G7 Summit," he said after unveiling the bust. "I want to thank the Japanese Government for placing the bust in Hiroshima and giving me the opportunity to unveil it," he said. The United States conducted the world's first atomic attack on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, destroying the city and killing some 140,000 people. The
On this day 75 years ago, the US had dropped the first of its two atomic bombs on Japanese cities — the first, in Hiroshima, killed more than 70,000 people instantly. A second bomb, which was dropped three days later over Nagasaki, killed 40,000 more. The nuclear warfare put paid to the World War II and a devastating chapter in world history. Watch video to know more