(13) Hiroshima and Nagasaki Peace Memorial Ceremonies
On August 6, 2019, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony was held in Hiroshima. Representatives from 89 countries and the EU, along with Japan, participated, including:
➢ Ambassadorial-level—Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Iran, Israel, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and United States
➢ Non-Ambassadorial-level— Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey, UAE (Note: underlines denote countries whose ambassadorial-level representatives have attended the ceremony in the past three years)
➢ Not attending—China, Chile, Egypt, India, North Korea, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Saudi Arabia and Syria (Note: underlines denote countries whose representatives have attended the ceremony at least once in the past three years)
As for the Nagasaki Peace Memorial Ceremony on August 9, 2018, UN Secretary-General Guterres and representatives from 67 countries, including the following participated:
➢ Ambassadorial-level—Australia, Canada, Chile, France, Indonesia, Israel, Mexico, Nigeria, Poland, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States
➢ Non-Ambassadorial-level—Austria,Brazil, China, Germany, South Korea, Norway, Philippines, Netherlands, Russia, UAE
➢ Not attending—Belgium, North Korea, Egypt, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, New Zealand, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Turkey
At various fora, Japan has proposed that the world’s political leaders visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to witness the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons with their own eyes. In November 2019, Pope Francis visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki for the first papal visit for 38 years. In Nagasaki, he stated: “A world of peace, free from nuclear weapons, is the aspiration of millions of men and women everywhere. To make this ideal a reality calls for involvement on the part of all: individuals, religious communities and civil society, countries that possess nuclear weapons and those that do not, the military and private sectors, and international organizations…We must never grow weary of working to support the principal international legal instruments of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, including the Treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons.” In Hiroshima, he emphasized: “With deep conviction I wish once more to declare that the use of atomic energy for purposes of war is today, more than ever, a crime not only against the dignity of human beings but against any possible future for our common home. The use of atomic energy for purposes of war is immoral, just as the possessing of nuclear weapons is immoral, as I already said two years ago.” In 2019, the President of Chile, the Prime Minister of Austria, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and the President of the EU also visited Hiroshima.
