Photo/Illutration A choir made up of atomic bomb survivors performs a song at the opening of an annual memorial for the atomic bombing of Nagasaki at the Nagasaki Peace Park on Aug. 9. (Minako Yoshimoto)

NAGASAKI--Eliminating nuclear weapons is the “only realistic way” to protect humanity’s future, Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue said during the memorial ceremony marking the 77th anniversary of the Aug. 9 atomic bombing of this city.

In his Nagasaki Peace Declaration, Taue said it is a “fantasy” that countries armed with nuclear weapons would restrain themselves from deploying them in a conflict.

He urged the Japanese government to sign and ratify the U.N. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which took effect in January 2021.

The review conference for the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) is currently under way in New York with the United States, Russia and other nuclear powers in attendance.

Taue said the NPT has played a major role in promoting nuclear disarmament by preventing other countries from possessing nuclear weapons.

But he also expressed concerns that public “trust” in the NPT is being jeopardized because signatories are not carrying out what was pledged in the treaty and decided at meetings.

He urged nuclear powers to present a concrete path toward nuclear disarmament.

Takashi Miyata, 82, a resident of Unzen, Nagasaki Prefecture, who survived the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, touched on the Russian invasion of Ukraine in the pledge for peace he made at the ceremony on behalf of atomic bomb survivors.

“The sound of air-raid sirens blaring in Ukraine reminded me of the fear of the blast of the atomic bomb,” Miyata said.

He said watching the war in Ukraine on TV breaks his heart and he will “never tolerate” Russia’s actions.

Miyata urged the Japanese government to ratify the TPNW because the treaty is a “treasure” for hibakusha and humanity.

The attendees of the Aug. 9 ceremony offered a silent prayer at 11:02 a.m., when the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki in 1945.

The participants included Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, U.N. Under-Secretary-General Izumi Nakamitsu, a top official responsible for disarmament affairs, and ambassadors from 83 countries, including six nuclear powers.

But Kishida did not mention the TPNW in his address to the annual memorial event in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on Aug. 6. And it was also conspicuously absent from his speech at the Nagasaki Peace Park.

About 120 high school students from in and outside Nagasaki Prefecture formed human chains at the hypocenter park in Nagasaki during a rally held on the morning of Aug. 9.

They paid their respects to those who died in the atomic bombing of the city and expressed their resolve to create a future without nuclear weapons.

Yuka Miyazaki, 16, one of the “high school peace ambassadors” calling for nuclear disarmament, read out a declaration at the end of the rally.

“We will continue our activities to create a peaceful world by sticking to our motto that, ‘We cannot make a big difference, but we are not totally helpless,’” she said.

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