Photo/Illutration Attendees observe a moment of silence for the victims at the Nagasaki Peace Memorial Ceremony in Nagasaki on Aug. 9. (Pool)

NAGASAKI--Despite the conspicuous absences of the U.S. and British ambassadors, the Nagasaki Peace Memorial Ceremony went on as planned on Aug. 9 marking the 79th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on the city. 

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and a record high number of 100 countries and regions attended the ceremony held in the Peace Park near the hypocenter of the bombing. 

However, the ambassadors of six major countries including the United States and Britain, along with the European Union, skipped the annual commemoration because Israel was not invited.

At 11:02 a.m., the same time when the atomic bomb detonated over Nagasaki, attendees observed a moment of silence for the victims, praying for a world without nuclear weapons.

Afterward, in his peace declaration, Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki quoted atomic bomb victim Sumako Fukuda’s poem titled “For those who create nuclear bombs.” 

Suzuki asserted that leaders of the world's nuclear nations “should face the reality where human beings are increasingly threatened due to the existence of nuclear weapons and change their positions to eliminate nuclear weapons.”

Yasujiro Tanaka, an 82-year-old hibakusha who attended the ceremony, said he was disappointed that the controversy affected this year's attendance.

“I didn’t want politics and diplomatic issues to be involved in attending the ceremony," he said. "We should let as many countries as possible to attend the ceremony and tell them how horrifying the atomic weapons are.”

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