Memorial Ceremony For Nuclear Bombing Victims Begins In Hiroshima

TOKYO, Aug 6 (Bernama-Sputnik) -- A memorial ceremony for nuclear bombing victims began in the Peace Park in Hiroshima, the city that was the first in the world to experience the horror of the use of nuclear weapons, on the 79th anniversary of the tragedy.

The ceremony is traditionally broadcast live on the city hall website, as well as on major TV channels and on the Internet. It begins at 8.00 (23:00 GMT on Monday) with the laying of lists of those killed in the atomic bombing and its consequences at the monument. This year, another 5,079 names were added to the list of 344,000, reported Sputnik.

The Peace Park, where the ceremony is held annually, was located in the epicentre of the bombing on Aug 6, 1945. The bodies of those dead were also burned here. In the park there is a mass grave in the form of a hill with a Buddhist pagoda on top, where the ashes of 70,000 unidentified victims of the tragedy rest. On the monument in the Peace Park, next to which the funeral ceremony is taking place, it is written: "Sleep peacefully, this mistake will not be repeated again."

The ceremony is attended by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, members of the government, parliamentarians, representatives of diplomatic missions of more than 109 countries. This year, for the third time, representatives of the diplomatic missions of Russia and Belarus were not invited to the ceremony. At the same time, representatives of Palestine and Israel received an invitation.

After laying flowers at exactly 8.15 — the time when the atomic bomb exploded over Hiroshima, a minute of silence is declared. Then the mayor of the city, Kazumi Matsui, makes a declaration of peace, and after that, white doves are released into the sky as a symbol of peace on Earth. The ceremony traditionally features schoolchildren from the city taking a peace oath, as well as representatives of the bombing survivors.

In August 1945, American pilots dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The atomic explosion and its consequences killed 140,000 people out of a population of 350,000 in Hiroshima, and 74,000 in Nagasaki. The vast majority of victims of the atomic bombing were civilians. On the anniversary of the tragic events — Aug 6 and 9 — "Peace Ceremonies" are held annually in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The area of ​​the epicentre now houses a memorial Peace Park and a museum that contains documents and exhibits related to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. There are audio guides in the languages ​​of all countries that possess atomic weapons.

The laconic exhibits recreate the horror of what happened, including a mangled tricycle and rice in an iron lunchbox charred to a coal-black colour. But survivors say their memories hold far more terrifying images than what is on display in the museum. They believe that even these exhibits were selected with school excursions in mind: the most horrific evidence of the tragedy is kept in the archives so as not to harm the children's psyche.

-- BERNAMA-SPUTNIK