Overview

• The 80th anniversary ceremony in Hiroshima was attended by about 55,000 people representing a record 120 countries and regions.
• Hibakusha survivors, now averaging over 86 years old, fear that firsthand accounts will disappear within the next two decades.
• Mayor Kazumi Matsui condemned the growing acceptance of nuclear deterrence and military buildups as a disregard for history’s lessons.
• Survivors recounted horrific blast injuries—skin hanging like rugs and ball-sized blisters—to underscore the human cost of nuclear warfare.
• Longstanding debates resurfaced over Truman’s decision to drop the bombs, with figures like Eisenhower later questioning its military necessity.