Overview

• Delegations from a record 120 countries and territories gathered at the Peace Memorial Park on August 6 to honour the victims of the 1945 bombing.
• A March government report showed that hibakusha numbers fell below 100,000 for the first time, with just 99,130 survivors remaining at an average age of 86.
• Mayor Kazumi Matsui called on leaders to learn from Hiroshima’s legacy and warned that expanding nuclear arsenals threaten existing peace-building frameworks.
• Nihon Hidankyo, awarded the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, cautioned that today’s nuclear threats eclipse those of 1945 and urged Japan to join the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons—a request Tokyo has rejected under its US security umbrella.
• Twelve-year-old successor Shun Sasaki led foreign visitors through the Peace Park to share hibakusha testimonies before the survivor generation disappears.