Overview

• The Japan Air Self-Defense Force deployed F-35B stealth fighters to Nyutabaru Air Base on August 7, executing a vertical landing that took about two minutes—five times longer than a standard approach—and prompting local concerns over prolonged noise.
• On August 8, Kitakyushu held an 80th-anniversary memorial for the Yahata incendiary raid, where volunteers read the names of roughly 2,500 civilians killed or injured in the U.S. attack.
• About 200 worshippers gathered for an early-morning peace Mass at Urakami Cathedral on August 9 to pray for reconciliation and honor Nagasaki’s atomic bombing victims.
• At Nagasaki Peace Park later that day, Mayor Shiro Suzuki urged immediate ceasefires in global conflicts and concrete steps toward nuclear disarmament at the 2026 NPT review, while Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba invoked Dr. Nagai’s wartime plea to prevent a repeat of atomic devastation.
• For the first time since 2021, a Russian representative joined the Nagasaki Peace Memorial Ceremony, signaling renewed international diplomatic engagement in Japan’s commemoration events.