Overview

• Representatives from 120 countries, including first-time delegations from Palestine and Taiwan, stood for a minute of silence in Hiroshima while Russia, China and Pakistan stayed away.
• Hibakusha, now averaging 86 years old, delivered firsthand accounts urging a comprehensive prohibition of nuclear arms.
• Japan’s government maintained its stance against the 2017 UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons because of its dependence on America’s nuclear deterrent.
• Data from SIPRI indicate that nine states hold over 12,000 warheads and recent crises in Ukraine, the Middle East and the Taiwan Strait have heightened concerns over a nuclear resurgence.
• Nihon Hidankyo, Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 2024, is pressing nuclear-armed states to reduce their arsenals as survivors’ voices grow rarer.