Politics Nagasaki marks bombing anniversary as Takaichi stays mum on non-nuclear pledge

Nagasaki on Sunday marked the 81st anniversary of the US atomic bombing of the city, with Mayor Shiro Suzuki describing nuclear weapons as an "absolute evil" and warning against growing reliance on nuclear deterrence. Suzuki also called on the Japanese government to uphold the country's Three Non-Nuclear Principles (非核三原則), under which Japan pledges not to possess or manufacture nuclear weapons, or allow them to be introduced into the country.

The anniversary comes as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's government is revising Japan's defence policy to strengthen the military's offensive capabilities further. Takaichi has expressed support for nuclear deterrence, prompting speculation over whether her government could reconsider the third principle, which prohibits nuclear weapons from being brought into Japan. Suzuki said some countries continued to argue that possessing nuclear weapons could deter potential attackers. The US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, however, had shown that human beings were capable of crossing that line, he said.

Suzuki singled out the Japanese government, demanding it uphold Japan's war-renouncing constitution, attend the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons review conference later this year and stick to the three non-nuclear principles. Takaichi supports the first two principles of not possessing and developing nuclear weapons. The prime minister, who attended Sunday's ceremony, reiterated her policy of taking "a realistic and pragmatic approach" toward achieving a world without nuclear weapons. As she did in Hiroshima, Takaichi remained ambiguous about the three non-nuclear principles and only reiterated that Japan currently maintains the policy. Takaichi, in her speech at the ceremony, did not mention the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which Tokyo has refused to sign because Japan is under the protection of the US nuclear umbrella.

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I spent a few days there. It struck me as a city in a large bowl made up of small mountains and hills around it. The power of the bomb was concentrated inside of the bowl sad to say. Fukuoka , the intended target was saved by heavy cloud cover I read somewhere.