Prayer, Outrage In Hiroshima Mayor Of Bombed City Seeks End To Nuclear Tests

Paper lanterns of mourning floated down a river and children lit candles Wednesday to remember the dead from the world’s first atomic attack. Hiroshima’s mayor expressed outrage that the living still face a nuclear threat.

Observances of the 52nd anniversary of the U.S. bombing started with about 45,000 people gathered in the city’s Peace Park to observe a moment of silent prayer at 8:15 a.m. - the exact place and moment the U.S. bomb exploded Aug. 6, 1945.

The silence was pierced only by the tolling of a Buddhist bell and the hum of chirping cicadas. Japanese released doves to fly over the rest of the city, most of whose residents observed the moment of silence.

As dusk descended, traditional paper lanterns representing the spirits of the dead were floated on the Motoyasu River behind Hiroshima’s symbol, the A-Bomb Dome. Children lit thousands of candles along the riverbanks.

At the park, survivors and families of victims offered flowers and water before an altar.

Addressing the crowd, Hiroshima Mayor Takashi Hiraoka remembered those who “perished in the sea of flames” and others who survived only to suffer the effects of radiation.

About 140,000 people were killed by the blast, the firestorm and ensuing radiation in this western city, which was a major military center during World War II.

Like the rest of Japan, Hiroshima rebuilt after the war and is now a thriving commercial center of 1.1 million people At the memorial, Hiraoka criticized the United States for conducting a series of low-level nuclear tests that began in early July in Nevada.

“We in Hiroshima are outraged that nuclear weapons have yet to be abolished and banished from the face of the earth, and we are very uneasy about the future of civilization,” Hiraoka said.

The United States says the tests don’t violate the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban because they don’t produce a self-sustaining nuclear reaction.

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, paying respect to the victims, vowed to work toward abolishing nuclear arms to realize “a world without war.” He said Japan was the first country to ratify the comprehensive ban among the 44 required to bring it into effect.

Three days after the Hiroshima attack, the United States dropped a second atom bomb on Nagasaki, killing 70,000 people. Japan surrendered unconditionally on Aug. 15, 1945.

Many Japanese believe the bombings were unjustified, despite Japan’s war of aggression. U.S. wartime leaders defended the atomic attacks as the only alternative to a bloody invasion of Japan.