{"id":3908,"date":"2015-08-06T10:23:28","date_gmt":"2015-08-06T16:23:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/?p=3908"},"modified":"2015-08-06T10:23:28","modified_gmt":"2015-08-06T16:23:28","slug":"hiroshima-commemorates-70th-anniversary-of-atomic-bombing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/hiroshima-commemorates-70th-anniversary-of-atomic-bombing\/","title":{"rendered":"Hiroshima Commemorates 70th Anniversary of Atomic Bombing"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"shell\">\n<nav id=\"ribbon\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/nav>\n<div id=\"page\">\n<article id=\"story\">\n<header id=\"story-header\">\n<div id=\"story-meta\">\n<h1 id=\"story-heading\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">By\u00a0JONATHAN SOBLE<\/span><time datetime=\"2015-08-06\" style=\"font-size: 16px;\">AUG. 6, 2015<\/time><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div id=\"story-body\">\n<div>\n<figure id=\"media-100000003839901\" data-media-action=\"modal\" itemprop=\"associatedMedia\" itemscope=\"\" itemid=\"http:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2015\/08\/07\/world\/asia\/07Japan5-web\/07Japan5-web-master675.jpg\" itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\" aria-label=\"media\" role=\"group\">Photo<\/p>\n<div><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\"  title=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2015\/08\/07\/world\/asia\/07Japan5-web\/07Japan5-web-master675.jpg?resize=324%2C231\"  alt=\"07Japan5-web-superJumbo Hiroshima Commemorates 70th Anniversary of Atomic Bombing\"  width=\"324\" height=\"231\" data-mediaviewer-src=\"http:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2015\/08\/07\/world\/asia\/07Japan5-web\/07Japan5-web-superJumbo.jpg\" data-mediaviewer-caption=\"Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on Thursday, the 70th anniversary of the world's first atomic bomb attack.\" data-mediaviewer-credit=\"Kazuhiro Nogi\/Agence France-Presse \u2014 Getty Images\" \/><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption itemprop=\"caption description\">Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on Thursday, the 70th anniversary of the world&#8217;s first atomic bomb attack.\u00a0CreditKazuhiro Nogi\/Agence France-Presse \u2014 Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div>\n<div id=\"lede-ad\">\n<div>\n<p>HIROSHIMA, Japan \u2014 Every year on Aug. 6, Hiroshima becomes a city of mourning. And one full of reminders \u2014 some delivered politely, some pointedly \u2014 of the most extreme dangers of modern warfare.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p data-para-count=\"148\" data-total-count=\"349\">Seventy years ago, the city was incinerated by an atomic bomb, its population halved by the new and terrifying American weapon nicknamed Little Boy.<\/p>\n<p data-para-count=\"345\" data-total-count=\"694\">On Thursday, political leaders, aging survivors and ordinary citizens gathered at 8:15 a.m. to mourn the moment when the city unwillingly became part of the world\u2019s introduction to the nuclear age. The bomb dropped on Hiroshima, together with another that hit Nagasaki three days later, killed more than 200,000 people, most of them civilians.<\/p>\n<p data-para-count=\"345\" data-total-count=\"694\">At a ceremony near the onetime industrial exhibition hall that has been preserved as a skeletal monument to the attack, Prime Minister\u00a0<a title=\"More articles about Shinzo Abe.\" href=\"http:\/\/topics.nytimes.com\/top\/reference\/timestopics\/people\/a\/shinzo_abe\/index.html?inline=nyt-per\">Shinzo Abe<\/a>\u00a0renewed a longstanding Japanese pledge to seek worldwide elimination of\u00a0<a title=\"More articles about nuclear weapons.\" href=\"http:\/\/topics.nytimes.com\/top\/news\/science\/topics\/atomic_weapons\/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier\">nuclear weapons<\/a>. The mayor of Hiroshima, Kazumi Matsui, accused \u201cselfish\u201d nuclear powers, including the United States, of standing in the way of that goal.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"media-100000003839883\" data-media-action=\"modal\" itemprop=\"associatedMedia\" itemscope=\"\" itemid=\"http:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2015\/08\/07\/world\/07JApan4-web\/07JApan4-web-articleLarge.jpg\" itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\" aria-label=\"media\" role=\"group\">Photo<\/p>\n<div><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\"  title=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2015\/08\/07\/world\/07JApan4-web\/07JApan4-web-articleLarge.jpg?resize=252%2C168\"  alt=\"07JApan4-web-superJumbo Hiroshima Commemorates 70th Anniversary of Atomic Bombing\"  width=\"252\" height=\"168\" data-mediaviewer-src=\"http:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2015\/08\/07\/world\/07JApan4-web\/07JApan4-web-superJumbo.jpg\" data-mediaviewer-caption=\"A ceremony on Thursday to observe the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan.\" data-mediaviewer-credit=\"Chris Mcgrath\/Getty Images\" \/><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption itemprop=\"caption description\">A ceremony on Thursday to observe the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan.\u00a0CreditChris Mcgrath\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p data-para-count=\"262\" data-total-count=\"1333\">Mr. Abe and other dignitaries placed wreaths in front of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park\u2019s eternal flame, where a placard reads: \u201cRest in peace. We will not make the same mistake again.\u201d A minute of silence was punctuated by the ringing of a temple gong.<\/p>\n<p data-para-count=\"384\" data-total-count=\"1717\">The memorial was witnessed by the United States ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy, who was only the second American envoy to attend such a commemoration. Her predecessor, John V. Roos, first did so five years ago, on the 65th anniversary of the bombing, in a shift that was seen as symbolic of the Obama administration\u2019s commitment to advancing the cause of nuclear disarmament.<\/p>\n<p id=\"story-continues-3\" data-para-count=\"324\" data-total-count=\"2041\">But a visit to Hiroshima by President Obama himself, which many in Japan hoped would follow, never came \u2014 much less an apology by the United States for dropping the bombs. The desire for an apology has persisted here even as Japan struggles to come to terms with atrocities committed by its own forces during\u00a0<a title=\"More articles about Wold War II.\" href=\"http:\/\/topics.nytimes.com\/top\/reference\/timestopics\/subjects\/w\/world_war_ii_\/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier\">World War II<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p data-para-count=\"402\" data-total-count=\"2443\">Mr. Abe is also pursuing unpopular policies on two issues linked closely in the public\u2019s mind with the bombings: national defense and\u00a0<a title=\"More articles about nuclear energy.\" href=\"http:\/\/topics.nytimes.com\/top\/news\/business\/energy-environment\/atomic-energy\/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier\">nuclear energy<\/a>. Small groups of demonstrators gathered at the edge of the ceremony grounds to protest moves by his government to pare back postwar restrictions on the military and to restart nuclear power plants idled after meltdowns at a plant in Fukushima in 2011.<\/p>\n<p id=\"story-continues-4\" data-para-count=\"571\" data-total-count=\"3014\">Kohei Oiwa, an 83-year-old bombing survivor, sat silently through Mr. Abe\u2019s remarks at the ceremony but criticized him bluntly afterward. He condemned legislation now before Parliament that would allow Japanese forces to fight overseas, in limited situations, for the first time since the war. And he criticized as hypocritical the government\u2019s repeated pledges to help rid the world of nuclear weapons. Japan, he noted, accepts the protection of the United States, its former enemy turned close ally, including the deterrent provided by the American nuclear arsenal.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"media-100000003839882\" data-media-action=\"modal\" itemprop=\"associatedMedia\" itemscope=\"\" itemid=\"http:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2015\/08\/07\/world\/07Japan3-web\/07Japan3-web-articleLarge.jpg\" itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\" aria-label=\"media\" role=\"group\">Photo<\/p>\n<div><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\"  title=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2015\/08\/07\/world\/07Japan3-web\/07Japan3-web-articleLarge.jpg?resize=480%2C320\"  alt=\"07Japan3-web-superJumbo Hiroshima Commemorates 70th Anniversary of Atomic Bombing\"  width=\"480\" height=\"320\" data-mediaviewer-src=\"http:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2015\/08\/07\/world\/07Japan3-web\/07Japan3-web-superJumbo.jpg\" data-mediaviewer-caption=\"Many people in Japan have longed for an apology by the United States for having dropped the bomb.\" data-mediaviewer-credit=\"Chris Mcgrath\/Getty Images\" \/><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption itemprop=\"caption description\">Many people in Japan have longed for an apology by the United States for having dropped the bomb.\u00a0CreditChris Mcgrath\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div id=\"marketing-ad\">\n<p>\u201cAbe\u2019s peace is a phony peace,\u201d Mr. Oiwa said as he waited in line to lay a bouquet of flowers in front of the eternal flame.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"story-continues-6\" data-para-count=\"404\" data-total-count=\"3549\">Such sentiments are widely shared by other survivors. After the ceremony, the leaders of seven groups representing survivors delivered a letter to Mr. Abe demanding that he withdraw the proposed legislation on military deployments. Yet while there are still close to 200,000 officially recognized survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, their average age is over 80, and their numbers are quickly dwindling.<\/p>\n<p data-para-count=\"373\" data-total-count=\"3922\">The mayor, Mr. Matsui, also took clear if indirect aim at Mr. Abe. In his official \u201cpeace declaration,\u201d he criticized a desire often expressed by the prime minister and other conservatives to change the pacifist Constitution imposed by the victorious United States. Three generations after the conflict, they argue, Japan should be less constrained by its consequences.<\/p>\n<p data-para-count=\"154\" data-total-count=\"4076\">Mr. Matsui, however, said, \u201cIt is demanded that the path to true peace indicated by the pacifism of the Japanese Constitution be spread to the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-para-count=\"418\" data-total-count=\"4494\">Hiroshima, which rebounded vigorously after World War II, is now a thriving city of 1.1 million people, and most of its residents are less overtly political. Kazue Ichikawa, 77, who came to the ceremony with her daughter and granddaughter, said she was in the yard of a Buddhist temple that served as a wartime primary school when the bomb exploded. It was just far enough away that she and her classmates were spared.<\/p>\n<p data-para-count=\"55\" data-total-count=\"4549\">\u201cThe force knocked me over a gravestone,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p data-para-count=\"221\" data-total-count=\"4770\" data-node-uid=\"1\">She said that she had not recounted her experiences to anyone outside her family, but that she was considering volunteering at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum \u201cto inform others of my granddaughter\u2019s generation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By\u00a0JONATHAN SOBLEAUG. 6, 2015 Photo Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on Thursday, the 70th anniversary of the world&#8217;s first atomic bomb attack.\u00a0CreditKazuhiro Nogi\/Agence France-Presse \u2014 Getty Images HIROSHIMA, Japan \u2014 Every year on Aug. 6, Hiroshima becomes a city of mourning. And one full of reminders \u2014 some [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":588,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Mushroom-Cloud.png?fit=285%2C340&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3908"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3908\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3920,"href":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3908\/revisions\/3920"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}