Nagasaki commemorates 69th anniversary of US Atomic bombing

(Xinhua) Updated: 2014-08-09 18:40

Doves fly near the Peace Statue in Nagasaki's Peace Park during a ceremony commemorating the 69th anniversary of the bombing of the city in Nagasaki, western Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo August 9, 2014.[Photo/Agencies]

NAGASAKI, Japan - Nagasaki, a southwest Japanese city, on Saturday commemorated the 69th anniversary of the US atomic bombing of the city, with its mayor calling for continued efforts to eliminate nuclear weapons and the Japanese government's attention to public opinion on the right to collective self-defense.

Hiroshima commemorates 69th anniversary of atomic bombing

Tomihisa Taue, mayor of Nagasaki city, said that nuclear weapons are a continuing danger that threatens the present and future of the entire world, and his city will cooperate with non- governmental organizations, the UN and other countries to continue activities to realize a world free of nuclear weapons.

"The oath prescribed in the Japanese Constitution that Japan shall 'renounce war' is the founding principle for postwar Japan and Nagasaki, a country and a city which suffered the atomic bomb, " said the mayor.

"However, the rushed debate over collective self-defense has given rise to the concern that this principle is wavering. I urgently request that the Japanese government take serious heed of these distressed voices," Taue said.

Participants in Nagasaki's ceremony bowed their heads in silent prayer at 11:02 a.m. when the second-ever atomic bomb "Fat Man" detonated on the city 69 years ago, three days after the bombing of Hiroshima, killing an estimated 74,000 in Nagasaki by the end of 1945.

On Wednesday in Hiroshima, mayor of the city, referring to the collective defense, also said that the Japanese government should beware that the country has avoided war for 69 years due to the war-renouncing constitution, adding "We must continue as a nation of peace in both word and deed."

Japan's pacifist constitution banned the country from using force outside Japan, but the collective self-defense rights gave green light to the Japan's Self-Defense Forces to combat overseas for countries had close relations with Japan.

Japanese experts on legislation said the cabinet decision has major legislative defect, while the majority of Japanese oppose the rights to collective defense, according to latest poll.

To accelerate Japan's surrender in the World War II, the US forces dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Aug. 6 and 9 respectively in 1945, and Japan surrendered to Allied Forces on Aug. 15, six days later from the Nagasaki nuclear attack.