Hiroshima 81st Anniversary Peace Ceremony

On August 6, 2026, Hiroshima marked the 81st anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing with its annual peace ceremony at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. Mayor Kazumi Matsui delivered a peace declaration urging world leaders to pursue nuclear abolition, citing ongoing nuclear intimidation and violations of international law. The ceremony drew about 50,000 attendees, including Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, hibakusha survivors, and representatives from a record 123 countries and regions, as well as the European Union. China and Russia did not attend, while the United States sent its deputy chief of mission. Matsui also criticized the failure of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference and urged Japan to participate in the upcoming Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons review conference. Prime Minister Takaichi reaffirmed Japan's commitment to its three nonnuclear principles and pledged efforts toward a world without nuclear weapons. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, in a message read by Izumi Nakamitsu, noted the unfulfilled but achievable promise of nuclear elimination. The ceremony included the addition of 4,393 newly confirmed deaths to the cenotaph, bringing the official toll to 353,639. The average age of hibakusha survivors continues to rise, now at 86.66 years.