Thousands Gather in Hiroshima to Mark Anniversary of Atomic Bombing in Japan

On the 67th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Japan, thousands of people gathered in a peace memorial ceremony at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park near the Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima Japan on Monday. Many were on hand at the ceremony including the pilot, Paul Tibbits, of the B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, which dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6th 1945.

The focus of the gathering and the museum is the promotion of anti-nuclear sentiments around the globe. Those in Hiroshima who witnessed the bombing and watch friends and family die over years from radiation poisoning voiced their wish to never allow something like that to happen again.

When the Enola Gay dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, it resulted in the immediate deaths of an estimated 140,000 people and brought an end to World War II. A second atomic bombing three days later in the city of Nagasaki killed more than 70,000. To mark the moment the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, the the toll of a temple bell in the park will signal a moment of silence at 8:15 am local time.

According to reports, many of the survivors in Hiroshima are opposed to military and civil use of nuclear power. They are quick to point out the tens of thousands who were killed instantly in the Hiroshima blast and the many more who later died from radiation sickness and cancers tied to the attack. The recent Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster, in the wake of the massive earthquake in Japan, has added fuel to the opposition.

After the Fukushima disaster, Japan switched off its 50 nuclear reactors which had provided about two-thirds of the country’s power. When the Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda ordered the restart of 2 nuclear reactors in June, it began a string of never before seen anti-nuclear protests in the country. Weekly demonstrations outside the prime minister’s official residence have drawn thousands while a rally in west Tokyo last month saw a crowd that organizers claimed swelled to 170,000.