Highlights
- Hiroshima witnessed its deadliest atomic bombings by the United States on August 6, 1945.
- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attended the annual ceremony today in Hiroshima.
- He said "Humanity is playing with a loaded gun" as potential for nuclear disaster loom large.
Hiroshima Day 2022: Hiroshima witnessed its deadliest atomic bombings by the United States during world war II in 1945, and it took place on today (August 6), 77 years ago. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attended the annual ceremony at the Peace Memorial Park, becoming the first UN chief to do so after his predecessor Ban Ki Moon's visit in 2010.
The USA bombed the Japanese cities of Hiroshima (August 6, 1945) and Nagasaki (August 9, 1945) during World War II in what was the first use of atomic weapons in war.
History and Significance of Hiroshima Day
Hiroshima Day marks the day when deadly nuclear attacks affected thousands of lives in Japan to an extent that the death toll still remains unknown due to its lasting impact that continued to show days after the attacks.
In an attempt to carry out the 'twin attacks', the first atomic bomb was dropped on the western city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 by the US bomber Enola Gay. Ironically known as 'Little Boy', the bomb affected an estimated 80,000 people and tens of thousands later died of radiation exposure. Hiroshima’s devastation failed to elicit immediate Japanese surrender, another bomb 'Fat Man' was hurled three days later on August 9, this time over Nagasaki killing an estimated 40,000 people.
Though Japan recovered from the attack and has since flourished, the shadow of a nuclear war continues to haunt it.
"Humanity is playing with a loaded gun"
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attended the annual ceremony at the Peace Memorial Park where he said "Humanity is playing with a loaded gun" as crises with the potential for nuclear disaster proliferate worldwide. At an annual memorial, Guterres warned of the risk posed by crises in Ukraine, the Middle East and the Korean peninsula as he described the horrors endured by the Japanese city.
What caused the US to bomb Japan?
Inarguably, Japan had slim chances of winning the World War II against the US. Yet, the then Emperor of Japan Hirohito vowed to fight to the bitter end in the Pacific.
In order to avoid a high casualty rate in the US, then President Harry Truman advised the Manhattan Project scientists–to use the atomic bomb in the hopes of bringing the war to a quick end.
