Nagasaki commemorates 80 years since the atomic bomb with the ringing of the iconic bell

Nagasaki observed a minute of silence on Saturday (local time) in memory of the moment 80 years ago when the atomic bomb fell on the Japanese city, while a restored church bell rang for the first time since the attack.

On August 9, 1945, at 11:02 a.m. local time, three days after Hiroshima, Nagasaki suffered the horror of the nuclear weapon launched by the United States. Some 74,000 people lost their lives in this port in southwest Japan, adding to the 140,000 victims of Hiroshima .

"It's been 80 years, who would have imagined the world would become like this? Stop armed conflicts immediately!" urged the city's mayor, Shiro Suzuki, during the ceremony before representatives of more than 100 countries.

"Clashes are escalating in various places due to a vicious cycle of confrontation and division. A crisis that could threaten the survival of humanity, such as a nuclear war, looms over all of us who live on this planet," he added, amid torrential rain that stopped for the minute of silence.

This record-breaking international turnout was marked by the presence of Russia, which had not been invited since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Israel, whose ambassador was also uninvited last year in protest against the conflict in Gaza , prompting a boycott of the ceremony by representatives of other G7 countries, was also present.

"True Events"

This explosion "seems like something very old, but for the people who lived through it, it must be like it was yesterday. We must remember that these are real events," said Atsuko Higuchi, a 50-year-old Nagasaki resident present near Peace Park.

As a symbol of this commemoration, the bell of a cathedral destroyed by the bomb blast and restored by American Christians rang for the first time in 80 years.

The red brick church dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, flanked by two bell towers, stands atop a hill in the city. It was rebuilt in 1959 after the original building was destroyed a few hundred meters away.

Only one of its two bells was found among the rubble.

For its head priest, Kenichi Yamamura , this restoration "shows the greatness of human beings, proof that people who belong to the side that has hurt another may one day want to redeem themselves."

"It's not about forgetting the wounds of the past, but about recognizing them and acting to repair them, rebuild, and thus work together for peace," Yamamura added to AFP.

The bishop also sees in this a message for the entire world, shaken by multiple conflicts and plunged into a dizzying arms race.

The restoration project was carried out by an American university professor whose grandfather participated as a doctor in the Manhattan Project, which led to the atomic bombs of World War II .

James Nolan, a sociology professor in Massachusetts, raised $125,000 in the United States.

The two atomic bombings dealt the final blow to Japan , which surrendered on August 15, 1945, ending the Second World War.

However, historians continue to debate whether these attacks actually saved more lives by hastening the end of the conflict, compared to the ordeal of the "hibakusha," the so-called survivors of the bomb who were victims of discrimination and at greater risk of developing certain types of cancer.