Japan on Wednesday marked the 80th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima with a solemn ceremony at the city’s Peace Memorial Park. A bell tolled and around 55,000 attendees—including representatives from roughly 120 countries and regions—observed a minute of silence at 8:15 a.m., the exact moment the bomb exploded on 6 August 1945. Doves were released as wreaths were laid beneath the cenotaph honouring the more than 140,000 people who died in the blast and in its aftermath. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba used the milestone to reiterate Japan’s "mission" to lead global moves toward a world without nuclear weapons, affirming the country’s long-standing non-nuclear principles and rejecting calls for the shared deployment of U.S. warheads. Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui warned that an accelerating global military build-up, coupled with reliance on nuclear deterrence, risks repeating past mistakes. "Please visit Hiroshima and witness the reality of an atomic bombing," he urged world leaders. The number of certified hibakusha—survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki attacks—has fallen below 100,000 for the first time, with their average age now exceeding 86. Activists and survivors’ groups said the dwindling eyewitness testimony adds urgency to disarmament efforts, especially as conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East revive talk of nuclear use. Demonstrators near the Atomic Bomb Dome called for an immediate global ban on the weapons. The anniversary comes amid heightened geopolitical tension and a worldwide arsenal of about 12,000 nuclear warheads, 90 % of them held by the United States and Russia. Speakers at the ceremony, echoed by the United Nations, warned that fading memories of Hiroshima risk undermining the fragile architecture aimed at preventing another nuclear strike.