On August 6, 78 years since the dropping of the atomic bomb, the City of Hiroshima held the Peace Memorial Ceremony in Peace Memorial Park, Hiroshima City.
　Approximately 50,000 people attended, including hibakusha, bereaved families, and guests. They prayed for the repose of the souls of those who lost their lives in the bombing, and for perpetual world peace.
　The ceremony started at 8:00am. Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui and two representatives of the bereaved families dedicated two volumes of the Register of the Names of the Fallen Atomic Bomb Victims to the shrine in the Memorial Cenotaph for the Atomic Bomb Victims. Over the past year, 5,320 people's deaths had been confirmed and their names were recorded in the Register. This brings the total number of names recorded in the Register to 339,227 people, in 125 volumes.
　This was followed by an address by Mr. Tatsunori Motani, chairperson of the Hiroshima City Council, and a dedication of flowers by various representatives. At 8:15am, the time that the bomb was dropped, Ms. Rena Sumida, the representative of the bereaved families, and Minato Tanaka, the children's representative, rang the Peace Bell, and all participants observed a minute of silent prayer.
　Mayor Matsui then read out the Peace Declaration. He started by introducing a comment made by a hibakusha who was 8 years old at the time of the bombing, "I want the leaders of all countries with nuclear weapons to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki and learn the realities of the atomic bombings." He followed this by saying "The heads of state who attended the G7 Hiroshima Summit in May this year visited the Peace Memorial Museum, spoke with hibakusha, and wrote messages in the guestbook. Their messages provide proof that hibakusha pleas have reached them. As they stood before the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims, I conveyed the Spirit of Hiroshima underlying its inscription. I believe our spirit is now engraved in their hearts."
　Mayor Matsui then appealed to all policymakers, saying "Leaders around the world must confront the reality that nuclear threats now being voiced by certain policymakers reveal the folly of nuclear deterrence theory. They must immediately take concrete steps to lead us from the dangerous present toward our ideal world." Following on from the leaders who visited Hiroshima for the G7 Hiroshima Summit, Mayor Matsui strongly urged them to visit Hiroshima to convey their desire for peace, to immediately halt nuclear intimidation, and to take steps toward building a security regime based on trust through dialogue.
　Mayor Matsui also made an appeal to citizens: "To create that social environment, let us promote initiatives to instill the culture of peace everywhere. If we do, elected officials, who need the support of the people, will surely work with us toward a peaceful world."
　Mayor Matsui urged the Japanese government to play a role in reconciling the differences between the nuclear weapon states and non-nuclear weapon states, and to participate as an observer at the Second Conference of the Parties to the Nuclear Weapons Convention. Furthermore, he strongly urged the government to strengthen support measures for the hibakusha, whose average age is over 85 years old and many of whom are suffering from a variety of physical and mental effects of radiation.
　In his speech that followed, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed his belief that, as the road to a "world without nuclear weapons" becomes more difficult due to the widening division in the international community over approaches to nuclear disarmament and Russia's nuclear threat, it is imperative for us to reinvigorate international momentum once more towards the realization of a "world without nuclear weapons", and that the starting point for making firm progress towards the realization of a "world without nuclear weapons" is accurately understanding the tragic realities of the atomic bombings.
　The Prime Minister also spoke about the G7 Hiroshima Summit, where world leaders listened to the voices of atomic bomb survivors and encountered firsthand the realities of the atomic bombings and the desires of people yearning for peace, and the Japanese government urged not only world leaders but also young people and others to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He said "We will continue to work actively to bring about a world without nuclear weapons, giving proper consideration to the discussions of the International Group of Eminent Persons for a World without Nuclear Weapons."
　At the ceremony this time, Ms. Izumi Nakamitsu, UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, read out a message from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Japanese.
　The Secretary-General pledged to support hibakusha as they continued sharing their accounts and the lesson of what happened in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.
　The Secretary-General also commended the world leaders who visited Hiroshima for the summit, seen its monuments, spoken with its brave survivors, and emerged emboldened to take up the cause of nuclear disarmament. However, he urged that more leaders must take nuclear disarmament seriously now that the "drums of nuclear war are beating once again." He then introduced the Policy Brief on A New Agenda for Peace, released at the end of July, which places disarmament at its center, stating, "We will not rest until the nuclear shadow has been lifted once and for all."
　Hiroshima Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki said "From the viewpoint of the sustainability, we should pursue the total elimination of nuclear weapons, upholding it as a common goal of the international community."
　Children's representatives Erena Katsuoka and Tomoru Yonehiro expressed their gratitude for those who survived the devastation of the atomic bombing and saved the chain of life, and read out the Commitment to Peace, saying "We will treat the ardent wish of the hibakusha as something personal and use our own words to convey that wish. we will each take action to pay forward the peace around us. We, the children of Hiroshima, will build a future that everyone can recognize as peaceful."
　In attendance at the ceremony were representatives of bereaved families from 31 prefectures, in addition to representatives and ambassadors from the European Union (EU) and 111 nations, including the nuclear weapon states of the United States, the United Kingdom, and France.
　The full texts of the Peace Declaration and the Commitment to Peace that were read out at the ceremony are available on the City of Hiroshima website.