Record 127 Nations, Regions to Attend Hiroshima Ceremony

Hiroshima, July 8 (Jiji Press)–Representatives from 127 countries and regions plus the European Union are expected to attend this year’s Aug. 6 ceremony in Hiroshima to honor the victims of the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing of the western Japan city, the municipal government said Wednesday. The number, based on data as of Tuesday, eclipses the current record of 120 countries and regions plus the EU, marked last year. “Efforts to convey the realities of the atomic bombing and the desire for peace are attracting renewed attention,” a city official said. Among nuclear states, Britain, France, India and Israel said they are scheduled to join the peace memorial ceremony. The United States is currently adjusting its schedule, while China, Pakistan and North Korea have yet to respond. An official at the Russian Embassy in Tokyo indicated that the country will not attend the event. The country will therefore skip the ceremony for the fifth consecutive year since it started invading Ukraine in February 2022. Last year, the city of Hiroshima shifted from inviting countries and regions to the annual ceremony to notifying them of the event. Following the change, Taiwan attended the event for the first time last year and is slated to take part again this year. Hiroshima was flattened by a U.S. atomic bomb on Aug. 6, 1945, in the closing days of World War II. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]