Memorial Mass Held at Nagasaki’s Urakami Cathedral 81 Years On

Nagasaki, Aug. 9 (Jiji Press)–About 250 people gathered and offered prayers at a memorial mass held at Urakami Cathedral in the city of Nagasaki on Sunday, which marked the 81st anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of the southwestern Japan city. At the cathedral, many Christians were killed by the bomb dropped on the city on Aug. 9, 1945, in the closing days of World War II. Fusayo Yamaguchi, a 79-year-old Nagasaki resident, has visited the cathedral on the anniversary for more than 50 years to mourn the victims of the nuclear attack. Yamaguchi said she comes to the mass with the feeling that “it’s always the same.” The parents of her husband were exposed to radiation from the atomic bomb. “It’s natural for people in Nagasaki to think that nuclear weapons are not necessary,” she said. Yamaguchi said anxiously: “(Leaders of nuclear weapons states) are saying that (nuclear arms) are necessary to protect their countries. But is it really all right? It would be peaceful if a solution is reached through dialogue.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]