Japan is preparing to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the atomic bomb being dropped on Hiroshima. The attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki - bombed three days later - remain the only instances of nuclear weapons used in warfare.
Fast forward to present day Japan, and hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors) continue to warn humanity about the horrors of nuclear war.
Meanwhile, current prime minister Shinzo Abe is determined to revise the country’s famous US-authored pacifist constitution, while his government is attempting to gain public support for the country’s military playing a greater role.
The passing of legislation that could allow Japanese troops to fight abroad for the first time in 70 years was met with huge demonstrations outside Japan’s parliament in Tokyo. And the prime minister remains determined to reintroduce nuclear power into the country’s energy mix, despite large public opposition to restarting any of Japan’s nuclear reactors in the wake of 2011’s Fukushima disaster.
Live in Japan? We’d like to hear your thoughts on the anniversary. Perhaps you, or members of your family are survivors from Hiroshima or Nagasaki, or you simply wish to share your personal view on what the anniversary means to you, and to the country.
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1945年に広島と長崎に原爆が投下されてから、今年で70年目を迎えます。式典行事等に向け、ガーディアンでは読者からの声を募集しています。
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