Nagasaki marks bomb with nuclear-free Japan call
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Doves fly over the 10-metre-tall Peace Statue (top) during the memorial service for A-bomb victims at the Peace Memorial Park in Nagasaki, on Aug 9, 2012. The Japanese western city marked the 67th anniversary of the 1945 US atomic bombing. -- PHOTO: AFP
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Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, (third from left), offers a silent prayer for A-bomb victims during the 67th memorial service at the Peace Memorial Park in Nagasaki, on August 9, 2012. The Japanese western city marked the 67th anniversary of the 1945 US atomic bombing. -- PHOTO: AFP
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Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda offers a wreath of flowers for A-bomb victims during the 67th memorial service at the Peace Memorial Park in Nagasaki, on Aug 9, 2012. The Japanese western city marked the 67th anniversary of the 1945 US atomic bombing. -- PHOTO: AFP
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US Ambassador to Japan John Roos, (center), attends the 67th memorial service for A-bomb victims at the Peace Memorial Park in Nagasaki, on August 9, 2012. The Japanese western city marked the 67th anniversary of the 1945 US atomic bombing. -- PHOTO: AFP
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Christians pray for A-bomb victims during a mass at Uragami Church in Nagasaki, on Aug 9, 2012. The Japanese western city marked the 67th anniversary of the 1945 US atomic bombing. -- PHOTO: AFP
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Hundreds of lanterns float in Green Lake during the "From Hiroshima to Hope Lantern Ceremony" held at Green Lake on Monday, Aug 6, 2012. From Hiroshima to Hope is an annual lantern floating ceremony which is held to promote peace and remember victims of Hiroshima, Nagasaki and all victims of war. -- PHOTO: AP/SEATTLE TIMES
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Br. Senji Kanaeda chants from the Lotus Sutra during the From Hiroshima to Hope Lantern Ceremony held at Green Lake on Monday, Aug 6, 2012. -- PHOTO: AP/SEATTLE TIMES
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Indian students, their faces painted with anti-nuclear messages, are pictured during a rally marking the 67th anniversary of the world's first atomic bombing over Hiroshima by the US, in Mumbai on Aug 6, 2012. The United States has attended for the first time a ceremony commemorating the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, 67 years after the Japanese city's destruction rang in the nuclear age. -- PHOTO: AFP
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A first generation immigrant from Japan holds a lantern to remember the 67th anniversary of the atomic bombings of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, at Ibirapuera Park in Sao Paulo on Aug 5, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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A man holds lanterns to place on a lake at Ibirapuera Park, to remember the 67th anniversary of the atomic bombings of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in Sao Paulo on Aug 5, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
Doves fly over the 10-metre-tall Peace Statue (top) during the memorial service for A-bomb victims at the Peace Memorial Park in Nagasaki, on Aug 9, 2012. The Japanese western city marked the 67th anniversary of the 1945 US atomic bombing. -- PHOTO: AFP
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, (third from left), offers a silent prayer for A-bomb victims during the 67th memorial service at the Peace Memorial Park in Nagasaki, on August 9, 2012. The Japanese western city marked the 67th anniversary of the 1945 US atomic bombing. -- PHOTO: AFP
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda offers a wreath of flowers for A-bomb victims during the 67th memorial service at the Peace Memorial Park in Nagasaki, on Aug 9, 2012. The Japanese western city marked the 67th anniversary of the 1945 US atomic bombing. -- PHOTO: AFP
US Ambassador to Japan John Roos, (center), attends the 67th memorial service for A-bomb victims at the Peace Memorial Park in Nagasaki, on August 9, 2012. The Japanese western city marked the 67th anniversary of the 1945 US atomic bombing. -- PHOTO: AFP
Christians pray for A-bomb victims during a mass at Uragami Church in Nagasaki, on Aug 9, 2012. The Japanese western city marked the 67th anniversary of the 1945 US atomic bombing. -- PHOTO: AFP
Hundreds of lanterns float in Green Lake during the "From Hiroshima to Hope Lantern Ceremony" held at Green Lake on Monday, Aug 6, 2012. From Hiroshima to Hope is an annual lantern floating ceremony which is held to promote peace and remember victims of Hiroshima, Nagasaki and all victims of war. -- PHOTO: AP/SEATTLE TIMES
Br. Senji Kanaeda chants from the Lotus Sutra during the From Hiroshima to Hope Lantern Ceremony held at Green Lake on Monday, Aug 6, 2012. -- PHOTO: AP/SEATTLE TIMES
Indian students, their faces painted with anti-nuclear messages, are pictured during a rally marking the 67th anniversary of the world's first atomic bombing over Hiroshima by the US, in Mumbai on Aug 6, 2012. The United States has attended for the first time a ceremony commemorating the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, 67 years after the Japanese city's destruction rang in the nuclear age. -- PHOTO: AFP
A first generation immigrant from Japan holds a lantern to remember the 67th anniversary of the atomic bombings of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, at Ibirapuera Park in Sao Paulo on Aug 5, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
A man holds lanterns to place on a lake at Ibirapuera Park, to remember the 67th anniversary of the atomic bombings of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in Sao Paulo on Aug 5, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
TOKYO (AFP) - The mayor of Nagasaki called on Thursday for a Japan free of nuclear fears as the city marked the 67th anniversary of its World War II atomic bombing by the United States.
"Even during wartime there are certain unacceptable actions," Mr Tomihisa Taue told a commemoration ceremony held to remember the 74,000 people who died either instantly or in the months and years after the bombing.
Mr Taue pledged support for people whose lives have been upended by meltdowns at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station after it was swamped by the tsunami of March 2011. He also called on the central government to "set new energy policy goals to build a society free from the fear of radioactivity".
The annual ceremony was held near the spot where the US military dropped its plutonium bomb, nicknamed "Fat Man", on Aug 9, 1945, just days ahead of Japan's surrender.
