In pics | Japan marks 78th anniversary of world's first atomic bomb attack in Hiroshima

On Sunday (August 6), Japan marked the 78th anniversary of the United States atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The day to commemorate the victims of the world's first nuclear attack. 

The memorial ceremony was attended by thousands of people which included ageing survivors, relatives and foreign dignitaries from a record 111 countries. 

The attendees prayed for those killed or wounded in the bombing and called for world peace.

Russia and Belarus were not invited to the ceremony for the second straight year because of the Ukraine war. 

Image shows people visiting the cenotaph for the atomic bomb victims before sunrise at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima on August 6. 

On Sunday, a peace bell tolled at 8:15 am (local time) in Hiroshima the time the bomb was dropped. About 50,000 participants in the outdoor memorial ceremony including ageing survivors observed a moment of silence, with the summer heat hitting 30 degrees Celsius. 

Speaking during the ceremony, Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui called for the abolition of nuclear weapons and called the Group of Seven leaders' notion of nuclear deterrence a "folly". 

"Leaders around the world must confront the reality that nuclear threats now being voiced by certain policymakers reveal the folly of nuclear deterrence theory," said Matsui. 

The Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida while addressing the outdoor memorial ceremony called Russia out on its repeated threat to use nuclear weapons. "Japan, as the only nation to have suffered atomic bombings in war, will continue efforts towards a nuclear-free world," said Kishida. 

He added, "The path towards it is becoming increasingly difficult because of deepening divisions in the international community over nuclear disarmament and Russia's nuclear threat."

Kishida, whose family comes from Hiroshima, also said that, "Devastation brought to Hiroshima and Nagasaki by nuclear weapons can never be repeated."

He also spoke about how the road to a world without nuclear weapons was getting steeper, in part amid Russian nuclear threats, but that this made it all the more important to bring back international momentum towards that goal.

Earlier this year, PM Kishida hosted the G7 summit in Hiroshima, which once again brought the western Japanese city in the spotlight. Kishida has tried to move nuclear disarmament up the global agenda, taking leaders of wealthy democracies to Hiroshima's peace park memorials and museum.

G7 leaders issued a statement expressing their commitment to achieving disarmament but said that as long as nuclear weapons existed, they should serve to deter aggression and prevent war. 

Kishida's comments echoed those of UN chief Antonio Guterres who released a statement on the Hiroshima anniversary and said "some countries are recklessly rattling the nuclear sabre once again, threatening to use these tools of annihilation."

"In the face of these threats, the global community must speak as one. Any use of nuclear weapons is unacceptable," he added.

Image shows people releasing paper lanterns on the Motoyasu River beside the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, commonly known as the atomic bomb dome, on August 6. 

Every year Japan commemorates the anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, respectively, which vaporised lives and flattened the cities instantaneously. 

On August 6, 1945, at 8:15 am (local time) the US dropped an atomic bomb nicknamed "Little Boy" from a B-29 warplane Enola Gay and obliterated the city of Hiroshima, killing approximately 140,000.

The people of the city with an estimated population of 350,000 continued to suffer with thousands more dying later of injuries and radiation-related illnesses.

Three days after the Hiroshima attack, the US dropped another atomic bomb on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. It led to the death of more than 75,000 people. 

Six days later Japan surrendered, on August 15, marking the end of the military aggression that brought it into World War Two.

(Image credit: Hiroshima City/Reuters)

This year's anniversary also comes weeks after the US release of the blockbuster "Oppenheimer" biopic, a biopic about J. Robert Oppenheimer, one of the creators of the atomic weapon and the man who is also known as the "father of the atomic bomb". 

The film's release in Japan has yet to be announced amid speculations that it might not be shown in the country at all.

"Barbie", a blockbuster released on the same day as "Oppenheimer", latched on to fan-produced "Barbenheimer" memes that depicted the actors from both movies in the title roles alongside images of nuclear blasts.

Last week, Japanese social media users expressed outrage over the memes shared using the hashtag #Barbenheimer. Warner Bros. Japan, the local distributor of "Barbie," later apologised after they appeared to back the memes. 

(Image credit: Hiroshima city/Reuters)

Speaking to AFP, Ryo Kento, a student in Tokyo ahead of the Hiroshima anniversary, said, "Seventy-eight years went by and people are starting to forget, so it’s a good moment to make a movie and remind us about what happened." 

However, the ''Oppenheimer" has been criticised by many for largely ignoring the weapons' destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 

There is little appetite in political arenas to reduce stockpiles with Russia repeatedly issuing thinly veiled warnings that it could use nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Along with reported North Korean missile tests and stalling efforts towards non-proliferation have made the progress towards a nuclear-free world difficult.

Earlier this month, in a rare joint call for urgent action to eliminate nuclear weapons, more than 100 medical journals across the world said that the threat of nuclear catastrophe was "great and growing." 

(Image credit: Hiroshima city/Reuters)