Nagasaki marks bombing anniversary as Japan debates nuclear taboo

Nagasaki fell silent at 11:02 am on Sunday, the moment a plutonium bomb nicknamed Fat Man detonated above the city 81 years ago. Mayor Shiro Suzuki used the anniversary ceremony to deliver a blunt rebuke to the doctrine of nuclear deterrence, calling the weapons "absolute evil" and warning that reliance on them only raises the risk of catastrophe.

Representatives from more than 90 countries watched as survivors, known as hibakusha, laid wreaths at the Peace Park. Their numbers have dwindled to just over 91,000, with an average age of 86.7, down from 164,000 a decade ago. The group Nihon Hidankyo, which won the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, is even debating whether to continue its national association as members grow frail.

Policy shift under way

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attended the ceremony but avoided any mention of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which Tokyo refuses to sign because Japan sits under the American nuclear umbrella. Her administration is rewriting the national defence strategy, has lifted a self-imposed ban on weapons exports, and is pushing to amend the pacifist constitution. Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi last month called for "discussion without a taboo" on nuclear policy, and an unnamed senior official suggested in December that Japan should acquire its own arsenal.

"The theory of nuclear deterrence is extremely dangerous and fragile. Nuclear weapons are not a 'necessary evil' but an 'absolute evil', and can never coexist with humanity,"

Mayor Suzuki told the gathering, addressing leaders of nuclear-armed states directly.

Coalition partner opens door

Hirofumi Yoshimura, head of the Japan Innovation Party and a coalition ally, said the principle of "not allowing them to be brought in" deserves debate in the context of the US‑Japan alliance. "I do think there is some room for discussion on that point," he told reporters. Critics argue such talk undermines the moral authority Japan has drawn from its unique experience as the only nation to suffer atomic attack.

Survivors demand diplomacy

Hiroshima survivor Satoshi Tanaka, 82, pressed Takaichi at a televised meeting after Thursday's ceremony in Hiroshima. She replied only that Japan "currently adheres" to the three principles, offering no commitment to the future. "That only explains the current situation," Tanaka said later. "It says nothing about the future. It only worries me more."

With regional tensions rising and the hibakusha generation fading, the question is no longer whether Japan will debate the nuclear taboo, but how far the government is willing to move, and whether the survivors' plea for diplomacy over deterrence will still shape the answer.