In August 1945, during WWII, US pilots dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Hiroshima blast killed up to 140,000 of the city's 350,000 population on August 6 that year, with Nagasaki losing approximately 74,000 on August 9.
"Eighty years ago on this day, an atomic bomb exploded, and it is believed that more than 100,000 precious lives were lost," Shigeru Ishiba said during the commemorative ceremony on Wednesday, without mentioning the United States as the country responsible for the bombing.
Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui mentioned the US only in the context of being one of the countries that possess nuclear weapons.
In his address dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the US bombing of Hiroshima, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made no mention of the country responsible. The address was read out in Japanese by UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu and only mentioned that "the lives of tens of thousands of people were taken" in the Hiroshima tragedy.
Over 120 representatives of foreign nations, as well as Japanese politicians, participated in the Wednesday commemorative ceremony in Hiroshima marking 80 years since the atomic bombing.