• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended the annual Nagasaki Peace Memorial Ceremony held in the Peace Park in Nagasaki City.

Approximately 6,300 people including atomic bomb victims and bereaved family members, as well as representatives of 44 nations and the European Union, attended the ceremony, which was held on the 68th anniversary of the atomic bombing, praying for the repose of the souls of the war dead and for world peace. This was also the first time that a representative from India attended the ceremony.

Mr. Tomihisa Taue, Mayor of Nagasaki City; and the representatives of the bereaved family members, the atomic bomb victims, and Nagasaki City youth placed at the site the list of the names of the atomic bomb victims who had been confirmed dead in the past year. The representatives of the bereaved family members, the atomic bomb victims, and elementary, junior high, and high school students offered water. Mayor Taue, Prime Minister Abe, and other guests then offered wreathes.

The Bell of Nagasaki was rung at 11:02 a.m., when the atomic bomb was dropped, and the participants prayed in silence for a minute. Following Mayor Taue's Peace Declaration, the recital of the Promise for Peace by a representative of the atomic bomb victims, and the choral singing by elementary school students, Prime Minister Abe and the Governor of Nagasaki Prefecture delivered addresses.

The ceremony closed with choral singing by high school students.

After the ceremony, the Prime Minister attended the Meeting to Listen to Requests by Representatives of Atomic Bomb Victims at a hotel in Nagasaki City, and heard requests from representatives from five groups of atomic bomb victims and others, followed by a press conference.

Afterwards, the Prime Minister visited a nursing home for atomic bomb survivors in Nagasaki, the Hill of Grace Nagasaki A-Bomb Home.