Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi stopped short of explicitly reaffirming Japan's three nonnuclear principles Thursday as the country marked the 81st anniversary of the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Kyodo News Agency reported.
Speaking after attending the annual memorial ceremony, Takaichi said the government was upholding the longstanding policy and pledged to pursue "realistic and practical" efforts toward a world without nuclear weapons.
But she did not directly commit to maintaining the principles of not producing, possessing or allowing nuclear weapons on Japanese territory as debate grows over the policy amid the current regional security environment.
At the ceremony, Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui urged world leaders to abolish nuclear weapons, warning that they continue to be used as "tools of intimidation" in international conflicts.
He cautioned that accepting the use of force risks another Hiroshima or Nagasaki and called for renewed multilateral efforts on nuclear disarmament.
A moment of silence was observed at 8:15 am local time, marking the exact time the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, killing an estimated 140,000 people by the end of that year.
