IN Hiroshima, Thousands of people attended a ceremony held by the Motoyasu River on Tuesday, to commemorate the 79 years since the atomic bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
This memorial event has been taking place annually since 1947.
Thousands of colourful lanterns float down the river, accompanied by music.
Attendees released lanterns with messages of peace and love, while others captured the moment on their phones or prayed.
To recall, on August 6 and 9, 1945, the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Around 140,000 people were killed in Hiroshima and 74,000 in Nagasaki.
The two devastating bombings led to the end of the second world war, and to this day, this event remains the first and only use of nuclear weapons in warfare.
Meanwhile, on the same day, Prime Minister Kishida participated in a ceremony held at Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial, where he expressed his condolences to the victims of the atomic bomb.
