Hiroshima Day is annually observed across the globe on 6th August to commemorate the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in Japan by the United States of America(USA) in 1945, an event of great significance and catastrophe during World War II.
- 6th August 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
Exam Hints:
- Event: Hiroshima Day 2025
- Date of Observance: 6th August (annually)
- Edition: 80th
- Significance: Remembrance of the 1945 atomic bombing victims during World War – II
- 2025 Events: Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony(Japan) and 63rd Pugwash Conference 2025
About Hiroshima Day 2025:
Background: The 1st Hiroshima Day Peace Festival was held on 6 August 1947, organised by the Hiroshima Peace Festival Association to promote lasting peace and memorial of the victims of the 1945 atomic bombing.
Memorial Park: Every year on 6 August, the Memorial Service is held at the Genbaku Dome, Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, Japan.
- The Genbaku Dome is the only structure left standing after the first atomic bomb explosion on 6th August 1945. It was declared a World Heritage Site(WHS) by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in 1996.
About WW2:
Overview: During World War II (1939-1945), the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Boeing-29 (B-29) Superfortress ‘Enola Gay’ dropped the first atomic bomb, nicknamed ‘Little Boy’, over the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6th August 1945.
- The bomb was detonated at an altitude of 1,800 feet over Hiroshima. This resulted in the loss of 39% of the city’s civilian population.
About Little Boy: It was a gun-type Uranium-235 (U-235) bomb with a force of 15,000 tons of TNT (Trinitrotoluene). It weighed 9,700 pounds and measured 10 feet in length and 28 inches in diameter.
- Colonel Paul Tibbets, USAAF, was the pilot of the B-29 that dropped the “Little Boy” atomic bomb over Hiroshima. The co-pilot was Captain Robert Alvin Lewis, USAAF.
Devastation: The bomb destroyed 13 square kilometres(sq km) (5 square miles) of the city and caused about 140,000 deaths by the end of 1945.
Sequel attack: Three days after the Hiroshima bombing, on 9th August 1945, a B-29 named Bock’s Car dropped the 2nd atomic bomb, nicknamed `Fat Man’, over the city of Nagasaki(Japan), killing an estimated 40,000 people.
Aftermath: After the bombing of Hiroshima & Nagasaki, the Allied powers, which included Great Britain, the USA and the Soviet Union, won WW2, defeating the Axis powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan).
- On 15th August 1945, Japan publicly announced its surrender.
- On 2nd September 1945, Japanese representatives signed the official Instrument of Surrender(IoS), on the deck of the United States Ship (USS) Missouri in Tokyo Bay, Japan.
2025 events:
World Conference against A & H Bombs 2025: It is scheduled to take place from 2 to 9 August 2025 in Hiroshima and Nagasaki for nuclear disarmament advocacy and to advance the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).
- Theme: “With the Hibakusha, Let Us Achieve a Nuclear Weapon-free, Peaceful and Just World – for the Future of the Humankind and Our Planet”
- Hydrogen Bomb(H-Bomb): It is a thermonuclear weapon that uses nuclear fusion and atomic fission to create an explosion.
- H-bombs are more powerful, compact, and lighter than A-bombs.
- Atom Bomb(A-Bomb): It is a fission device that splits heavy atoms to release energy.
63rd Pugwash Conference: The Conference is scheduled to take place in November 2025 at the International Conference Centre in Hiroshima, Japan. It aims to reinvigorate global dialogue on nuclear disarmament and the abolition of war with the Russell-Einstein Manifesto.
- Theme: “80 Years After the Atomic Bombing – Time for Peace, Dialogue and Nuclear Disarmament”
About Japan:
Prime Minister(PM)– Shigeru Ishiba
Capital – Tokyo
Currency- Japanese Yen (JPY)
