🕊️The Hibakusha and Nuclear Disarmament: A Reflection for Hiroshima Day

As we mark the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on this day in 1945, Justice & Peace Scotland ask all our supporters to take a moment to pause in grief, remembrance, and prayer.

On 6th August 1945, the world witnessed devastation unlike anything before when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima killing an estimated 140,000 people; many instantly and others slowly through burns, injury, and radiation sickness. Three days later, on 9th August, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki claiming a further 70,000 lives.

Entire communities were destroyed, towns and villages were wiped out, and generations were left physically and emotionally traumatised. The survivors of these horrific events, inflicted by humanity on humanity, are known as "the hibakusha" or "bomb affected people".

The hibakusha have carried unimaginable physical, emotional, and psychological burdens for decades yet many have dedicated their lives to ensuring the horrors they lived through are never repeated. Many hibakusha have become powerful peace advocates, sharing their personal testimonies with younger generations, political leaders, and international audiences. They have devoted their time and their efforts to sharing their story, calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons and ensuring the world never forgets the human cost of such violence. In 2024, an organisation founded by members of the hibakusha won the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of their efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again.

Inspired by their message of peace and abolition Justice & Peace Scotland host an annual Christian Peace Vigil at Faslane Naval Base, the home of the UK's nuclear arsenal, to call for a future without nuclear weapons.

On Saturday 2nd August, over 130 Christians from across denominations gathered outside Faslane to mark the solemn anniversary of eight decades of the threat of nuclear destruction and to recall with the sorrow the unimaginable suffering inflicted on the mothers, fathers, sons and daughters of Hiroshima and Nagasaki eighty years ago.

We were led in prayer and reflection by Archbishop William Nolan (President of Justice & Peace Scotland), Rt Rev. Rosie Frew (Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland), and Most Rev. Mark Strange (Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church). The vigil was a moment of quiet solidarity with the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and a heartfelt appeal for forms of safety and security among nations that do not rely on weapons of mass destruction.

🙏 In standing together in prayer alongside these leaders and with representatives from The Iona Community, The Quakers and the United Reformed Church in Scotland, we gave voice to the hope carried by the hibakusha themselves: that peace is possible, and that the horror they endured must never be repeated. Thank you to all who joined us.

🕯️We pray that the courage and conviction of the hibakusha will live on in future generations, stirring hearts to choose peace over violence, and life over destruction.
And we pray that world leaders may be inspired to pursue true and lasting security, built not on fear and weapons, but on fraternity, justice, and the common good.