Hiroshima marks atomic bomb anniversary

STORY: "Leaders around the world must confront the reality that nuclear threats now being voiced by certain policymakers reveal the folly of nuclear deterrence theory," Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui said at the ceremony, also attended by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

The day to commemorate the victims of the world's first nuclear attack comes as Russia has raised the spectre of using nuclear weapons in its war with Ukraine.

On Sunday, a peace bell tolled at 8:15 a.m. (2315 GMT on Saturday), the time the bomb was dropped. About 50,000 participants in the outdoor memorial ceremony including ageing survivors observed a moment of silence, with the summer heat hitting 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit).

Kishida said the road to a world without nuclear weapons was getting steeper, due in part to Russia's nuclear threats, but that this made it all the more important to bring back international momentum towards that goal.