The city of Nagasaki commemorated the 78th anniversary of the atomic bombing this week.
It was a quiet ceremony: Concern that Typhoon Khanun might strike forced officials to move events indoors and shrink their size. That is a pity. There were expectations of a much larger service following the visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum by heads of state during the Group of Seven summit that was held in May. This attention would allow Japan to build on the Hiroshima Vision, released at that gathering, and continue efforts to promote nuclear disarmament.
Nagasaki has held an annual commemoration of the atomic bomb attack since 1956. At 11:02 a.m., a moment of silence marked the exact time when the bomb exploded over the city, killing about 74,000 people by the end of the year and leaving countless more to suffer the effects of the blast — physical and psychological — for the rest of their lives.