Nagasaki urged world leaders Thursday to conclude a treaty banning nuclear weapons at a ceremony marking the 67th anniversary of its atomic bombing.
"The international community must act now by taking the first concrete steps toward concluding the Nuclear Weapons Convention," Mayor Tomihisa Taue said during the city's annual peace ceremony at Nagasaki Peace Park.
Taue also called on the central government to address the "serious challenge" presented by North Korea's nuclear arms threat, while Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda declared in a speech that Japan has a "responsibility" to encourage countries to eliminate their nuclear arsenals.