Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki said Friday that he will call on world leaders to chart a concrete path toward abolishing nuclear weapons, in a speech to be delivered at an annual peace ceremony next week.
He will make the speech on Aug. 9 at the ceremony to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of the city.
Suzuki will urge countries to stop wars immediately and express concern about nuclear war, according to an outline of his speech.
He will also share messages from hibakusha atomic bomb survivors and of the cruelty of nuclear weapons by referring to the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, or Nihon Hidankyo, which won last year's Nobel Peace Prize, and a speech by the late former Nihon Hidankyo co-chair Senji Yamaguchi.
"Amid the growing threat of nuclear war, we will call on people to act as global citizens, who transcend races and borders, and make peace," Suzuki said at a news conference.
He also expressed determination to pass on the messages of hibakusha to future generations.
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