Read our Privacy noticeHiroshima on Thursday marked the 81st anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of the western Japanese city, with its mayor criticizing major powers for waging wars and urging them to stop justifying the possession of nuclear weapons as a method of deterrence. “Downplaying the inhumanity of nuclear weapons and accepting the use of force to pursue one’s own prosperity risk cycles of violent retaliation that could ultimately result in another Hiroshima or Nagasaki,” Mayor Kazumi Matsui said. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who attended the memorial for the first time as prime minister, said she will take “a realistic approach” toward achieving a world where nuclear weapons are never used, within the framework of the United Nations' treaty to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. Takaichi has advocated a review of the principles for a possibility of dropping the third one — of not permitting nuclear weapons to be brought into the country. Survivors have expressed frustration and worry over growing support for the possession of nuclear weapons for deterrence by the international community, including Japan.