HIROSHIMA - Hiroshima marked the 81st anniversary of the atomic bombing on August 6 with a peace memorial ceremony at Peace Memorial Park, where Mayor Kazumi Matsui warned of the growing danger that nuclear weapons could be used and called for renewed action toward their abolition. At 8:15 a.m., the exact time the atomic bomb was dropped on the city, participants observed one minute of silence as the Peace Bell rang across the park. In his annual Peace Declaration, Matsui expressed alarm over an international climate in which nuclear weapons could be used and urged countries and individuals to take action to eliminate them. "We must once again learn from the lessons of the past, when the United Nations was established and the world resolved to abolish nuclear weapons." "As the only country to have suffered atomic bombings in war, Japan has a mission to continue its tireless efforts toward realizing a world without nuclear weapons," Takaichi said.