People offer a prayer on Aug. 9, which marks the 81st anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing at Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki, Japan. (Photo by Mayumi Tsumita)August 9, 2026 10:08 JSTUpdated on August 9, 2026 12:33 JSTNAGASAKI, Japan (Kyodo) -- Nagasaki on Sunday warned nuclear powers and nations relying on nuclear deterrence of the increased risk of a war using nuclear weapons, as the Japanese city marked the 81st anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing with a resolve to prevent such a tragedy from ever happening again."Nuclear weapons are not a 'necessary evil' but an 'absolute evil," and can never coexist with humanity," Mayor Shiro Suzuki said in the Peace Declaration read during the annual memorial ceremony for the attack on the southwestern city, which followed the atomic bombing of Hiroshima three days earlier.A moment of silence was held at 11:02 a.m., when the plutonium device codenamed "Fat Man" was dropped by a U.S. bomber and exploded over Nagasaki. It remains the last place to have suffered a nuclear attack.Still, more than 12,000 nuclear warheads exist, Suzuki pointed out. He expressed concern over unpredictability in the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, where nuclear states are involved, referring to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the U.S.-led war on Iran.In her speech at the ceremony, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi reiterated what she said in the Hiroshima commemoration last Thursday that Japan "is upholding" the three nonnuclear principles.She said that under a pledge to ensure Nagasaki remains the last place to suffer a nuclear attack and with a mission as the only country to have experienced the horror of nuclear devastation in war, Japan will promote "realistic and practical" efforts toward realizing a world free of such weapons."The importance of promoting an accurate understanding around the world of the realities of the atomic bombings is growing ever greater," she added.