Hiroshima marks the 76th anniversary of the US atomic bombing and massacre at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on Aug. 6, 2021. (Photo by Kyodo)

Tokyo, August 6 (RHC)-- The Japanese city of Hiroshima has marked the 76th anniversary of the first atomic bombing by the US that killed over 140,000 people, as its mayor called world leaders to join efforts for total elimination of nuclear weapons.

"Nuclear weapons, developed to win wars, are a threat of total annihilation that we can certainly end, if all nations work together," said Hiroshima Mayor Kaxumi Matsui on Friday.  "No sustainable society is possible with these weapons continually poised for indiscriminate slaughter."

Matsui insisted that Hiroshima would never quit preserving the facts about the massive U.S.-perpetrated carnage as well as its continuing efforts to promote a “worldwide culture of peace.”

"Nuclear weapons are the ultimate human violence. If civil society decides to live without them, the door to a nuclear-weapon-free world will open wide," he said.

The United States dropped the world's first atomic bomb -- dubbed "Little Boy" -- on Hiroshima at 8:15 a.m. on August 6, 1945, devastating the entire city and massacring more than 140,000 people. It dropped a second nuclear bomb three days later on the city of Nagasaki, mass-murdering another 70,000 residents.

Despite falling victim to the American use of the atomic bomb, Japan remains among the closest US allies.  Moreover, Tokyo has refused to sign the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons along with the world's nuclear-weapon states.  Even today, Japan is not allowed to have an independent military force and continues to sit under the U.S. “nuclear umbrella.”

The Hiroshima mayor renewed his demand that his own government "immediately" sign and ratify the treaty and join the discussion, to live up to the long-cherished wish of atomic bombing survivors.  He also demanded that Japan provide productive mediation between nuclear and non-nuclear weapons states.

Mayor Matsui further urged world leaders to commit to nuclear disarmament as seriously as they tackle the persisting COVID-19 pandemic that the international community recognizes as "threat to humanity."