The memorial events have been drastically scaled back this year because of the pandemic. Crowds usually reaching in the tens of thousands will be kept away. Just 880 seats, spaced six feet apart, will be placed on the lawn of the park, reserved for dignitaries, civil society representatives, survivors of the bomb attack and families of those killed.

The traditional release of hundreds of doves to symbolize peace was canceled after the pandemic prevented the birds’ being trained to return home. Also called off to avoid crowds: a public ceremony to float thousands of paper lanterns on Hiroshima’s Motoyasugawa River, Japanese media reported. A few dozen lanterns containing messages of peace will be floated to mourn those who lost their lives.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was due to speak on Thursday morning. But U.N. Secretary General António Guterres abandoned plans to attend and instead was to send a video message.

Last year, Matsui also issued an impassioned warning against rising nationalism and heightened global tensions, with nuclear disarmament efforts at a …continued .
[Source: Washington Post]