Peace Declaration (1957)

Today, on the twelfth anniversary of the destruction of our city by the atomic bomb, we, the people of Hiroshima, are in a position to evaluate the significance of the disaster with greater calmness and precision.

The instantaneous force of destruction exhibited by the atomic bomb in its terrific heat and blast was indeed unprecedented, reducing Hiroshima to ruins almost inconceivable. But in the new Hiroshima born thereafter on the debris out of the strenuous efforts of her citizens, a dreadful fact has come to light that the bomb has left yet another invisible force of destruction still at work in the body of the survivors. We now know that radioactivity once absorbed in a human body will continue to gradually undermine it, transmitting its devastating effects genetically down to posterity. Cases of premature death occurring from year to year among our survivors are feared to be indicative of the grievous evils that will in all probability persist into distant future.

Our present world is already exposed to the same evils of radiation in varying degrees. The current tests of atomic and hydrogen bombs are undermining, slowly but steadily, the very existence of mankind by the formidable amounts of radiation they release into the atmosphere.

As we stand today before the Cenotaph symbolizing the costly sacrifice offered by those who perished in the disaster, and pray for the repose of their souls, we feel ourselves urged to point out that all efforts directed at the bringing about of peace by dint of power, upon which ultimately rests the justification of the possession and testing of nuclear weapons, are doomed to be a sheer illusion. We therefore make appeal to the whole world that a true path to peace be chosen at once, to safeguard mankind from the greatest of crises that have ever confronted it, and in doing so, we solemnly pledge ourselves to do what is in our power to help achieve this end.

August 6, 1957

Tadao Watanabe
Mayor
The City of Hiroshima