Summary
9 August 2010
Japan has marked the 65th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki in 1945. The attack killed more than 70,000 people and led to Japan's surrender less than a week later.
Reporter
Roland Buerk
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Report
A choir of survivors of the nuclear attack performed a song as the ceremony began, called Never Again. And at two minutes past 11 a bell tolled, to mark the moment the bomb fell on Nagasaki 65 years ago. The crowd stood in silence.
Among the survivors and the families of the dead were the representatives of more than thirty countries. They heard Nagasaki's mayor call for the elimination of nuclear weapons.
Last week the United States sent its Ambassador to Japan, John Roos, to the ceremony at Hiroshima for the first time. But he did not attend the memorial in Nagasaki.
The bombing in 1945 killed more than 70,000 people in the city.
Within a week Japan surrendered, bringing an end to the war in the Pacific.
Roland Buerk, 大象传媒 News, Tokyo
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Grammar
- choir
a group of people who sing together, usually in church
- ceremony
formal event to mark a special occasion
- tolled
rang slowly and repeatedly
- bomb
exploding weapon (in this case, one with the power to destroy a city)
- survivors
people who have lived through an event where they came close to death
- representatives
people acting officially for other groups
- mayor
the elected leader of a town or city
- elimination
removal
- memorial
event or statue to remember the people who have died (in this case it is an event)
- surrendered
stopped fighting and admitted defeat
