AMID the tributes paid yesterday at the marking of the 75th year anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, survivors of the disaster confronted Japan’s prime minister Shinzo Abe.

An upsurge of coronavirus cases in meant a much smaller than normal turnout at the event yesterday – but survivors had a clear message for their own government and others to do more to ban nuclear weapons. The Japanese government has refused to sign a nuclear weapons ban treaty.

“Could you please respond to our request to sign the Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty?” Tomoyuki Mimaki, a member of a major survivors’ group, Hidankyo, asked.

“The milestone 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing is a chance to change course.”

Abe insisted on Japan’s policy not to sign the treaty, vaguely citing a “different approach”, though he did say that the government shared the goal of eliminating nuclear weapons.

In his speech at the ceremony, the prime minister said a nuclear-free world cannot be achieved overnight and it has to start with dialogue.

“Japan’s position is to serve as a bridge between different sides and patiently promote their dialogue and actions to achieve a world without nuclear weapons,” he said.

Hiroshima mayor Kazumi Matsui had earlier urged world leaders to more seriously commit to nuclear disarmament, pointing out Japan’s failures.

“As the only nation to suffer a nuclear attack, Japan must persuade the global public to unite with the spirit of Hiroshima. I ask the Japanese government to become a party to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.”

The bombing’s survivors lamented the slow progress of nuclear disarmament and expressed anger over what they said was the Japanese government’s reluctance to help and listen to those who suffered.

They asked for world leaders, especially those from nuclear-weapons states, to visit Hiroshima and see the reality of the atomic bombing.

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres was expected to visit Hiroshima but was unable to attend the ceremony because of coronavirus. In a video message from New York he said: “Seventy-five years is far too long not to have learned that the possession of nuclear weapons diminishes, rather than reinforces, security. Today, a world without nuclear weapons seems to be slipping further from our grasp.”

Pope Francis sent a message to organisers of the anniversary commemoration saying the “use of atomic energy for purposes of war is immoral”.

Keiko Ogura, 84, who survived the atomic bombing aged eight, wants non-nuclear states to pressure Japan into signing the nuclear weapons prohibition treaty.

“Many survivors are offended by the prime minister of this country because he does not sign the nuclear weapons prohibition treaty,” she said.