On Saturday, Japan solemnly commemorates the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki, with one of the most poignant moments of this year’s observance being the ringing of the twin cathedral bells. This marks the first time since the atomic bomb was dropped on the city eight decades ago that the bells will toll, poignantly recalling the exact moment the tragedy unfolded, and honoring the lives lost in one of history’s most devastating chapters.

At 11:02 a.m. on August 9, 1945—three days after Hiroshima was devastated—the United States detonated an atomic bomb over Nagasaki, marking the second and final nuclear attack in history.

This year’s commemoration began under heavy morning rain, which cleared just in time for a solemn moment of silence and a remembrance ceremony. During the observance, Nagasaki’s mayor appealed for an immediate end to armed conflicts worldwide, framing the anniversary as both a memorial and a warning against the continued threat of war.

“Eighty years have passed, and who could have imagined that the world would become like this?

“A crisis that could threaten the survival of humanity, such as a nuclear war, is looming over each and every one of us living on this planet.”

About 74,000 people were killed in the southwestern port city, on top of the 140,000 killed in Hiroshima.

Days later, on August 15, 1945, Japan surrendered, marking the end of World War II.

Historians have debated whether the bombings ultimately saved lives by bringing an end to the conflict and averting a ground invasion.

But those calculations meant little to survivors, many of whom battled decades of physical and psychological trauma, as well as the stigma that often came with being a hibakusha.

Ninety-three-year-old survivor Hiroshi Nishioka, who was just three kilometres (1.8 miles) from the spot where the bomb exploded, told ceremony attendees of the horror he witnessed as a young teenager.

“Even the lucky ones (who were not severely injured) gradually began to bleed from their gums and lose their hair, and one after another they died,” he recalled.

“Even though the war was over, the atomic bomb brought invisible terror.”

Nagasaki resident Atsuko Higuchi told AFP it “made her happy” that everyone would remember the city’s victims.

“Instead of thinking that these events belong to the past, we must remember that these are real events that took place,” the 50-year-old said.

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On Saturday, the two bells of Nagasaki’s Immaculate Conception Cathedral rang together for the first time since 1945.

The imposing red-brick cathedral, with its twin bell towers atop a hill, was rebuilt in 1959 after it was almost completely destroyed in the monstrous explosion just a few hundred meters away.

Only one of its two bells was recovered from the rubble, leaving the northern tower silent.

With funds from US churchgoers, a new bell was constructed and restored to the tower, and chimed Saturday at the exact moment the bomb was dropped.

The cathedral’s chief priest, Kenichi Yamamura, said the bell’s restoration “shows the greatness of humanity”.

“It’s not about forgetting the wounds of the past but recognising them and taking action to repair and rebuild, and in doing so, working together for peace,” Yamamura told AFP.

He also sees the chimes as a message to the world, shaken by multiple conflicts and caught in a frantic new arms race.

“We should not respond to violence with violence, but rather demonstrate through our way of living, praying, how senseless it is to take another’s life,” he said.

Nearly 100 nations took part in this year’s remembrance of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, with Russia notably excluded for a third consecutive year following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Israel, which was left out of last year’s event due to the Gaza conflict, returned to the commemorations.

One of the most symbolic moments of the ceremony centred on the unveiling of a new cathedral bell—a project initiated by James Nolan, a sociology professor at Williams College in Massachusetts. Nolan, whose grandfather worked on the Manhattan Project, was inspired during his research in Nagasaki when a local Christian expressed the hope of hearing the cathedral’s two bells ring together within his lifetime.

Over the course of a year, Nolan delivered lectures across the United States, largely in church settings, to share the history and human cost of the atomic bomb. His efforts rallied support from American Catholics, ultimately raising $125,000 to fund the casting and installation of the new bell.