Over 120 countries, regions to attend Hiroshima peace ceremony
A total of 124 countries and regions, as well as the European Union, are currently scheduled to attend the Aug. 6 peace memorial ceremony in Hiroshima this year, the western Japan city said Friday.
The number of attending countries and regions is set to surpass the record high of 111, set in 2023.
Among the nuclear powers, Britain, France, India and Israel will send representatives, while the United States is making arrangements. China, Russia, Pakistan and North Korea have not responded.
The Palestinian Authority, Taiwan and two others will attend for the first time.
The annual ceremony marks the anniversary of the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945.
Hiroshima had been sending out invitations for the ceremony until last year, but this year, the city sent notices to a total of 196 countries and regions, including Russia and Belarus, to which it did not send invitations in the past three years due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
