Marked the anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki; America and Britain were absent

At this year's commemoration, several ambassadors canceled their participation after the city in southwestern Japan decided not to invite representatives of Israel to the commemoration, Kyodo reported.

"Amid the uncertainty regarding when the Russian invasion of Ukraine will come to an end and the growing concern about the spread of armed conflict in the Middle East, we are currently facing a critical situation with an increased likelihood of the use of nuclear weapons," Suzuki said.

Suzuki demanded that the Japanese government sign and ratify the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and called on Japan to hold talks on easing tensions and advancing disarmament in Northeast Asia.

A minute's silence was held at exactly 11:02 a.m. local time when an American bomber dropped a plutonium bomb that exploded over Nagasaki on August 9, 1945.

US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel and British Ambassador to Japan Julia Longbottom did not attend the commemoration after Israel was not invited to the gathering. The Canadian and French ambassadors did not attend.

A letter to Mayor Suzuki, released Wednesday and sent by envoys from the EU, the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and the US, expressed concern that the lack of an invitation to Israel would result in putting Tel Aviv on the same level as Russia and Belarus.

Russia and Belarus were not invited to the ceremonies in Hiroshima or Nagasaki for three years in a row due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Suzuki said on July 31 and August 8 that Israel would not be invited due to fears that protests the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip could affect the commemoration of the anniversary, but said the decision was "not political".

Palestine, meanwhile, was invited. At the commemoration in Hiroshima, the representation of Israel was allowed, but Palestine was not invited. The Palestinian representative in Japan and civil groups criticized the authorities of Hiroshima for their decision.

The attack on Nagasaki came three days after the US dropped a uranium bomb on Hiroshima, about 300 kilometers to the northeast. An estimated 74,000 people were killed, and many more suffered from the effects of burns and radiation-related illnesses long after the attack.

The total number of official survivors of the two nuclear attacks stood at 106,825 as of March this year, down 6,824 from a year earlier, according to Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

The average age of survivors of the nuclear explosion exceeded 85 years.