"Today there are over 19,000 nuclear weapons in the world. I ask you, what would happen to humanity if a modern nuclear weapon far more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were to be used again?" Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue told those gathered at the ceremony.
"To ensure that Nagasaki is the last city to be a victim of nuclear attack, it is essential to definitively ban not only the use of nuclear weapons but everything from their development to their deployment," Mayor Taue said.