U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos on Friday attended an annual ceremony in Hiroshima to mark the 65th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of the city, Xinhua reported.
This was Ambassador Roos' second visit to Hiroshima and the first by an American Ambassador on August 6, a press release posted on the website of the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo said.
It said Ambassador Roos attended the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony to express respect for all the victims of World War II.
According to the release, Ambassador Roos noted, "For the sake of future generations, we must continue to work together to realize a world without nuclear weapons."
On the 65th anniversary of the end of the Second World War it is fitting that we renew our determination to ensure that such a conflict is never again repeated, the release said.
The U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima, which took place on the morning of Aug. 6, 1945, led to the deaths of an estimated 140,000 people toward the end of World War II.
On Aug. 9, a second nuclear bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki, and six days later, Japan surrendered. In the years since the war, many people have developed diseases that are considered to be related to exposure to radiation created by the bombs.