Japan is commemorating the 67th anniversary of the U.S. bombing of Hiroshima today amidst mounting protests over the country’s nuclear woes. The acute effects of the 1945 Hiroshima bombing eventually killed an estimated 166,000 people. Japan, meanwhile, has seen record numbers take to the streets in recent months to demand an end to nuclear power more than one year after the Fukushima nuclear disaster. At a ceremony marking the anniversary, Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui linked Fukushima to the Hiroshima bombing.

Kazumi Matsui: “With the cataclysmic disaster at the nuclear plant, it has become very difficult for humanity to forget. Even now, those trying to live with the aftermath of disaster, their experiences overlap with those who experienced that day 67 years ago.”