August 9 was the first Nagasaki A-bomb day of the new century. "Nagasaki Peace Memorial Ceremony" was held at the Peace Park in Matsuyama-machi, Nagasaki, with surviving A-bomb victims and families in attendance. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and foreign chiefs visiting for the World Conference of Mayors for Peace through Inter-city Solidarity also attended the ceremony to pray for the souls of the victims.

Mayor Iccho Itoh of Nagasaki referred to the United States as a "nuclear superpower" in his Peace Declaration, expressing a concern over an apparent allusion to move to a unilateral annulment of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).

Itoh summarized that the 20th century "gave birth to nuclear weapons, of which 30,000 nuclear warheads still remain in existence and are now on the verge of expanding into space." He emphasized that "We, the citizens of Nagasaki, hereby pledge to exert every possible effort to ensure that the 21st century is an age of peace, free from nuclear weapons," by reinforcing solidarity with world cities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

In the Peace Declaration, Mayor Itoh appealed to the nuclear states to honor "an unequivocal undertaking to accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals..." agreed upon in May of last year at the 2000 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. He also urged the Japanese government to play an active role in nuclear abolition, as the country that suffered from atomic bombs.

The mayor also requested further assistance for A-bomb survivors in Japan and overseas, and called attention to those suffering in Nagasaki in areas not designated as affected areas.

He praised the voluntary peace activities by the youths, and announced a plan to establish a "Nagasaki Peace Study Program," for studying A-bombs, peace, and human rights.

During the memorial ceremony, three books containing the names of 2,439 bomb victims, whose deaths were confirmed in the past year, were dedicated. At 11:02am, the time of the bombing, a bell rang and the participants had a moment of silence.