A group created a message with candles urging nuclear abolition in Hiroshima on Wednesday, exactly four years after the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons entered into force on January 22, 2021.

About 50 people, including civic group members, gathered in front of the Atomic Bomb Dome in Peace Memorial Park in the city.

They lit 1,500 candles that formed the words "Nuclear & humanity can't coexist!"

A statement was then read out. It says the threat of the use of nuclear weapons has been repeated around the world, putting humanity at risk of a nuclear war.

It refers to the meeting of state parties to the TPNW to be held in the United States in March. The statement calls on participants to work to help not only atomic bomb victims but also other nuclear-related victims around the world in uranium mining and nuclear tests, among other cases.

The Hiroshima Alliance for Nuclear Weapons Abolition organized the event. Co-representative Moritaki Haruko said that even though the international treaty banning nuclear weapons has come into effect, some countries ignore it. She also said people, particularly in Hiroshima, must stand up by joining hands firmly with one another so as not to allow this situation.