Japan marks 68 years since Hiroshima

Children wear masks to protect themselves from radiation in the devastated city of Hiroshima nearly three years after the U.S. bombing of the city on Aug. 6, 1945.

Around 140,000 people, or more than half of Hiroshima's population at the time, died in the first atomic bombing, with another 70,000 people perishing in the bomb dropped over Nagasaki Aug. 9, 1945. Countless thousands others died in the years following from radiation poisoning.

Aug. 6, 2013 marks the 68th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima.

A mother and her children pray for atomic bomb victims on the day of the 68th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Aug. 6, 2013.

A September 1945 photo shows the remains of the Prefectural Industry Promotion Building after the bombing of Hiroshima, which was later preserved as the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, Atomic Bomb Dome or Genbaku Dome.

People gather at the Peace Memorial park to offer prayers for bomb victims in Hiroshima, Aug. 6, 2013 as ceremonies are held to mark the 68th anniversary of the bombing.

Tens of thousands, including ageing survivors, relatives, government officials and foreign delegates observed a moment of silence at 8:15 am local time, the time of the detonation which turned the city into a nuclear inferno in 1945.

Japanese people pray for atomic bomb victims in front of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, Aug. 6, 2013.

A general panoramic view of Hiroshima showing the devastation after the bomb was dropped, 1945.

The devastated city of Hiroshima days after the first atomic bomb was dropped by a U.S. Air Force B-29, 1945.

Paper cranes are displayed near the Children's Peace Monument at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on the day of the 68th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Aug. 6, 2013.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe lays a flower wreath on an altar for A-bomb victims at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, Aug. 6, 2013.

Family members of atomic bomb victims strike the Peace Bell at a memorial service for A-bomb victims at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, Aug. 6, 2013.

The devastated city of Hiroshima three years after the the atomic bomb was dropped on the city, ca. 1948.

Japanese people wait to pray in front of a monument for atomic bomb vicitims at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on the day of the 68th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Aug. 6, 2013.

Elderly women pray for victims of the 1945 atomic bombing at the Peace Memoral Park in Hiroshima, Aug. 6, 2013.

Two brothers who survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima four days earlier, Aug. 10, 1945.

A woman floats paper lanterns lit in rememberance for victims of the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima on the Motoyasu River in front of the Atomic Bomb Dome at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, Aug. 6, 2013.

People burn incense and pray at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park to mark the 68th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Aug. 6, 2013.

Buddhist monks chant a mantra while beating drums in front of the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima, Aug. 5, 2013.

A woman prays in front of a monument for atomic bomb victims at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, Aug. 6, 2013.

The devastated city of Hiroshima after the first atomic bomb was dropped in 1945.

U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos (C) prays in silence at a memorial service for A-bomb victims at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, Aug. 6, 2013.

Doves fly over the cenotaph dedicated to the victims of the atomic bombing at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park during the ceremony to mark the 68th anniversary of the bombing, Aug. 6, 2013.