Following is the full text of a speech by Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Friday at an annual ceremony commemorating the atomic bombing of the city of Hiroshima by the United States on Aug. 6, 1945:

Here today, on the occasion of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony, I reverently pay sincere tribute to the souls of the atomic bomb victims. Furthermore, I express my heartfelt sympathy to those suffering from the aftereffects of the atomic bombs.

The horror caused by nuclear weapons should never be repeated. I firmly believe that Japan, as the only country to have experienced nuclear devastation in war, has a moral responsibility to lead in actions toward realizing "a world without nuclear weapons." I will take advantage of various opportunities to appeal for the importance of nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation to world leaders, including the leaders of nuclear weapon states. Moreover, I pledge that Japan will observe its Constitution and firmly maintain the Three Nonnuclear Principles for the sake of the elimination of nuclear weapons and the realization of eternal world peace. Movement toward nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation has gained new momentum since the President of the United States of America Barack Obama delivered his speech on nuclear weapons in Prague in April 2009.