It has been a dangerous time in the lead up to the recent - North Korea fired two missiles over Japan in the space of a month, heightening tensions between the two countries.
The missile tests have also rekindled the memory of the devastating nuclear attack 72 years ago on the western Japanese city of Hiroshima.
The atomic bomb, dropped on August 6, 1945, killed an estimated 140,000 people – some instantly, and others by the end of the year due to radiation poisoning.
It was followed three days later by the bombing of Nagasaki, a city on the Japanese island of Kyushu, which killed more than 70,000 people.
One lifelong resident of Hiroshima, now in his 80s, told SBS News that the legacy of what occurred in 1945 remains with him.
A mushroom cloud billows one hour after the bombing of Hiroshima. Source: AAP
“I didn't experience it myself - but my mother and father told me there was nothing left here after the bomb. By the time I was in my twenties we had rebuilt this city,” he said.
The re-elected Japanese government is committed to addressing the threat posed by North Korea, but the elderly man said he fears what the future holds.
'We don't forget the past': Hiroshima residents speak to SBS News. Source: SBS News
“I'm scared. I watched on TV how the North Korean missiles flew over Hokkaido and was really afraid of what might happen. I'm against what North Korea's is doing. I'm against nuclear weapons... They're terrible.”
North Korea staged its first nuclear test in 2006 and successive blasts are believed to have been aimed at refining designs and reliability as well as increasing yield.
'I'm afraid of the missile threat from North Korea' one young man in Hiroshima said. Source: SBS News
Its fifth detonation, in September last year, caused a 5.3 magnitude quake and according to Seoul had a 10-kiloton yield - still less than the 15-kiloton US device which destroyed Hiroshima in 1945.
North Korea carried out a sixth nuclear test in September that was more powerful than any it has previously detonated.
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One student in Hiroshima told SBS News he believes the threat posed by North Korea remains real.
“I think that peace is really important for people in Hiroshima. Right now we have the missile threat from North Korea and Trump. For me I think that dialogue is the only way,” he said.
His friend was also afraid.
“Hiroshima has a history of being attacked with a nuclear bomb, so I'm afraid of the missile threat from North Korea and I think that there must be another way to work out our differences,” he said.
Almost two million people visited Hiroshima in 2016, curious crowds interested in so-called 'dark tourism' travelling to sights known as places where disasters, violence or war have occurred.
The aftermath of the explosion in Hiroshima. (AP) Source: AP
The city has preserved the memory of the world's first nuclear attack, with monuments bearing witness to the attack.
Hiroshima's local government also wants to promote itself as a place that promotes peace outlining how it hopes to contribute to the global abolition of nuclear weapons worldwide.
Another lifelong resident of Hiroshima said she feels for the people of North Korea but also condemned the actions of the North Korean government.
Students offer prayers for the victims of Hiroshima at Peace Memorial Park on the 72th anniversary. (AAP) Source: AAP
“So many families in Hiroshima were destroyed in the war. But now we're a city where we can enjoy our sport and leisure as well as other things,” she told SBS News.
“I think that while we don't forget the past, Hiroshima is a place where we think about peace. I think that North Koreans are people just like us and I empathise with them on that level but we can't go on living in a situation where their missiles are flying over our heads.”
