For the first time, G-7 leaders will visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum together, and lay flowers at the cenotaph for victims of the 1945 U.S. atomic bomb
For the first time, G-7 leaders will visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum together, and lay flowers at the cenotaph for victims of the 1945 U.S. atomic bomb
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Kyodo:^1
>Group of Seven leaders are set to lay flowers at the cenotaph for victims of the 1945 U.S. atomic bomb, located in the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, on the first day of their summit in May, diplomatic sources said Wednesday.
>It will be the first time that the G-7 leaders have visited the museum and laid flowers at the park together, according to the sources, with Kishida eager to pitch his vision of a world free of nuclear weapons at the summit in his home constituency of Hiroshima.
>In addition to a joint communique, the Japanese government is arranging the release, following the three-day summit from May 19, of a separate document centering on the commitment of the G-7 to nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, the sources said.
>In 2016, then U.S. President Barack Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima in western Japan, on the occasion of the previous G-7 summit in Japan.
^1 Kyodo News (26 Apr. 2023), “G-7 leaders set to lay flowers at cenotaph for Hiroshima A-bomb victims”, https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2023/04/c94a4957b42c-g-7-leaders-set-to-lay-flowers-at-cenotaph-for-hiroshima-a-bomb-victims.html
I was visiting Hiroshima University this past summer around the time of the Peace Memorial Ceremony and was able to hear from Keiko Ogura, who had survived the bombing as a child. Incredible experience at an incredible city. I would highly recommend any who can to visit–regardless of one’s beliefs concerning the bomb, it is important to understand the human impact of its use.
As a side note, it was also very interesting to witness the protests against Kishida by Hiroshima residents!
At this rate they might be able to admit it was as unnecessary as it was a war crime in about another 80 years.
And in case anyone gets confused all the firebombings of cities were there same.