Tokyo: Japanese are welcoming President Barack Obama’s decision to visit the atomic-bombed city of Hiroshima, and those interviewed yesterday said they aren’t seeking an apology.
Even those who want one realise that such a demand would have ruled out a US presidential visit. “Of course everyone wants to hear an apology. Our families were killed,” said Hiroshi Shimizu, general secretary of the Hiroshima Confederation of A-Bomb Sufferers Organisations.
“However, by setting conditions we limit world leaders from visiting, so we decided to eliminate that,” he said in Tokyo. “We would first like for them to come and stand on the grounds of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and take a good look at what is in front of them and give it good thought.”
The American and Japanese governments announced on Tuesday that Obama would become the first sitting American president to visit Hiroshima.
Obama will visit Hiroshima with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on May 27, after attending the annual Group of Seven summit in Japan.
A poll released this week by national broadcaster NHK found that 70 per cent of Japanese want Obama to visit Hiroshima, and only 2 per cent were opposed.
The visit is contentious in the US, where many believe the atomic bombs hastened the end of the war, saving countless other lives.
The White House went out its way to stress Obama will not apologise.
Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said Obama would “not revisit the decision to use the atomic bomb,” and instead spotlight the toll of war and offer a forward-looking vision of a non-nuclear world.
— AP
