Obama to pay historic visit to Hiroshima, looming "apology tour" narrative

Asia Pacific Daily

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The White House announced the visit in a statement Tuesday morning, saying Obama will visit along with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during a previously scheduled visit to Japan to attend a Group of Seven summit.

Obama's visit will "highlight his continued commitment to pursuing the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapon," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. The U.S. bombing at Hiroshima killed 140,000 Japanese on Aug. 6, 1945.

According to the Yomiuri Shimbun, Obama's visit has been widely anticipated since U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visited the memorial to the Hiroshima bombing in April. Kerry toured the peace museum with other foreign ministers of the Group of Seven industrialized nations.

The United States attacked on Hiroshima in the final days of World War II, thrusting the world into the dangerous Atomic Age. Many Americans believe the bombing, along with another Aug. 9 attack on the city of Nagasaki miles away, hastened the end of the war.

The White House has ruled out the possibility that Obama will apologize for the bombing of Hiroshima.

The ruins of Hiroshima, after the atomic bombing in 1945. Credit Associated Press

The Wall Street Journal reported that Ben Rhodes, a deputy national-security adviser, wrote online Tuesday that the president will reflect on the site’s significance but “will not revisit the decision to use the atomic bomb at the end of World War II.” That claim is disingenuous. To be the first U.S. president to visit Hiroshima is to spark re-evaluations of Truman’s action and invite speculation that Mr. Obama will apologize, at least implicitly.

Abe said May 10 he will accompany U.S. President Barack Obama on his May 27 visit to Hiroshima, adding that he hoped the visit will be an opportunity for Japan and the United States to jointly pay respects to all victims of the atomic bombing, according to The Asahi Shimbun.

“I have decided to visit Hiroshima with President Obama on May 27 following the G-7 summit. Many people mercilessly became victims of the atomic bombing 70 years ago. I hope the president’s upcoming visit will be an opportunity for our two countries to jointly pay respects to all of the victims.

Abe said: “The president will see the realities of the atomic bombing by visiting Hiroshima. The fact that he will express his thoughts on the event to the world will serve as a major force toward achieving a world free from nuclear weapons. To realize such a world, I will make my best efforts together with the president.”

Asked if he would ask Obama for an apology, Abe said: “I believe it is a major decision for a U.S. president to set foot on the atom-bombed site. With me, the leader of the only nation to have used atomic bombs in the world will pay respects to the victims. And I believe that will serve the purpose of responding to the feelings of the victims and agonizing people.”

Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui said in a statement that he welcomed wholeheartedly the president’s decision based on his “rational judgment and conscience.”

He added: “I hope that the president will share the experience of atom bombed people and the “heart of Hiroshima” that prays for peace by knowing the realities of the atomic bombing through his visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. Moreover, I hope that the president will further solidify his determination to achieve a world free from nuclear weapons that he showed in Prague and will come up with concrete initiatives that world political leaders can jointly take on.”

(APD)