Hiroshima responds to news that Obama will not visit the city
Nov. 1, 2010
by Yumi Kanazaki, Staff Writer
On October 29, the people of Hiroshima expressed a range of feelings in response to the news, announced by the U.S. government, that U.S. President Barack Obama will not visit the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during his trip to Japan in November. These feelings included discouragement as well as hope for a possible future visit by the president. Some A-bomb survivors, though, are outraged by the U.S. subcritical nuclear test conducted this past September, the first such test under the Obama administration, and no longer wish for Mr. Obama to come to Hiroshima.
Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba spoke at a press conference and said: “It’s a shame that Mr. Obama will not visit Hiroshima on this occasion, but this won’t be the only chance for the president to come to our city. I hope he will visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki at his earliest convenience and hear the wish of the A-bomb survivors for nuclear abolition.”
Mr. Obama will visit Japan this month to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting. Leaders of Hiroshima, including Mayor Akiba and Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki, sent a letter asking the president to attend “The 2010 World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates,” to be held in the city of Hiroshima around the same time as the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Yokohama.
Takuya Bajo, 17, is a second-year student at Hiroshima Gakuin Senior High School and a member of the “No Nuke Network: Students of Hiroshima Against Nuclear Weapons,” a group that has been campaigning to encourage the leaders of all the nuclear weapon states to visit Hiroshima. He vowed: “I would like for us to continue our efforts to call on President Obama to visit Hiroshima and again strengthen his resolve to eliminate nuclear weapons from the earth.”
Hope for a visit to Hiroshima by Mr. Obama had been growing in Hiroshima. However, after the U.S. subcritical nuclear test, anger and dismay have been stirred among A-bomb survivors.
Akihiro Takahashi, 79, former director of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, has sent four letters to Mr. Obama asking him to visit the city. “Obama should not visit Hiroshima unless he expresses regret over conducting the subcritical nuclear test,” Mr. Takahashi said.
Meanwhile, Sunao Tsuboi, 85, chairman of the Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A-bomb Sufferers Organizations, commented on the president and his sanctioning of the nuclear test, saying, “I wish Obama would have come to Hiroshima earlier to listen to the accounts of A-bomb survivors and learn about the true effects of the atomic bombing.”
Kazuo Okoshi, 70, secretary-general of the other faction of the Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A-bomb Sufferers Organizations, said, “A visit by Obama to Hiroshima would have great significance in and of itself. It’s a shame, then, that he won’t be visiting the city this time. I guess Obama has to take into account conservatives in the United States.”
(Originally published on October 30, 2010)
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What are your thoughts regarding a visit to Hiroshima by U.S. President Barack Obama?(Oct. 20, 2010)
On October 29, the people of Hiroshima expressed a range of feelings in response to the news, announced by the U.S. government, that U.S. President Barack Obama will not visit the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during his trip to Japan in November. These feelings included discouragement as well as hope for a possible future visit by the president. Some A-bomb survivors, though, are outraged by the U.S. subcritical nuclear test conducted this past September, the first such test under the Obama administration, and no longer wish for Mr. Obama to come to Hiroshima.
Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba spoke at a press conference and said: “It’s a shame that Mr. Obama will not visit Hiroshima on this occasion, but this won’t be the only chance for the president to come to our city. I hope he will visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki at his earliest convenience and hear the wish of the A-bomb survivors for nuclear abolition.”
Mr. Obama will visit Japan this month to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting. Leaders of Hiroshima, including Mayor Akiba and Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki, sent a letter asking the president to attend “The 2010 World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates,” to be held in the city of Hiroshima around the same time as the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Yokohama.
Takuya Bajo, 17, is a second-year student at Hiroshima Gakuin Senior High School and a member of the “No Nuke Network: Students of Hiroshima Against Nuclear Weapons,” a group that has been campaigning to encourage the leaders of all the nuclear weapon states to visit Hiroshima. He vowed: “I would like for us to continue our efforts to call on President Obama to visit Hiroshima and again strengthen his resolve to eliminate nuclear weapons from the earth.”
Hope for a visit to Hiroshima by Mr. Obama had been growing in Hiroshima. However, after the U.S. subcritical nuclear test, anger and dismay have been stirred among A-bomb survivors.
Akihiro Takahashi, 79, former director of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, has sent four letters to Mr. Obama asking him to visit the city. “Obama should not visit Hiroshima unless he expresses regret over conducting the subcritical nuclear test,” Mr. Takahashi said.
Meanwhile, Sunao Tsuboi, 85, chairman of the Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A-bomb Sufferers Organizations, commented on the president and his sanctioning of the nuclear test, saying, “I wish Obama would have come to Hiroshima earlier to listen to the accounts of A-bomb survivors and learn about the true effects of the atomic bombing.”
Kazuo Okoshi, 70, secretary-general of the other faction of the Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A-bomb Sufferers Organizations, said, “A visit by Obama to Hiroshima would have great significance in and of itself. It’s a shame, then, that he won’t be visiting the city this time. I guess Obama has to take into account conservatives in the United States.”
(Originally published on October 30, 2010)
Related articles
What are your thoughts regarding a visit to Hiroshima by U.S. President Barack Obama?(Oct. 20, 2010)
