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Hiroshima mayor sends letter to President Obama, seeking future collaboration for nuclear abolition

by Gosuke Nagahisa, Staff Writer

Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui has sent a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama, who will end his time as president on January 20, to express appreciation for his visit to Hiroshima last May and request his cooperation in the future for the goal of abolishing nuclear weapons. The Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation (chaired by Mr. Matsui), an organization which serves as the secretariat of Mayors for Peace, revealed this news on January 6.

Regarding Mr. Obama’s visit to Hiroshima, Mr. Matsui stressed its significance in the letter by writing, “It has been a great source of hope for us that you emphasized the importance of making a better future based on the experiences of the hibakusha.” He also expressed his wish to promote collaboration between Mayors for Peace, which currently has 7,205 member cities in 162 nations and regions, and the Barack Obama Foundation, to advance the realization of a world without nuclear weapons, even after Mr. Obama leaves the White House.

The letter was dated December 16, 2016. The staff of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation reported that Yasuyoshi Komizo, the chair of the organization, visited the United States Embassy in Tokyo on December 20, and handed the letter to Caroline Kennedy, the U.S. ambassador to Japan. According to foundation staff, Ms. Kennedy told Mr. Komizo that President Obama would consider the contents seriously.

(Originally published on January 7, 2017)

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