Documenting Hiroshima 80 years after the atomic bombing: On October 9, 1957, head of foreign state visits Hiroshima first time after the atomic bombing
Mar. 26, 2025
by Minami Yamashita, Staff Writer
On October 9, 1957, Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, visited Hiroshima as the first head of foreign state to visit after the atomic bombing.
At Peace Memorial Park located in the present-day Naka Ward, Hiroshima, Mr. Nehru made an address to the audience of about 30,000 people who had gathered, and asked, “The answer to the atom bomb or the hydrogen bomb is not a bigger atomic bomb or a hydrogen bomb. You have to seek some other kind of answer, and the world today has to choose between two paths, the path of ever-greater violence symbolized by the nuclear bombs or the path of peace and compassion symbolized by the message of the Buddha.” Then he added that he would urge the world to learn from Hiroshima.
To commemorate the visit, he planted a seedling of a Himalayan cedar tree near the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims. At the time, the City of Hiroshima had called on local municipalities, organizations, and individuals in Hiroshima Prefecture to provide trees for increasing greenery on Peace Boulevard.
(Originally published on March 26, 2025)
On October 9, 1957, Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, visited Hiroshima as the first head of foreign state to visit after the atomic bombing.
At Peace Memorial Park located in the present-day Naka Ward, Hiroshima, Mr. Nehru made an address to the audience of about 30,000 people who had gathered, and asked, “The answer to the atom bomb or the hydrogen bomb is not a bigger atomic bomb or a hydrogen bomb. You have to seek some other kind of answer, and the world today has to choose between two paths, the path of ever-greater violence symbolized by the nuclear bombs or the path of peace and compassion symbolized by the message of the Buddha.” Then he added that he would urge the world to learn from Hiroshima.
To commemorate the visit, he planted a seedling of a Himalayan cedar tree near the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims. At the time, the City of Hiroshima had called on local municipalities, organizations, and individuals in Hiroshima Prefecture to provide trees for increasing greenery on Peace Boulevard.
(Originally published on March 26, 2025)
