Emperor and Empress to visit Hiroshima on June 19-20, their first time since acceding to throne, to lay flowers at Cenotaph for A-bomb victims and meet with A-bomb survivors
May 20, 2025
by Masanori Wada, Staff Writer
On May 19, the Imperial Household Agency announced the Emperor and Empress of Japan would visit Hiroshima Prefecture on June 19 and 20 to honor the victims in the atomic bombing, in conjunction with the 80th anniversary of the end of the war. They would also lay flowers at the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims and meet with A-bomb survivors. This will be their first visit to Hiroshima since acceding to the throne.
According to the agency, the Emperor and Empress will depart from Haneda Airport on a special plane and arrive at Hiroshima Airport in Mihara on June 19. They will then visit Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima’s Naka Ward to lay flowers at the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims. They are also scheduled to tour the Exhibit Facility for Atomic-Bombed Remnants, which conveys the devastation of the former Nakajima district that was annihilated in the bombing, and to meet with A-bomb survivors at the Peace Memorial Museum.
On June 20, they will visit the Yagi district in Asaminami Ward, where a landslide caused severe damage in 2014. After visiting the debris dam, they will meet with victims at the Hiroshima City Torrential Rain Disaster Memorial Center, which preserves the memory of the disaster, in which 77 people lost their lives in the city. They will then visit Yano Orizuru-en, a nursing home for A-bomb survivors in Aki Ward to meet with residents before departing for Tokyo from Hiroshima Airport.
This will be the first time the Emperor has visited the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims since October 2006, when he was Crown Prince. For the Emperor and Empress together, it will be the first time in 25 years, since they last visited in November 2000. In December 2014, a year before the 70th anniversary of the end of the war, the then Emperor and Empress visited Hiroshima to lay flowers at the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims.
To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of the war, the Emperor and Empress visited the island of Iwo Jima (now part of the village of Ogasawara, Tokyo) in April. They will visit Okinawa Prefecture with their daughter, Aiko, on June 4 and 5, and will honor the A-bomb victims in Nagasaki Prefecture in September.
(Originally published on May 20, 2025)
On May 19, the Imperial Household Agency announced the Emperor and Empress of Japan would visit Hiroshima Prefecture on June 19 and 20 to honor the victims in the atomic bombing, in conjunction with the 80th anniversary of the end of the war. They would also lay flowers at the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims and meet with A-bomb survivors. This will be their first visit to Hiroshima since acceding to the throne.
According to the agency, the Emperor and Empress will depart from Haneda Airport on a special plane and arrive at Hiroshima Airport in Mihara on June 19. They will then visit Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima’s Naka Ward to lay flowers at the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims. They are also scheduled to tour the Exhibit Facility for Atomic-Bombed Remnants, which conveys the devastation of the former Nakajima district that was annihilated in the bombing, and to meet with A-bomb survivors at the Peace Memorial Museum.
On June 20, they will visit the Yagi district in Asaminami Ward, where a landslide caused severe damage in 2014. After visiting the debris dam, they will meet with victims at the Hiroshima City Torrential Rain Disaster Memorial Center, which preserves the memory of the disaster, in which 77 people lost their lives in the city. They will then visit Yano Orizuru-en, a nursing home for A-bomb survivors in Aki Ward to meet with residents before departing for Tokyo from Hiroshima Airport.
This will be the first time the Emperor has visited the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims since October 2006, when he was Crown Prince. For the Emperor and Empress together, it will be the first time in 25 years, since they last visited in November 2000. In December 2014, a year before the 70th anniversary of the end of the war, the then Emperor and Empress visited Hiroshima to lay flowers at the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims.
To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of the war, the Emperor and Empress visited the island of Iwo Jima (now part of the village of Ogasawara, Tokyo) in April. They will visit Okinawa Prefecture with their daughter, Aiko, on June 4 and 5, and will honor the A-bomb victims in Nagasaki Prefecture in September.
(Originally published on May 20, 2025)
