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by Kohei Okata, Tuyoshi Kubota, and Gosuke Nagahisa, Staff Writers

The Hiroshima Prefectural and Hiroshima City governments have requested that Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), visit Hiroshima City so they can use the occasion to send a strong message to the world in pursuit of the realization of a world without nuclear weapons. Though, on July 16, both governmental bodies maintained a welcoming attitude till the end, the significance of Mr. Bach's visit was prone to be blurred because his remarks and behaviors, as well as the holding of the Tokyo Olympic Games during the coronavirus pandemic, came under criticism by public opinion. Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui prioritized official duties related to the black rain lawsuit and absented himself from the event to receive Mr. Bach.

Hidehiko Yuzaki, Hiroshima Governor, met with Mr. Bach in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in the city's Naka ward, guided him to the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims and held a talk with him at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. After Mr. Yuzaki sent Mr. Bach off, he thanked Mr. Bach for his visit, saying, "Though Mr. Bach did not mention nuclear weapons, the commitment to peace will naturally include no use of nuclear weapons. His remark that he was in Hiroshima 'to remember all the people who are commemorated' is significant, because it is a message to the world."

The Hiroshima Prefectural government had requested to the IOC for more than two years that Mr. Bach visit Hiroshima, in the hope that Hiroshima's wish for peace will be communicated to the world through the Olympic Games, an event called "the Festival of Peace." The requests made by the prefectural government to Mr. Bach—offering flowers at the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims, touring the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, holding a talk with an A-bomb survivor, and sending a message from Hiroshima—were all fulfilled. A senior official at the Hiroshima Prefectural government received Mr. Bach's visit with such words as "He sent a good message without much confusion."

However, public opinion against the Tokyo Olympic Games, amplified by the spreading infection of the coronavirus, also directed the brunt of the criticism at the welcoming attitude of the Hiroshima Prefectural government. In the prefectural government, some heaved a sigh, mumbling, "This is such a bad time for him to come all this way."

On July 15, the Hiroshima City government announced that Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui would not attend the event to receive Mr. Bach and Hiroshima Deputy Mayor Mayor Nobuyuki Koike would act for Mr. Matsui. The city government made this decision after the July 14 Hiroshima High Court ruling in favor of all the plaintiffs of the lawsuit over the damage wrought by the "black rain," which fell after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, in order for Mr. Matsui to go to Tokyo and make a direct request to Minister of Health, Labour, and Wefare, Norihisa Tamura, not to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Those concerned said that Mayor Matsui had planned to talk to the minister in person, if the plaintiffs won the lawsuit. He had been seeking an opportunity for that since before the ruling was issued. The decision of the court, in fact, recognized suffers of the black rain more widely as A-bomb survivors. Mayor Matsui reportedly concluded he needed to act promptly because of the four consecutive holidays accompanying the Olympic Games prior to July 28, when the appeal deadline expires.

A senior official at the city government stressed, "The administrative practices involving A-bomb survivors have reached a major crossroads. The mayor thought he should directly meet the Minister of Health, Labour, and Welfare and seek a political solution as there have been plaintiffs suffering for many years." The city government said it did not receive criticism against Mayor Matusi for not greeting Mr. Bach.

(Originally published on July 17, 2021)