By HIROYUKI AKIYAMA, Nikkei staff writer
TOKYO — Prime Minister Fumio Kishida plans to travel to Hiroshima with U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel as early as this month, to raise awareness about the need for nuclear disarmament.
The plan is for Kishida and Emanuel to lay a wreath at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, home to the iconic remains of an industrial building known as the Atomic Bomb Dome. The date will be finalized based on coronavirus infection numbers.
As a lawmaker elected from a Hiroshima district, Kishida has called the pursuit of a nuclear-free world a priority. Emanuel expressed his wish to visit Hiroshima early this month, and Kishida welcomed his plan.
Japan and the U.S. issued a statement in January calling for “a meaningful outcome” at the next review conference for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, a global agreement intended to limit the spread of nuclear weapons.
The statement, issued ahead of an online summit between Kishida and U.S. President Joe Biden, encourages political leaders to visit the atomic-bombed Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to raise and sustain awareness.
