Latest news with #Nagasaki
NHK
12 hours ago
- Politics
- NHK
Russian ambassador to attend Nagasaki peace ceremony
Russia's ambassador to Japan is set to attend an annual peace ceremony this August in Nagasaki. It's the first time Russia has been invited since invading Ukraine. The event will take place on August 9, exactly 80 years since the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city in western Japan. The Russian Embassy in Tokyo says Ambassador Nikolay Nozdrev will attend. The city had not invited Russia and ally Belarus since 2022. But officials say they plan to invite all countries and regions with diplomatic missions in Japan this year. Russian Embassy officials told NHK that the ambassador decided to attend after receiving an invitation signed by the Nagasaki mayor. They also say they received an explanation about previous circumstances. The embassy says Ambassador Nozdrev will not attend a ceremony on August 6 in the city of Hiroshima. NHK has learned that Norwegian Nobel Committee Chair Joergen Frydnes plans to make a four-day visit to both cities starting July 21. He is expected to exchange opinions with atomic bomb survivors, known as hibakusha. The committee awarded last year's Nobel Peace Prize to Nihon Hidankyo, an organization that represents survivors of the atomic bombings and calls for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Outrage as Trump compares Iran strikes to Japan atomic bombing
Japan condemned US President Donald Trump for comparing recent US strikes on Iran to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended World War II. "That hit ended the war," Trump told reporters on Wednesday. "I don't want to use an example of Hiroshima, I don't want to use an example of Nagasaki, but that was essentially the same thing." About 140,000 people died when the US dropped atomic bombs on the two southern Japanese cities in August 1945. Survivors live with psychological trauma and heightened cancer risk to this day. If Trump's comments "justifies the dropping of the atomic bomb, it is extremely regrettable for us as a city that was bombed," said Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki. Trump's comments are "unacceptable", said Mimaki Toshiyuki, an atomic bomb survivor who co-chairs the Nobel Peace Prize-winning advocacy group Nihon Hidankyo, according to public broadcaster NHK. "I'm really disappointed. All I have is anger," said another member of the group, Teruko Yokoyama, in a Kyodo News report. Survivors of the atomic bomb attacks staged a protest in Hiroshima on Thursday, demanding Trump retract his statement. Lawmakers in Hiroshima also passed a resolution on Thursday rejecting statements that justify the use of atomic bombs. They also called for armed conflicts to be settled peacefully. Asked if Tokyo would lodge a complaint over Trump's remarks, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hayashi Yoshimasa said that Japan has repeatedly expressed its position on atomic bombs to Washington. Trump's comments on Wednesday came as he pushed back on a leaked intelligence report that said US strikes on Iran only set its nuclear programme back by a few months. Trump had insisted that the strikes "obliterated" the programme and set it back "decades" - a claim backed by CIA director John Ratcliffe. Japan is the only country in the world to have been hit by a nuclear attack and the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki stir painful memories. In Hiroshima, a peace flame that symbolises the country's opposition to nuclear weapons has been burning since the 1960s while a clock that counts the number of days since the world's last nuclear attack is displayed at the entrance of a war museum. World leaders who visit Hiroshima are also asked to make paper cranes to affirm their commitment to peace.
BBC News
a day ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Outrage as Trump compares Iran strikes to Japan atomic bombing
Japan condemned US President Donald Trump for comparing recent US strikes on Iran to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended World War II."That hit ended the war," Trump told reporters on Wednesday. "I don't want to use an example of Hiroshima, I don't want to use an example of Nagasaki, but that was essentially the same thing."About 140,000 people died when the US dropped atomic bombs on the two southern Japanese cities in August 1945. Survivors live with psychological trauma and heightened cancer risk to this Trump's comments "justifies the dropping of the atomic bomb, it is extremely regrettable for us as a city that was bombed," said Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki. Trump's comments are "unacceptable", said Mimaki Toshiyuki, an atomic bomb survivor who co-chairs the Nobel Peace Prize-winning advocacy group Nihon Hidankyo, according to public broadcaster NHK."I'm really disappointed. All I have is anger," said another member of the group, Teruko Yokoyama, in a Kyodo News of the atomic bomb attacks staged a protest in Hiroshima on Thursday, demanding Trump retract his in Hiroshima also passed a resolution on Thursday rejecting statements that justify the use of atomic bombs. They also called for armed conflicts to be settled if Tokyo would lodge a complaint over Trump's remarks, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hayashi Yoshimasa said that Japan has repeatedly expressed its position on atomic bombs to comments on Wednesday came as he pushed back on a leaked intelligence report that said US strikes on Iran only set its nuclear programme back by a few had insisted that the strikes "obliterated" the programme and set it back "decades" - a claim backed by CIA director John is the only country in the world to have been hit by a nuclear attack and the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki stir painful Hiroshima, a peace flame that symbolises the country's opposition to nuclear weapons has been burning since the 1960s while a clock that counts the number of days since the world's last nuclear attack is displayed at the entrance of a war leaders who visit Hiroshima are also asked to make paper cranes to affirm their commitment to peace.
Japan Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Japan Times
Russian envoy to attend peace ceremony in Nagasaki
Russian Ambassador to Japan Nikolay Nozdrev will attend a ceremony in Nagasaki on Aug. 9 commemorating the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing of the city, Moscow's state-run Tass news agency reported Thursday, citing the Russian Embassy in Tokyo. Nozdrev will be the first Russian representative to attend the annual peace ceremony since the country's invasion of Ukraine began in 2022. The decision to send the ambassador was made after Nagasaki city officials visited the embassy to extend an invitation, according to the embassy. In May, Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki said that his city would invite Russian and other ambassadors to this year's ceremony. Last year, Nozdrev criticized the governments of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, another city hit by a U.S. atomic bomb in 1945, for not inviting representatives of Russia to their memorial ceremonies.
NHK
2 days ago
- Politics
- NHK
Japan reacts to Trump's remarks about Hiroshima, Nagasaki atomic bombings
Japanese officials and atomic bomb survivors have reacted to US President Donald Trump's remarks comparing the US attack on Iranian nuclear sites to the US bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Trump hailed the weekend operation to strike Iranian nuclear facilities at a news conference on Wednesday in the Netherlands, where he was attending a summit of NATO leaders. Stressing that "monumental damage" was done to Iran, Trump said: "That hit ended the war. I don't want to use an example of Hiroshima. I don't want to use an example of Nagasaki. But that was essentially the same thing. That ended that war." He made similar remarks at a separate news conference later that day. Trump said, "When you look at Hiroshima, if you look at Nagasaki, that ended a war, too." He added, "This ended a war in a different way." Atomic-bomb survivors: 'Unacceptable' comments In Hiroshima, the leader of a group representing atomic bomb survivors, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2024, reacted angrily to Trump's remarks. Mimaki Toshiyuki, co-chair of Nihon Hidankyo, said he could not help but wonder why the US president made such comments, and called them "unacceptable" for people like him who had lost so many of their loved ones and struggled to rebuild their devastated homeland. Mimaki said he strongly hopes Trump will visit Hiroshima. He also expressed hope that ambassadors who attend the city's annual atomic bomb memorial ceremony on August 6 will relay the devastation caused by the bomb to their respective leaders. The Hiroshima City assembly on Thursday unanimously adopted a resolution at a plenary session calling for the peaceful resolution of all armed conflicts. The resolution states that the atomic-bombed city of Hiroshima cannot overlook nor accept remarks intended to justify the use of atomic bombs or that threaten the freedom of citizens. The document also says that as this year marks the 80th anniversary of the bombing, the city assembly wants to reiterate its call for the abolition of nuclear weapons and the realization of lasting world peace in line with the wishes of atomic bomb survivors. The city assembly said it strongly urges peaceful resolutions from a humanitarian standpoint. Nagasaki mayor hopes world leaders visit Suzuki Shiro, the mayor of western Japan's Nagasaki City, told reporters that the use of nuclear weapons is "unacceptable" under any circumstances, given the tragic and inhumane consequences of the 1945 atomic bombings. The mayor said he does not understand what Trump meant by the comments, but said that if they were aimed at justifying the atomic bomb attacks, Nagasaki would express its profound regret as one of the affected cities. Suzuki said that against the backdrop of serious international situations, conveying the realities of the atomic bombings is essential, so that people will understand the inhumanity of nuclear weapons. He expressed hope that Trump and other world leaders will visit Nagasaki to learn firsthand about the tragedies of the atomic bombing "with their own eyes, ears, and hearts." Japanese government mentions remarks Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hayashi Yoshimasa said at a news conference that the atomic bombings of the two Japanese cities claimed the lives of many people and inflicted unspeakable suffering, creating the worst kind of humanitarian crisis. Hayashi said the use of nuclear weapons with enormous destructive power is inconsistent with the spirit of humanitarianism, which is the ideological basis for international law. Asked whether the government intends to lodge a protest, Hayashi said that Japan has repeatedly conveyed its basic ideas about the atomic bombings to the US side, and will continue to maintain close communication.
