Japan, US pay respects to atom bomb victims

TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida escorted the U.S. ambassador to his hometown Hiroshima on Saturday to pay respects to atomic bombing victims and warned that the world is again facing threats of nuclear attacks stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“As we face a possibility of Russia’s use of nuclear weapons as a realistic concern, I felt strongly (as leader of ) the world’s only country to have suffered atomic attacks that we should never allow threats or use of nuclear weapons,” Kishida said after a tour of the peace park and the museum with Ambassador Rahm Emanuel.

“The tragedy should never be repeated,” Kishida said.

Leaders from the Group of Seven countries on Thursday urged Russia not to use biological, chemical or nuclear weapons on Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin in February ordered his nation’s nuclear forces put on high alert over tensions with the West.

The Aug. 6, 1945, atomic bombing by the United States killed about 140,000 people and nearly destroyed Hiroshima. Three days later, a second U.S. atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki killed 70,000 more, before Japan surrendered six days later.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “highlights the harsh road toward achieving a world without nuclear weapons,” Kishida said. “As prime minister from Hiroshima, I must firmly send a message (of peace) to the rest of the world.”

Kishida, however, has been pushing to bolster Japan’s military budget and capability amid growing threats from China, North Korea and Russia. He says his realistic approach is to protect lives while seeking to achieve the ideal for the future.

U.S. EMBASSY Rahm Emanuel, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, prepares to lay a wreath Saturday in Hiroshima, Japan.