G7 leaders at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima on Friday (Image courtesy: Twitter/@kantei)
The G7 leaders visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Museum on Friday, paying their respects to the people who lost their lives in the city 78 years ago.
Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Atomic Bomb Dome was the only structure left standing in the area where the first atomic bomb exploded on August 6 in 1945.
Hiroshima is also the hometown of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida who, along with his wife, welcomed the world leaders at the Peace Memorial Park.
French President Emmanuel Macron, US President Joe Biden, Canada PM Justin Trudeau, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Chancellor Giorgia Meloni, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, President of the European Council Charles Michel, President of the European Commission Vazra von der Leyen and their spouses laid flowers at the Cenotaph for the atomic bomb victims.
After receiving an explanation about the Atomic Bomb Dome from Hiroshima Mayor Matsui, the G7 leaders planted somei-yoshino cherry trees in the park together with Kishida, expressing their wish for peace and the will to unite the G7 for that purpose.
The G7 leaders, in the city for the three-day Summit that kicked off on Friday, also visited the Peace Memorial Museum, where Kishida explained the contents of the exhibition and held a dialogue with atomic bomb survivor Keiko Ogura.
Born on August 4 in 1937, Keiko Ogura was just eight years old when she was exposed to the atomic bombing in Ushita-cho, 2.4 kilometers from the hypocenter where the US dropped the ‘Little Boy’ atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
In 1981, she founded the Hiroshima Interpreters Group for Peace and has been involved in many of her works as an interpreter for writers, media and peace activists from abroad.
Keiko Ogura gave testimony in English about her atomic bombing experience at the Anti-Nuclear Moot Court in Nuremberg and the World Conference on Nuclear Victims in New York.
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