Japan's emperor and empress arrive in Hiroshima

Japan Times

6 hours ago

Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako arrived in Hiroshima Prefecture on Thursday to commemorate the victims of the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing of the city of Hiroshima, as this year marks 80 years since the end of World War II.
A special plane carrying the imperial couple left Tokyo's Haneda Airport in the morning and arrived in Hiroshima for their first visit to the prefecture since the Emperor's enthronement in 2019.
The emperor and empress visited the Peace Memorial Park in the city of Hiroshima in the afternoon to offer flowers at the cenotaph for those who died in the atomic bombing.
For the emperor, this is the 11th visit to Hiroshima since 1981, when he was a student at Gakushuin University, and the seventh together with the empress. This will be the emperor's eighth visit to the cenotaph at the Peace Memorial Park and the fifth with the empress.
The couple then visited the Exhibit Facility for Atomic-Bombed Remnants, which opened in 2022, and will visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. At the museum, they will hold talks with atomic bomb survivors known as hibakusha.
On Friday morning, the couple will visit the Yagi district of the city's Asaminami Ward, which suffered serious damage from massive landslides in 2014. After inspecting an erosion control dam built in the district, the couple will go to the Hiroshima City Torrential Rain Disaster Memorial Center, which opened in 2023. They will have talks with disaster-afflicted people at the memorial center.
Later on Friday, the emperor and empress will meet with residents of Yano Orizuru En, a care facility for hibakusha, before returning to Tokyo in the evening.
The visit to Yano Orizuru En echoes a similar one made in 2014 by the then-reigning Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko. According to Toshiaki Murakami, 60, the current director of the facility, the return of the imperial family across two generations is deeply meaningful.
'It's an immense honor,' he said. 'Their visit will give our residents hope and courage. We're truly grateful.'
Founded in 2007, Yano Orizuru En is home to about 100 residents, most of whom are in their 90s. The facility provides support to atomic bomb survivors who can no longer live independently, while also working to pass on their stories to younger generations.
Murakami, whose late grandparents were both hibakusha, became the facility's director in April 2022. He says he has heard countless survivor accounts from residents during peace education visits by junior high school students from across the country.
'They speak as if it happened just yesterday,' he said. 'It really drives home the horrors of the bomb and the importance of peace.' He added that he wants the residents to enjoy their time at the facility after everything they've been through.
One 99-year-old resident, upon learning of the upcoming visit, reportedly said, 'It will be an honor to meet them. I must stay well until then.'
With this visit, Emperor Naruhito will have been to all four atomic bomb survivor homes in Hiroshima. Murakami believes the imperial visit sends a strong message: 'Even with a new emperor, the importance of remembering war and the atomic bombing remains unchanged.'
As survivors grow older, Murakami warned that 'the home's very purpose could be called into question within a decade.' Preserving these memories is getting harder and harder, he stated, adding that younger generations seem less engaged with the legacy of the bombing and the cause of peace.
'Learning history properly and nurturing a desire for peace — those are the keys. Peace will follow from that.'
Translated by The Japan Times