Italian president lays flowers at Hiroshima Peace Park
Hiroshima –
Italian President Sergio Mattarella visited Hiroshima on Saturday where he laid flowers at the cenotaph for the victims of the 1945 atomic bombing in Peace Memorial Park. It marked his first visit to the city.
The president observed a moment of silent in front of the cenotaph and then toured the park, accompanied by Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui. He also signed an entry at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum within the park.
Later in the day, Mattarella met with people including Hiroshima Gov. Hidehiko Yuzaki and Toshiyuki Mimaki, 82, co-chair of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, also known as Nihon Hidankyo, which won the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize.
The president congratulated Mimaki and others on the group's Nobel win, praising their work for consistently sounding a stern alarm for humanity and emphasizing his strong belief that nuclear weapons must never be used again.
"I realized that (the president) has the same idea (about nuclear disarmament) with us," Mimaki told reporters after the meeting. "We would like him to continue to work (for nuclear disarmament)."
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