Thank you for your continued support for and cooperation in the Hiroshima Prefectural Government’s promotion of peace.

 

Achieving a peaceful international community without nuclear weapons is a long-cherished hope of the survivors of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the first in human history, who are still experiencing enormous suffering 75 years after the bombing, and an important mission for us in Hiroshima, the prefecture that suffered the unprecedented tragedy caused by the bombing.

 

The Hiroshima Prefectural Government has asked political leaders and other leaders in various fields to visit the A-bomb-attacked cities, with the belief that it is important for us to have such leaders visit the A-bomb-attacked cities and experience what impacts the atomic bombings really made to gain deep insight into the humanitarian impacts of nuclear weapons and share the determination to abolish nuclear weapons.

 

In this situation, U.S. President Obama’s visit to Hiroshima in 2016 and Pope Francis’s visit to the A-bomb-attacked cities last year, and their very strong messages for a peaceful world without nuclear weapons, greatly encouraged people around the world to make a step toward abolishing nuclear weapons. We thus believe that it is crucial for us to have people with global influence visit the A-bomb-attacked cities and deliver messages for peace.

 

For this purpose, we will devote more active efforts to asking Olympians and Paralympians, as well as leaders in various fields, who will visit Japan at the time of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020, to visit the A-bomb-attacked cities and deliver their messages for peace.

 

The Japanese government is kindly requested to provide solid support for and close cooperation in this initiative of ours.

 

March 26, 2020
YUZAKI Hidehiko
Governor of Hiroshima Prefecture