Imperial couple to visit Hiroshima on Thursday, Friday
Japan's Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako will begin a two-day visit to Hiroshima on Thursday, as 2025 marks 80 years since the end of World War Two. The trip will be the Imperial couple's first to the atomic-bombed city since the Emperor ascended the throne in 2019.
Some 3.1 million Japanese people are said to have died in the war. An atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in western Japan on August 6, 1945, shortly before the end of the conflict. It is estimated that some 140,000 people in Hiroshima died as a result of the bombing by the end of that year.
The Imperial couple are scheduled to arrive at Hiroshima Airport before noon on Thursday. They will visit Peace Memorial Park in the afternoon to lay flowers at the cenotaph dedicated to atomic bomb victims.
They will then visit the Exhibit Facility for Atomic-Bombed Remnants, which opened in the park three years ago.
They will also pay a visit to Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum to view exhibits there, including one related to Nihon Hidankyo, an organization representing survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that won last year's Nobel Peace Prize.
The Emperor and Empress are making a series of visits to World War Two landmarks this year.
Taking into account their wish to pass on memories of the war to generations that have not experienced it, they will meet not only survivors of the atomic bombing but younger people trained as "A-bomb Legacy Successors," who have learned the survivors' stories and will carry those memories forward to future generations.
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