Japanese survivors of WWII atomic bombs demand apology from US

Record ID: 102844

  • Title: Japanese survivors of WWII atomic bombs demand apology from US
  • Date: 19th May 2016
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (MAY 19, 2016) (REUTERS) (SECOND FROM LEFT) ATOMIC BOMB SURVIVOR, TOSHIKI FUJIMORI, AND (THIRD FROM LEFT) A-BOMB SURVIVOR, TERUMI TANAKA, AT A NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) ATOMIC BOMB SURVIVOR, TOSHIKI FUJIMORI, SAYING: "Many atomic bomb survivors don't think it's okay to not apologize." JOURNALIST TAKING NOTES DURING THE NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) ATOMIC BOMB SURVIVOR, TERUMI TANAKA, SAYING: "I think an apology is needed for the real victims who suffered." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) ATOMIC BOMB SURVIVOR, TERUMI TANAKA, SAYING: "Regrettably, after Japan became independent (after U.S. occupation following the end of WWII), we didn't apologize to Asia." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS
  • Embargoed: 3rd June 2016 07:00
  • Keywords: Japan Hiroshima survivors atomic bomb apologize sorry wartime US Obama
  • Location: TOKYO AND HIROSHIMA, JAPAN
  • City: TOKYO AND HIROSHIMA, JAPAN
  • Country: Japan
  • Reuters ID: LVA0014IH3805
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Japanese survivors of atomic attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the U.S. during World War Two said on Thursday (May 19) that President Barack Obama should apologize for the bombs.
    Obama will become the first U.S. president to visit Hiroshima later this month, but he will not apologize for the dropping of an atomic bomb on the city at the end of World War Two, the White House said earlier this month.
    Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize early in his presidency in 2009 in part for making nuclear nonproliferation a centerpiece of his agenda, Obama will tour the site of the world's first nuclear bombing with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on May 27.
    Although some atomic bomb survivors say an apology by Obama is not necessary, Toshiki Fujimori, who was a baby when the first atomic bomb exploded about 3 km (1.86 miles) away, disagrees.
    "Many sufferers don't think it's okay to not apologize," Fujimori said at the news conference.
    "I think an apology is needed for the real victims who suffered," another atomic bomb survivor, Terumi Tanaka, said. Tanaka was a middle school student when the second atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki. He was also about 3 km (1.86 miles) from the bomb.
    Fujimori and Tanaka are members of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferer's Organization.
    Tanaka added that Japan should also apologize to Asian countries for its wartime atrocities.
    "Regrettably, after Japan became independent (after U.S. occupation following the end of WWII), it didn't apologize to Asia," Tanaka said.
    South Korean and Chinese ties with Japan have been frayed by what they see as repeated failures by leaders in Tokyo to properly atone for wartime atrocities, in particular over the issue of "comfort women," a euphemism for women forced into prostitution at Japanese military brothels during the wartime occupation.
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