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Julian Ryall

The mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have urged US President Donald Trump to visit their cities during his coming trip to Japan, in a symbolic appeal for him to witness the consequences of nuclear war first hand.
While observers view such a visit as improbable given the political risks, the mayors’ appeal highlights growing concern over the erosion of the nuclear taboo, a concern echoed in the letter’s warning about rising global tensions and the dwindling number of hibakusha, or atomic bomb survivors.
Kazumi Matsui, mayor of Hiroshima, and his Nagasaki counterpart, Shiro Suzuki, made the request in a letter dated Friday and sent to the US embassy in Tokyo.
“Eighty years have passed since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the end of World War II, and today we are seeing deepening confrontation and divisions among the international community, as warfare continues in various parts of the world,” the letter said.
“This critical situation has greatly shaken the humanitarian norm in the international community that ‘nuclear weapons must never be used’, heightening the risk of another nuclear weapon being used.”
With the number of survivors dwindling each year, time was running out for the world’s leaders to hear the voices of the hibakusha, the mayors said.
“At this critical juncture for humanity, we would like to ask you, the president of a nuclear superpower, to visit the atomic-bombed cities, listen to the voices of the hibakusha, and take to heart what unfolded under the mushroom cloud as well as the inhumane consequences brought on by the use of nuclear weapons,” they wrote.


By hearing the hibakusha’s experiences, “we hope that you will strengthen your conviction that nuclear weapons must never be used, and share with the world your unwavering commitment towards a world without nuclear weapons”.
Trump is due to spend three days in Japan from October 27 before travelling on to South Korea to attend the annual meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum.
During his time in Tokyo, Trump is expected to meet Japan’s new prime minister, who is due to be elected next week, and discuss issues including trade and security in the Asia-Pacific region.
But observers see little chance the US president will heed the mayors’ invitation, citing both precedent and domestic political calculations.
“Trump is not a predictable politician and he is known to make decisions on what he wants to do at the last moment, but I doubt very much if he would go to Hiroshima or Nagasaki while he is in Japan,” Yakov Zinberg, a professor of international relations at Tokyo’s Kokushikan University, told This Week in Asia.
“My sense is that Trump would not need to go there to win him domestic support and, on the contrary, it might attract criticism from conservatives.”

Right-wing commentators criticised Barack Obama when he became the first sitting US president to pay his respects in Hiroshima in May 2016. Obama was accused of “maudlin sentimentality” in his speech and of absolving Japan of blame for the wider Pacific war.
Others said his presence in the city destroyed in August 1945 by the first nuclear weapon dropped in war was effectively an apology 80 years after the defeat of “the horrific evil of Imperial Japan”.
Hiroshima is “a polemic issue” for many in the United States and Trump would expend a great deal of political capital should he choose to visit, according to Zinberg.
“Trump does not need this as a ‘win’ and there would be no benefit to him personally,” Zinberg said. “It would only attract criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike, and I think the mayors realise that as well.”
The two city leaders previously extended a similar invitation to Trump in 2017 while he was on a tour of East Asia during his first term as US president.


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The mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki warn that time is running out to hear the voices of those who survived the nuclear attacks


The mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki warn that time is running out to hear the voices of those who survived the nuclear attacks.


Japan’s atom-bombed cities want Trump to see ‘what unfolded under the mushroom cloud’

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki warn that time is running out to hear the voices of those who survived the nuclear attacks

The mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki warn that time is running out to hear the voices of those who survived the nuclear attacks