US President Joe Biden is set to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on May 18 in Hiroshima, ahead of the Group of Seven (G7) summit to be held in the western Japanese city. This visit will make Biden the second sitting US president to visit the city that was devastated by a US atomic bomb in the final days of World War II.
Biden and Kishida will discuss their response to China's growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region and Russia's war in Ukraine, while also affirming the strength of their nations' security alliance. Their last meeting was held in January in Washington.
The visit holds historical significance as President Obama’s visit to Hiroshima in May 2016 was the first by a sitting US President, marking an important moment for commemorating the war dead and revitalising international momentum for a world free of nuclear weapons. The visit symbolised the strength of the US-Japan Alliance, which has been built up over the more than 70 years since the war.
During Obama's visit, he and then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe proceeded toward the Atomic Bomb Dome, where they viewed the dome from the Flame of Peace’s north side. President Obama listened attentively as Fumio Kishida, then Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, explained that the Atomic Bomb Dome had been designated a World Heritage Site in 1996 and was a symbol of the bombsite.
Kishida also informed Obama about the Children's Peace Monument and the folded cranes that have been sent from around the world, which were immediately in front of them.
The visit ended with Obama meeting with atomic bomb survivors and exchanging words with each of them. He also gave a speech, saying, “We have known the agony of war. Let us now find the courage, together, to spread peace and pursue a world without nuclear weapons.”
