Japanese welcome Obama visit to Hiroshima, apology or not [View all]

President Obama will become the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima, Japan on May 27. The White House says he will not apologize for the dropping of an atomic bomb on the city in World War II. (Reuters)

By Miki Toda and Mari Yamaguchi | AP

May 11 at 10:54 AM

TOKYO — After being taught that atomic bombs are inhumane and terrible, high school student Kaho Matsuki’s first reaction when she heard U.S. President Barack Obama would visit the atomic-bombed city of Hiroshima was that he should apologize for America’s use of the weapons.

But then the Tokyo native remembered her emotional meeting with atomic bomb survivors at a nursing home in Hiroshima, which she visited last year during a school trip to hear their stories.

“What struck me most was that those elderly ladies really wanted us to know what they went through so the same mistake would never be repeated, rather than wanting to get (America) to apologize,” Matsuki, 17, said Wednesday.

Japanese are widely welcoming Obama’s decision to become the first sitting American president to visit Hiroshima, with few public demands for an apology.

Even those who want one realize that such a demand would have ruled out a U.S. presidential visit.


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