NAGASAKI, Japan (AP) — Japanese Emperor Naruhito, accompanied by his wife and daughter, paid their respects Friday to atomic bombing victims in Nagasaki as he wrapped up a tour of some of the worst-hit places in World War II and Japan marked the 80th anniversary of the bombing.
Naruhito, his wife, Empress Masako, and their daughter, Princess Aiko, bowed deeply and offered bouquets of white flowers at the cenotaph for atomic bombing victims at the ground-zero site in the peace memorial park in Nagasaki.
The United States dropped a plutonium bomb on the southwestern city of Nagasaki at 11:02 a.m. on Aug. 9, 1945, killing more than 70,000 people by the end of that year. The attack came only three days after the U.S. dropped a uranium bomb on Hiroshima, destroying the city and killing 140,000 others. Japan announced its surrender on Aug. 15, ending World War II and the country’s nearly half-century of aggression in Asia.
Naruhito has repeatedly stressed the importance to remember and keep telling the tragedy of war to younger generations.
Marking the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII, Naruhito has visited places this year where some of the bloodiest battles and bombings occurred, including Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Hiroshima.
In July, Naruhito and Masako honored thousands of Japanese prisoners of World War II who were held under harsh conditions in Mongolia during their trip to that country. It’s part of his effort of atonement and remembrance of the tragedy of war fought in the name of his grandfather, Emperor Hirohito.
The royal couple and the princess were to visit the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum to observe exhibits and meet with atomic bomb survivors. On Saturday, the Naruhito family plans to visit a nursing home for the atomic bomb survivors to meet more of them.
With their average age now exceeding 86, many survivors have expressed frustration over the growing nuclear threat in recent years despite their decades-long grassroots campaign to abolish nuclear weapons.
The visit to Nagasaki, Naruhito’s first since ascending the Chrysanthemum Throne, and the first ever for Aiko, wraps up their tour of prayers and consolation this year. Hundreds of people holding small rising-sun flags waved and called their names as the royal motorcade headed to the peace park, while the Imperial couple and Aiko lowered their windows and waved to the cheering crowd on the roadside.
In the evening, thousands of Nagasaki residents were to welcome the Imperial couple and Aiko by holding up lanterns on a building rooftop visible from the royal family’s hotel.
In April, the couple visited Iwo Jima to pay tribute to about 20,000 Japanese and nearly 7,000 U.S. Marines killed in the Battle of Iwo Jima, fought from Feb. 19 to March 26, 1945.
In June, Naruhito visited Okinawa to mourn about 188,000 Japanese, half of them Okinawan civilians, and about 12,000 Americans, killed in the Battle of Okinawa. Aiko accompanied her parents, underscoring Naruhito’s wish that she would learn the hardships of the Okinawan people and share their stories with younger generations.
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