HIROSHIMA--In the drizzling rain, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko offered chrysanthemums and bowed at the cenotaph for atomic bomb victims in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on Dec. 4.
While listening to explanations from Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui, the emperor stared at the cenotaph that lists the names of about 292,000 people who died from the effects of the 1945 atomic bombing of the city.
Later in the day, the imperial couple visited Yano Orizuru-en, a nursing home for survivors of the atomic bombing, and talked with residents there.
The emperor and the empress have often paid tribute to those killed in World War II. In 1995, the 50th anniversary of the end of the war, they visited Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Okinawa prefectures for memorial services.
The imperial couple visited Okinawa Peace Hall in Itoman in the southern part of the prefecture in June this year, and in October, they offered flowers at the cenotaph that stands at ground zero in Nagasaki.
Next year marks the 70th anniversary of the war’s end.
Emperor, empress offer flowers to A-bomb victims in Hiroshima - AJW by The Asahi Shimbun
