天皇てんのう皇后こうごう両りょう陛下へいかと愛子あいこさま きょうから長崎ながさき訪問ほうもん 戦没せんぼつ者しゃを慰霊いれいへ

Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress, along with their eldest daughter Princess Aiko, will visit Nagasaki, a city affected by the atomic bombing, starting on the 12th to pay their respects to the war dead on the 80th anniversary of the end of the war.

Their Majesties will visit Nagasaki Prefecture for three days starting from the 12th, in order to attend the opening ceremonies of the National Cultural Festival and the National Festival of Arts and Culture for Persons with Disabilities to be held in Sasebo City, Nagasaki Prefecture, on the 14th.

Prior to the opening ceremony, Their Majesties, together with their eldest daughter Princess Aiko, will visit Peace Park in Nagasaki City on the 12th. In front of the monument marking the hypocenter, they will offer flowers at the repository containing the register of 201,942 atomic bomb victims, comforting the souls of those who perished.

And you will have a discussion at the Atomic Bomb Museum with elderly survivors as well as younger generations who share the experiences of the survivors on their behalf.

On the 13th, you will visit a nursing home in the city where elderly atomic bomb survivors live and have a conversation with the residents.

According to the Imperial Household Agency, this will be the Emperor and Empresss first visit to Nagasaki since the Emperors accession to the throne, and it will also be Princess Aikos first visit to Nagasaki Prefecture.

Their Majesties visited symbolic locations of the last war this year, marking 80 years since the end of the war. These included Iwo Jima, one of the “islands of gyokusai” in the Ogasawara Islands, Okinawa, where fierce ground battles took place and over 200,000 people lost their lives, as well as Hiroshima, a city devastated by the atomic bomb.

During the visit to Mongolia in July, memorial services were held for the many Japanese who lost their lives after the defeat, having been detained by the former Soviet Union and forced into harsh labor.

Mr. Nakamura did not suffer any serious injuries, but he says he still remembers seeing students with terrible injuries lying on the sandy beach near his home that evening, dying while begging for water.

Mr. Nakamura was involved in the founding of the Nagasaki Prefecture Atomic Bomb Survivors Handbook Friends Association, one of the organizations for atomic bomb survivors established in 1967, and as a central member, he has worked to expand support for survivors and to call for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

And at the Peace Memorial Ceremony in 2006, as a representative of the atomic bomb survivors, he delivered the “Pledge for Peace,” and for the first time publicly shared the pain of losing his second son to leukemia, appealing to the public about the misery brought by war and atomic bombs.

Even after turning 100 years old, on the 9th of every month—the monthly anniversary of the atomic bombing—they continue to ring the bell at Nagasaki Peace Park, praying for peace. When it is difficult to attend due to weather or health, they ring a small bell at home, remembering those who lost their lives in the atomic bombing.

Mr. Nakamura is scheduled to have a conversation with Their Majesties and Princess Aiko on the 12th.

I hope that by sharing my own experience of the atomic bombing, people will once again turn their attention to the importance of peace.

I was surprised and wondered if I was really the right person, but I am happy and think of it as a reward for having worked so hard all this time as a hibakusha atomic bomb survivor.

He said, If His Majesty the Emperor would listen to us and come to think that war is wrong and peace is important, nothing could be better.

Saki Matsuyama, Exchange Testifier Saki Matsuyama 20, a third-year university student from Isahaya City, Nagasaki Prefecture, began her activities as an exchange testifier—someone who passes on the experiences of atomic bomb survivors to future generations on their behalf—when she was in the second year of junior high school.

Since he was a child, Mr. Matsuyama had been interested in the atomic bomb and peace. When he learned that the aging of atomic bomb survivors was making it difficult to pass down memories of the war, he decided to aim to become an exchange storyteller.

In that context, I met Michiaki Ikeda, who was exposed to the atomic bomb in Nagasaki at the age of six, and was drawn to his character, which led me to decide to carry on his experiences.

Mr. Matsuyama completed the manuscript by meeting with Mr. Ikeda many times and conducting interviews, so that Mr. Ikeda’s experience of the atomic bombing could be conveyed more concretely.

When giving talks to elementary school students, for example, I try to make peace feel more relatable by including things like quizzes.

Mr. Matsuyama hopes that through this discussion, people will realize that even younger generations can carry on the experiences of the atomic bombing, and that the hurdle to thinking about peace will be lowered.

Ms. Saki Matsuyama said, Although its a short time, I want to enjoy myself while promoting my activities and expressing my thoughts on peace.

I hope that people who see my conversation with His Majesty the Emperor will become aware of our activities, think that maybe they can do it too, or reflect on what peace really means. I want it to be a time that inspires such thoughts.

When I was in high school, I became a member of a volunteer group, listening to the stories of atomic bomb survivors both inside and outside the prefecture, and serving as a guide to share their experiences at the Peace Park in Nagasaki City.

In addition, this April, as a representative of the youth of Nagasaki, I was sent to the United Nations Headquarters in New York for the NPT Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference Preparatory Committee, where I discussed topics such as security policies that do not rely on nuclear weapons with officials from various countries and students.

Mr. Hamada hopes that, through this discussion, people will widely recognize that, in addition to the atomic bomb survivors, there are also young people who are passing down the stories of the damage caused by the atomic bomb and seeking ways toward the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Mr. Hamada said, What happened in Nagasaki and Hiroshima must never be allowed to happen again anywhere in the world.

I think the most important thing is that we must not give up, and if we convince ourselves that only atomic bomb survivors can convey their experiences, the history of the bombing will inevitably fade away.

I think it would be good if we could convey that its not only the survivors who talk about the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, but also that we are actively working to pass down their stories.