Japan tilts toward Hiroshima as G-7 summit location for 2023: sources

Japan is considering Hiroshima, one of the two atomic-bombed Japanese cities in World War II, as the most viable location to host a summit of the Group of Seven nations next year under its presidency, government sources said Friday.

A ceremony is held at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, western Japan, on Aug. 6, 2021, the 76th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of the city. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

The choice of Hiroshima is seen as fitting to stress the importance of peace after Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and its threat of using nuclear weapons, the sources said.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has been pushing for nuclear disarmament as a politician elected from a constituency in the western Japanese city, which was devastated by a U.S.-dropped atomic bomb on Aug. 6, 1945, that killed an estimated 140,000 by the end of that year.

Among other cities that have come forward to possibly host the G-7 summit, Fukuoka also remains a favorable location due to security reasons and the availability of accommodation facilities, the sources said.

Japan will step up preparations by with consulting other nations, with a final decision expected before this year’s G-7 summit slated for late June at Schloss Elmau, a German castle resort in the Bavarian Alps.

Kishida has acknowledged “various challenges” before taking political leaders from overseas to the atomic-bombed city. In making a decision on the summit location, he also needs to address potential criticism at home that he is favoring his constituency.

Gaining support from other G-7 members, especially nuclear powers Britain, France and the United States, holds the key.

Some in the U.S. government have backed Japan’s idea to choose Hiroshima as the summit location, the sources said.

“It’s meaningful for the G-7 leaders to gather in the atomic-bombed city to warn against the use of nuclear weapons at this time,” a person close to Kishida said, as Western nations have shown objection to the nuclear threat posed by Russian President Vladimir Putin amid the Ukrainian crisis.

As foreign minister, Kishida played a key role in realizing a visit to Hiroshima in 2016 by then U.S. President Barack Obama.

Kishida has said the government will study the feasibility of each candidate site and aim to gain support from the public for its decision.

Japan has hosted six G-7 summits so far and the previous gathering was held in Mie Prefecture in 2016. The G-7 consists of Britain, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and the United States, plus the European Union.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (3rd from L), U.S. President Joe Biden (5th from L) and other leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized nations pose for a group photo for a G-7 summit alongside representatives of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union on March 24, 2022, in Brussels. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo