Roos welcomed in Hiroshima / U.S. ambassador's attendance to A-bomb service an historic first

The Yomiuri Shimbun

HIROSHIMA--For the first time, a representative of the United States has attended the peace memorial ceremony held each year in Hiroshima to commemorate the atomic bomb attack on the city, which occurred 65 years ago Friday.

Survivors of the U.S. atomic bombing welcomed the historic presence at the ceremony of U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos, who offered a silent prayer for the victims of the bombing.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and representatives of Britain and France, two other nuclear-power nations, also attended the service.

"I hope [Roos] will tell the United States about what he felt today during the ceremony, to help realize a nuclear-free world," one survivor said.

Roos arrived at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, where the ceremony took place, at about 7:30 a.m.

He was greeted by Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba. Roos smiled and shook hands with Akiba before taking his seat.

The relaxed atmosphere changed when the ceremony began, and Roos' face was solemn throughout the proceedings. He stood to offer a silent prayer at the time the atomic bomb was dropped on Aug. 6, 1945.

At times, Roos wiped sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief, but he looked straight ahead throughout the ceremony and maintained good posture.

Afterward, Roos was asked by reporters outside the venue for his impressions of the ceremony, but he offered no comment and left the park shortly before 9 a.m.

Steven Leeper, a U.S. citizen who serves as chairman of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, said: "The U.S. ambassador's attendance is a message from U.S. President Barack Obama about wanting a nuclear-free world. It's a historic event."

When Roos visited Hiroshima with his parents and son in October, Leeper escorted them through the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, which is managed by the foundation. Roos showed particular interest in stones and roof tiles that were melted by the heat of the atomic bomb blast, Leeper said.

"I suppose that, as a parent, the ambassador feels the necessity to abolish nuclear weapons," Leeper, 62, said.

Shiro Kawamoto, president of the Shizuoka A-Bomb and H-Bomb Sufferers Organization, said, "[Roos' attendance] is an important step forward, but I hope President Obama will visit Hiroshima next year and listen directly to the voices of atomic bomb survivors."

In May, Kawamoto, 73, attended a conference at U.N. Headquarters in New York held to review the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. He spoke of his experience as a survivor of the atomic bombing.

The charge d'affaires of France, Christophe Penot, and Britain's deputy ambassador, David Fitton, also attended the memorial ceremony.

Penot said he attended the ceremony to show his country's commitment to nuclear disarmament.

Fitton attended an event held after the ceremony in which atomic bomb survivors spoke of their experiences. He said people around the world should think about the meaning of the memorial ceremony and the devastation inflicted in Hiroshima 65 years ago.

Roos, 55, was born in San Francisco in 1955. After graduating from Stanford Law School, he worked for a Silicon Valley-based law firm.

Roos was a major fund-raiser for Obama's presidential campaign in 2008. In May 2009, Roos was appointed U.S. ambassador to Japan despite a lack of diplomatic experience.

Ban to museum, meets survivor

Under a brilliant sun and wearing a light blue tie the color of the U.N. flag, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon bowed his head in silent prayer as the Peace Bell rang at the ceremony.

After the ceremony, Ban visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, where a photograph of a person scarred by heat from the blast seemed to take his breath away. In a museum guestbook, he wrote that he hoped people would work together to achieve a world free from nuclear weapons.

He then went to the International Conference Center in the city for a short meeting with Akihiro Takahashi, 79, a former director of the peace museum and an atom bomb survivor. Ban had reportedly expressed a desire to meet with survivors of the bombing.

Takahashi was a 14-year-old boy in a schoolyard 1.4 kilometers from the blast center when the atom bomb exploded. He suffered severe burns, and when he showed Ban the scorched school uniform he was wearing at the time, Ban said "arigato [thank you]" in Japanese, and told Takahashi he was grateful for his contributions to peace.

"I felt [Ban] really listened to me, and that the feelings of bomb survivors touched his heart," Takahashi said. "I hope he'll take the lead in the struggle to realize a world without nuclear weapons."

Ban was born in Chungcheongbuk-do Province, South Korea, in 1944. After graduating from Seoul National University, he entered the foreign ministry in 1970 and served in positions such as ambassador to the United Nations. Under the administration of former President Roh Moo-hyun, Ban served as a presidential adviser on foreign affairs before becoming foreign affairs and trade minister. He took up his current post in January 2007.