By Afolabi Ayodele
Japan has strongly condemned US President Donald Trump after he likened America’s recent military strikes on Iran to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Trump said, “That hit ended the war. I don’t want to use an example of Hiroshima, I don’t want to use an example of Nagasaki, but that was essentially the same thing.”
His remark drew swift and widespread backlash in Japan, where the memory of the 1945 atomic bombings remains deeply painful. Over 140,000 people were killed in the attacks on the two cities, and survivors continue to suffer trauma and increased health risks.
Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki described Trump’s comment as “extremely regrettable” and warned against any statement that appears to justify the use of nuclear weapons.
Mimaki Toshiyuki, an atomic bomb survivor and co-chair of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning group Nihon Hidankyo, called the remarks “unacceptable,” according to NHK. Another survivor, Teruko Yokoyama, told Kyodo News, “All I have is anger.”
In Hiroshima, survivors staged a protest on Thursday demanding Trump withdraw his statement. Lawmakers in the city also passed a resolution denouncing any justification for atomic bombings and urged peaceful resolution of global conflicts.
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary, Hayashi Yoshimasa, said Tokyo had “repeatedly expressed” its position on nuclear weapons to Washington but did not confirm if an official complaint would be lodged.
Trump’s controversial remarks came in response to a leaked US intelligence report which claimed the recent strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities would only delay its programme by a few months. Trump had insisted the operation “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear capabilities and set them back “decades”—a view backed by CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
Japan remains the only country to have suffered a nuclear attack. Hiroshima continues to promote global nuclear disarmament, symbolised by its eternal peace flame and a clock counting the days since the last nuclear strike.
Visiting world leaders are traditionally invited to make paper cranes in Hiroshima—a gesture of commitment to peace.
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