John Kerry has become the first sitting US secretary of state to visit a memorial to his country’s atomic bombing of Hiroshima, a gesture of reconciliation that may lay the ground for Barack Obama to visit next month.
Foreign ministers from the G7, with Mr Kerry in the centre and Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida at his side, laid wreaths on the victims’ cenotaph shortly before midday in Japan. Showing the delicate choreography of sorrow but not regret, Mr Kerry did not bow or lower his head.
Mr Kerry’s visit marks a breakthrough in the political controversy that has kept US officials away from Hiroshima for seven decades, with the US unwilling to apologise for the atomic bombings as demanded by Japanese citizen groups.
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