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John Kerry makes historic visit to Hiroshima memorial John Kerry makes historic visit to Hiroshima memorial
(35 minutes later)
US Secretary of State John Kerry has made a historic visit to Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park and Museum in Japan. US Secretary of State John Kerry has made a historic visit to the Hiroshima memorial in Japan, which commemorates the world's first atomic bombing.
He is the most senior administration official to ever visit the city or the site, which commemorates those who died in the world's first atomic bombing. He is the first US secretary of state to ever visit Hiroshima, where around 140,000 were killed when the US dropped its atomic bomb in 1945.
Mr Kerry is in Hiroshima for the G7 foreign ministers meeting. Mr Kerry was joined by foreign ministers from the G7 group of nations who are holding talks in the city.
US media reports cite government officials saying President Barack Obama was also considering a visit. They laid wreaths at the memorial and observed a minute's silence.
Mr Obama will be in Japan for a Group of Seven (G7) meeting of leaders in May. If he goes, it would be the first time a sitting US President has visited Hiroshima. The ministers also visited the nearby Hiroshima museum, which tells the personal stories of people who died in the city.
Mr Kerry wrote in the museum guestbook that it was "a stark, harsh, compelling reminder not only of our obligation to end the threat of nuclear weapons, but to rededicate all our effort to avoid war itself".
What happened in Hiroshima?What happened in Hiroshima?
At 8:10 local time on 6 August 1945 (2300GMT 5 Aug) a US B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, dropped a uranium bomb, nicknamed "Little Boy", which exploded nearly 600m (1,800ft) above the city, At 08:10 local time on 6 August 1945, the US B-29 bomber the Enola Gay dropped a uranium bomb nicknamed "Little Boy" on Hiroshima. It exploded 600m (1,800ft) above what is now the Hiroshima Peace Dome.
It claimed the lives of at least 140,000 people in the city, about 70,000 of them on the first day. Many more succumbed to injuries and sickness caused by the effects of radiation in the days, months and years that followed. About 70,000 people died immediately. At least 140,000 people had died by the end of the year through injury and the effects of radiation.
The bombing - and a second one on Nagasaki three days later - is credited with bringing to an early end to World War Two. The bombing, and a second bomb on Nagasaki three days later, forced Japan to surrender, initiating the end of World War Two.
Why is Mr Kerry's visit significant?Why is Mr Kerry's visit significant?
Japan - the only country to ever be bombed with a nuclear weapon - mourns the terrible human cost of the bombing, which killed and injured a vast number of civilians. It comes amid efforts to strengthen the relationship between the US and Japan, particularly with growing concern about China's assertiveness in territorial disputes in Asia, affecting Japan and other US allies.
But some in the US and other countries take the view that the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended the war, and so were justified. The first President George Bush famously said that issuing an apology for Hiroshima would be "rank revisionism" and he would never do it. US media reports cite government officials as saying President Barack Obama is also considering a visit when he attends a G7 leaders' summit in Japan in May.
It was not until 65 years after the bombing that a US ambassador even attended Hiroshima's annual memorial service. It would be the first time a sitting US president has visited Hiroshima.
The most senior US official to ever visit the city is former Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, who was third in line to the presidency. She visited the site in 2008.
John Kerry's visit comes amid efforts to strengthen the relationship between the two governments, concerned about China's increasing assertiveness in territorial disputes in Asia, affecting Japan and other US allies.
The 'sanitised narrative' of Hiroshima's atomic bombing: The US view that the bombing was necessary to end the war ignores a terrible and enduring cost.The 'sanitised narrative' of Hiroshima's atomic bombing: The US view that the bombing was necessary to end the war ignores a terrible and enduring cost.
Japan revisionists deny WW2 sex slave atrocities: Examining the rise of revisionism and the fraught issue of comfort women.Japan revisionists deny WW2 sex slave atrocities: Examining the rise of revisionism and the fraught issue of comfort women.
The tram that survived the Hiroshima bombThe tram that survived the Hiroshima bomb
Was it right to drop the bomb on Hiroshima?Was it right to drop the bomb on Hiroshima?
Has the US ever apologised? What has the US said before about Hiroshima?
No, and it has been made clear by US officials that there will be no apology this time either by Mr Kerry. President George Bush once said issuing an apology for Hiroshima would be "rank revisionism" and he would never do it.
"My visit to Hiroshima has a very special meaning about the strength of our relationship and the journey we have travelled together since the difficult time of the war," the US secretary of state told Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, who is from the city and represents it in parliament. US officials have said there will be no apology this time either by Mr Kerry.
"My visit to Hiroshima has a very special meaning about the strength of our relationship and the journey we have travelled together since the difficult time of the war," he told Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida.
The visit, he added, "is not about the past, it's about the present and the future."The visit, he added, "is not about the past, it's about the present and the future."
So why go now?
John Kerry is in Hiroshima for the G7 foreign ministers' meetings, which precede a full G7 leaders' gathering in Japan in May.
The ministers, from the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the EU, together toured the atomic bomb museum and laid flowers at the cenotaph commemorating its victims.
The US secretary of state will use the visit to promote President Barack Obama's vision of a nuclear-free world - one of the reasons Mr Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009.
White House officials have reportedly told US media outlets that the visit could inform a decision about whether the president himself will attend the site when he is in Japan for the full G7 meeting in May.