Hiroshima atom bomb survivors ask whether G-7 leaders are listening

Summit, Zelenskyy bring global attention but no progress on ending nuclear weapons

Group of Seven leaders and their guests stand at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on May 21. (Photo by Tsuyoshi Iwashita)

SEISHI MINOWA and HIROYUKI OMOTO, Nikkei staff writers

May 22, 2023 03:18 JST

HIROSHIMA, Japan -- For Japanese scarred by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's visit Sunday elicited mixed emotions: hope for a world free from nuclear weapons tinged with frustration over a lack of progress.

Keiko Ogura, who was 8 years old when the bomb was dropped in 1945, told Zelenskyy of her experience as a hibakusha (atomic bombing survivor) during the president's visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, as she had on Friday to Group of Seven leaders gathered in the city.