
Japan: Kerry pays respects at Hiroshima memorial during historic visit
US Secretary of State John Kerry made a historic visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on Monday, to pay his respects 71 years on from the USA’s dropping of a hydrogen bomb on the Japanese city, at the end of the Second World War. Kerry is the first US secretary of State to ever visit Hiroshima.
As well as Kerry, the memorial was attended by Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, Canadian Foreign Minister Stephane Dion, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni and French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault.
Over 20,000 Japanese soldiers and between 70,000 and 146,000 civilians were killed in the Hiroshima bombing, which was conducted in concurrence with a second hydrogen bombing of Nagasaki, where the death toll is estimated to be between 39,000 and 80,000.

US Secretary of State John Kerry made a historic visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on Monday, to pay his respects 71 years on from the USA’s dropping of a hydrogen bomb on the Japanese city, at the end of the Second World War. Kerry is the first US secretary of State to ever visit Hiroshima.
As well as Kerry, the memorial was attended by Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, Canadian Foreign Minister Stephane Dion, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni and French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault.
Over 20,000 Japanese soldiers and between 70,000 and 146,000 civilians were killed in the Hiroshima bombing, which was conducted in concurrence with a second hydrogen bombing of Nagasaki, where the death toll is estimated to be between 39,000 and 80,000.