Many years have passed since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, called the most tragic event in history. The bomb dropped in 1945 killed or maimed hundreds of thousands of people. Since that day, when the city lost everything and became filled with sorrow, Hiroshima has built a society that seeks peace, reconstruction and prosperity.
The first atomic bombing of a city in history destroyed Hiroshima, and although it was said that not even a blade of grass or a tree would grow on the land for the next 75 years, the city has made a remarkable recovery. Based on this experience, Hiroshima has two slogans: “the tragedy of war” and “prosperity through peace.”
With Japan set to host the Group of Seven Summit in Hiroshima from May 19 to 21, Hiroshima Prefectural Gov. Hidehiko Yuzaki shared some of his thoughts on the summit. In 2021, Yuzaki, Kazumi Matsui, the mayor of Hiroshima, and Koji Ikeda, the chairman of the Hiroshima Chamber of Commerce and Industry, announced their bid to host the summit. In the draft plan they submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that December, they said, “There is no better place than Hiroshima for policymakers to recall and transmit the universal values of the survival and prosperity of humankind and the noble idea of peace rooted in conscience and morality.”