Japan is increasingly concerned about a series of recent remarks by U.S. officials justifying the August 1945 atomic bombings of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Many in the United States take a positive view of the atomic bombings in the closing days of World War II. Tokyo, which opposes the use of nuclear weapons, has informed Washington of its position, but is struggling to have its stance acknowledged.
In a U.S. congressional meeting on May 8, Lindsey Graham, an influential Republican senator, made a remark defending the atomic bombings. Graham is close to former U.S. President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee in the November presidential election.