Arrangements are being made for Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako to visit Hiroshima and other domestic war-related sites next year to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, a government source said Sunday.
The visits under consideration by the Imperial Household Agency are aimed at remembering the war dead, passing on the tragic memories to the next generation and highlighting the pursuit of peace by Japan's first emperor born after the war, the source said.
The imperial couple plan to visit the Peace Park in Nagasaki, one of the two cities devastated by atomic bombings during World War II, when they attend an annual national cultural festival in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, in September.
In the summer, they are expected to visit Hiroshima, the other atomic bombed city, and Okinawa, which saw a fierce ground battle between Japanese and U.S. troops, the source said.
The emperor and empress may offer flowers at the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims in the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima and the national cemetery for the war dead in Itoman, Okinawa Prefecture, the source said.
The visits to Hiroshima and Nagasaki would be the first by the emperor since his enthronement in May 2019. He last visited Okinawa in October 2022.
