The mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki separately sent letters of protest to President Barack Obama on Tuesday after the United States revealed it had conducted an experiment using plutonium to examine the capabilities of nuclear weapons between April and June.
"I just can't stop being angry," Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui said, pointing out that Obama two months ago in Berlin proposed reducing stockpiles of U.S. nuclear weapons by up to one-third.
Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue said in his letter that the latest testing "let down a lot of people and hurt the sentiment of the bombed places."
He then called on the United States to stop all nuclear tests and take the initiative in abolishing nuclear weapons.
Hiroshima Gov. Hidehiko Yuzaki also sent a letter of protest to Obama saying the United States is supposed to play a leadership role in worldwide efforts to abolish nuclear weapons, but its action disrupts those efforts.
Regrettable comment
JIJI
Israel has expressed regrets over comments by a senior official that he was sick of "self-righteous" memorials for the victims of the 1945 U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japanese and Israeli officials said Tuesday.
Yaakov Amidror, Israeli national security adviser, phoned Ambassador to Israel Hideo Sato and expressed regrets over the comments, said officials at the Japanese Embassy in Tel Aviv.
According to Israeli government sources, Amidror told the Japanese side that the senior official's comments do not represent the opinion of the Israeli government.