U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy will attend the annual A-bomb ceremony in Hiroshima next week to mark the anniversary of the 1945 atomic bombing of the city, sources familiar with the matter said Thursday.
Kennedy previously visited Hiroshima during her first trip to Japan in 1978 with her uncle, then U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy. It will be her first visit to the city since becoming ambassador in November.
Her predecessor, John Roos, became the first U.S. representative to attend the Aug. 6 ceremony in 2010. He also attended it in 2012 and 2013.
Having Kennedy attend the annual ceremony in Nagasaki for the Aug. 9 atomic bombing is also under consideration, according to the sources, who asked not to be named.
Last December, the envoy visited the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum and listened to A-bomb survivors' accounts of the attack.