Barack Obama will attend the G-7 Ise-Shima summit of leading industrial nations in Mie Prefecture next month, sparking speculation that the U.S. President might venture to Hiroshima to pay respects at the Peace Memorial Park.
Obama is the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate because of a speech he gave earlier that year in Prague pledging to rid the world of nuclear weapons. His vision dovetails with the Hiroshima Declaration, which calls for the abolition of nuclear arms. So a visit is appealing to Obama in terms of the unfinished business of World War II and the Cold War, while giving momentum to his pledge in Prague concerning "America's commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons."
It could also be a cathartic moment for Americans and Japanese to ponder the folly of war and the virtues of the peaceful relations that have flowered since 1945.