Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda will attend the annual peace ceremonies in Hiroshima on Monday and Nagasaki on Thursday to commemorate the U.S. atomic bombings in 1945, Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said Wednesday.
Noda's attendance will come as Japan wrestles with the future of nuclear energy in light of the Fukushima crisis.
He is scheduled to visit the cities of Okayama and Fukuyama. Hiroshima Prefecture, on Sunday to inspect leading companies in the health care and energy environment fields, regarded as key areas for Japan's future economic growth, Fujimura said.