The head of the International Olympic Committee visited Hiroshima on Friday to promote world peace ahead of the Tokyo Games beginning next week, amid opposition from some survivors of the 1945 atomic bombing and citizens who say the visit is politically motivated.
Thomas Bach's one-day trip from Tokyo to Hiroshima, which has been at the vanguard of the global campaign to abolish nuclear weapons, comes as public frustration persists over the IOC pushing ahead with the Olympics despite the coronavirus pandemic.
It coincided with the starting day of an Olympic truce, the idea dating back to ancient Greece and restored by the United Nations in 1993 to call for a worldwide ceasefire during the games.