As a Japanese national, I would like to ask U.S. President Barack Obama a big favor. Mr. President, please visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki to meet atomic bomb survivors while they are still alive. As you may fear that this could adversely affect the presidential campaign, please make the visit after the November election.
In 2009, Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for "the vision of a world free from nuclear arms." I was wondering, though, how can anyone who has never visited Hiroshima or Nagasaki be entitled to the prize?
Obama should meet the atomic bomb survivors personally and listen to them describe the intolerable hardships they have gone through over the years. Many of them were discriminated against even by Japanese not affected by the blasts.
There's an English proverb that says, "Better late than never," but Obama shouldn't wait too much longer to visit.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.