Hiroshima atomic bomb victims remembered on August 6 2010

In a video for ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons), Japanese children and an atomic bomb survivor call for a nuclear weapon free world.

August 6 2010 marks the 65th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, western Japan, which this year has prompted two significant visitors. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon arrived for a series of meetings and appearances, including at Prime Minister Naoto Kan's private residence. But perhaps more poignantly he is also attending two services to honor the Korean victims of the bombings in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki -- where further memorials will be held. Ban is the first U.N. Secretary General to visit Japan for the atomic bomb anniversaries, which killed tens of thousands of civilians at the end of World War II. 

Ban hopes his visit will draw attention to the issue of global nuclear disarmament, something U.S. President Barack Obama has stated his country should initiate. Though Obama himself is not attending this year, U.S. ambassador to Japan, John V. Roos, will be attending, the first time that an American ambassador has done so. U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley explained, "At this particular point, we thought it was the right thing to do."

But while Roos will be joined by around one million other visitors for the memorial services, not everyone approves. James Tibbets, son of Brig. Gen. Paul W. Tibbets, Jr. -- pilot of the B-29 bomber "Enola Gay" which dropped the Hiroshima bomb known as "Little Boy" -- complained that the visit is “an unsaid apology,” to Fox News.

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has himself privately visited Arlington National Ceremony in Washington D.C. on April 22, 2010, to pay respect to American lives lost during the war. With Obama having won a Nobel Peace Prize thanks in part to his speeches declaring the need for a nuclear weapon-free world, it is thought the visit of Roos might pave the way for a future visit by Obama himself.