安倍首相、広島・長崎の原爆式典参列へ

　安倍晋三首相は３日の政府・与党連絡会議で、６日に広島市で開かれる原爆死没者慰霊式・平和祈念式、９日に長崎市で催される長崎原爆犠牲者慰霊平和祈念式典にそれぞれ参列する意向を明らかにした。新型コロナウイルスの感染拡大以降、首相は地方出張を極力控えており、豪雨災害に見舞われた熊本県を７月中旬に視察して以来となる。
　席上、首相は「７５年の節目の年に当たり、原爆の犠牲となった方々のみ霊に哀悼の誠をささげる」と表明。「核兵器によってもたらされた悲劇を決して繰り返してはならない。唯一の戦争被爆国として核兵器のない世界を実現するため、非核三原則を堅持し、粘り強く核兵器国と非核兵器国双方の橋渡しに努め、国際社会の取り組みを主導していく決意だ」と述べた。（2020/08/03-12:51）

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday that he will attend the peace memorial ceremonies this month marking the 75th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombings of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
   He showed the plans at a liaison meeting between the government and the ruling parties. The ceremony in Hiroshima, western Japan, is set for Thursday, and that in Nagasaki, southwestern Japan, for Sunday.
   The prime minister will make his first regional trip since he visited Kumamoto Prefecture in mid-July to inspect damage from heavy rains that hit the southwestern Japan prefecture. He has been avoiding local trips amid the novel coronavirus epidemic across the country.
   Abe said at the meeting that he will offer at the ceremonies his heartfelt tribute to those who lost their lives in the atomic bombings.
   "We must never repeat the horrors brought by the nuclear weapons," he said. "As the only country attacked with nuclear arms, Japan should firmly uphold its three nonnuclear principles (of not possessing or producing nuclear weapons, and not allowing them in its territory), persistently work as a bridge between countries with and without nuclear weapons, and lead international efforts in order to achieve a world without nuclear weapons."