US ambassador to Japan to skip Nagasaki’s peace ceremony | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News

Sources have told NHK that the US ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, will not attend Friday’s annual peace ceremony in Nagasaki marking the US atomic bombing of the city.

They say his non-attendance is a reaction to the city’s decision not to invite the Israeli ambassador.

Nagasaki officials say their decision is aimed at holding the ceremony smoothly to mourn atomic bomb victims in a calm and solemn atmosphere.

The sources say Emanuel views the ceremony as being politicized, which is inappropriate. He reportedly cited the calm atmosphere of the atomic bomb memorial in Hiroshima held on Tuesday, which the Israeli ambassador attended.

The sources say Chuka Asike, principal officer to the US Consulate Fukuoka, will attend the event in Nagasaki as a representative of the United States, while Emanuel will visit a ceremony in Tokyo on the same day.

The British Embassy in Japan says British Ambassador to Japan Julia Longbottom will also skip the ceremony in Nagasaki for the same reason.

It explained that Israel could be viewed as being treated in the same way as Russia and Belarus, the only countries that have not been invited to this year’s ceremony.

The French and Italian embassies have also told NHK that their ambassadors will be absent from the Nagasaki ceremony.