Japanese Protesters Disrupt Emperor’s Visit to Hiroshima
HIROSHIMA, Japan — Emperor Akihito’s tour of Hiroshima to mourn atomic bomb victims on Thursday was disrupted by a rare protest as activists demanded he apologize for the war Japan waged in his father’s name.
“Take responsibility for the war!” said a poster carried by a middle-aged man among about 70 people who shouted slogans.
The protesters staged a brief sit-in at Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park, which Akihito and Empress Michiko visited on the second day of a trip to mourn Japanese war dead and mark the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Direct protests against the emperor are rare and discussion of the role Emperor Hirohito, Akihito’s father, played in Japan’s invasions of Asian countries that began in 1931 and culminated with the U.S. atomic bombings in 1945 is a virtual taboo.
The emperor and empress bowed before a memorial tower in which the names of the 186,940 victims of the bombing are stored.
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