Messages from world leaders written in the guest book of Hiroshima's peace museum during the Group of Seven nations' summit held in the western Japan city in May were put on display Tuesday, in an exhibition of objects related to the meeting.
The "G7 Hiroshima Summit Reminiscences" exhibition at the International Conference Center Hiroshima aims to offer visitors a chance to reflect on the recent summit, as well as leaders' thoughts on achieving a "world without nuclear weapons."
Amid rising nuclear tensions worldwide, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pitched the vision as a central theme of the summit. Kishida represents a constituency in the city, which suffered the world's first atomic bombing by the United States on Aug. 6, 1945.
As part of the theme, the G-7 leaders, which among them include the nuclear powers of the United States, France and Britain, as well as the heads of invited nations such as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and met a survivor of the bombing during the summit.
The free exhibition will run until Aug. 31, with its main exhibits including two origami paper cranes symbolizing peace brought by U.S. President Joe Biden to the museum, the round table used in summit talks and 18 guest book entries written by figures including the leaders of G-7 countries and invited nations.
For preservation purposes, the genuine guest book entries will be replaced by replicas after Aug. 7.
Kairi Sato, a 16-year-old high school student visiting with family from Matsumoto in central Japan's Nagano Prefecture, said that "seeing the leaders' thoughts written directly, I've been able to think deeply about peace. I want to take what I've seen today with me as an experience."
Among the messages, Biden's reads, "May the stories of this Museum remind us all of our obligations to build a future of peace. Together let us continue to make progress toward the day when we can finally and forever rid the world of nuclear weapons. Keep the faith!"
Zelenskyy said in his entry, written in Ukrainian, "The threat of the use of nuclear weapons has no place in the modern world."
Related coverage:
Hiroshima survivor who met G-7 says visit was step to nuke abolition
Biden brought paper cranes symbolizing peace to Hiroshima museum
G-7 leaders given replicas of paper crane made by A-bomb victim girl
