U.K., U.S. ambassadors to skip Nagasaki peace ceremony

The ambassadors of Britain and the United States will not attend the Nagasaki Peace Memorial Ceremony on Aug. 9 commemorating the victims of the 1945 atomic bombing. 

British Ambassador to Japan Julia Longbottom explained that her decision was because the city did not invite Israel to attend. 

Longbottom, who attended the Hiroshima peace ceremony, told reporters on Aug. 6 that unlike Russia, which invaded Ukraine, and Belarus, which cooperated in the invasion, Israel is exercising its right to self-defense.

So, treating Israel in the same manner would be misleading, she said. An Israeli representative attended this year's Hiroshima peace ceremony. 

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel will also skip the Nagasaki peace ceremony although he attended the one in  Hiroshima.

According to the U.S. Embassy, Emanuel does not want to politicize the Nagasaki event.

Instead, the embassy is making arrangements for him to attend the memorial service for Nagasaki atomic bomb victims at Zojoji temple in Tokyo on the same day. 

Embassy staff said the ambassador's desire to remember those who died remains unchanged.

The United States will still send a representative to the Nagasaki peace ceremony. 

The U.S. Consulate in Fukuoka, near Nagasaki, said on Aug. 7 that Chuka Asike, principal officer to the consulate, will attend the event.  

The Asahi Shimbun learned on Aug. 7 that the envoys of Group of Seven nations, except for Japan, and the European Union sent a letter to Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki in mid-July.

The document said that if Israel was excluded from the invited countries, it would be difficult to send high-ranking officials to attend the ceremony.

There was no response from Nagasaki as of Aug. 7.

Nagasaki did not invite Israel to this year's peace ceremony, citing “the risk of unexpected incidents during the ceremony” due to ongoing conflicts in the Gaza Strip.

The city also has not invited Russia or its ally Belarus to the annual Peace Memorial Ceremony since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

(This article was compiled from reports by Masato Tainaka and Atsushi Okudera, a senior staff writer.)