Reflection on Hiroshima and Leadership

You brought us to your hometown of Hiroshima,

the place

where you have your roots

and which has deeply shaped your life and leadership.

Many of your relatives lost their life when the

atomic bomb razed Hiroshima to the ground.

You have grown up with the stories of the survivors,

and you wanted us

to listen

to the same stories,

to face the past and learn something

about the future.

It was a sobering start to the G7, and one

that I will not forget,

especially at a time when Russia threatens

to use nuclear weapons once again.

Is the only nation in the world that

used nuclear weapons twice, destroying the towns of

Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

It is heinous,

it is dangerous,

and in the shadow of Hiroshima, it is unforgivable.

No one is better poised than Japan to

warn us of the extreme danger and of this

recklessness.

Right from the beginning of this war,

Japan's position was clear.

As the only country that has suffered from atom-atomic

bombings,

you have made the whole world listen.

Today, Russia's nuclear saber-rattling has been

condemned not only by our like-minded partners in the

G7,

but by the whole world,

and your diplomatic efforts have been crucial to

reach this outcome.

This

is true leadership.

The kind of leadership that the world needs in these troubled

days,

leadership that is not afraid to learn from the past

to shape a different future.

So it is a pleasure to be with you today

to celebrate your work and your vision.

Distinguished guests,

please join me in congratulating Prime Minister

Kishida on earning the twenty-twenty three Atlantic

Council Award.

The Western nations for ages have been saying