United States President Barack Obama’s landmark visit to Hiroshima may be misunderstood and misused in the complex East Asian politics, several media outlets noted.
According to the New York Times, Obama will be the first U.S. president to set foot on the Japanese city after former President Harry S. Truman decided that it was for the greater good to drop an atomic bomb on the island.
This made Obama's scheduled visit historical, but it is not the major reason why the trip would be controversial.
While the official purpose of the visit was to cement Obama's message to pursue a world without nuclear weapons, The Huffington Post said it might be misconstrued considering that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe actively advocates containing China.
The Wrong Message
"Obama's visit could provide conservatives in Japan an opportunity to highlight their victim image and to obscure the war crimes the Japanese fascist regime committed during World War II," the report explained.
Apparently, this is the exact reason why previous U.S. presidents were careful not to show remorse in the bombing as it was still considered a heroic act by many Americans, the NY Times noted.
Furthermore, the wrong messages might be sent to Asian countries such as China and South Korea, who were gravely victimized by the terrorism of Imperial Japan.
Meanwhile, the Huffington Post noted that while it is acceptable to show remorse for civilian casualties in the Hiroshima bombing, Obama should be careful not to make his trip a sign that the U.S. government is forgetting the grief Japan has caused to many nations.
"Fairly speaking, it is all right for Obama to honor the civilian victims of the bombing," the report said. "But while the U.S. is eager to show the two countries have worked through World War II-era grievances, it should never forget the suffering Japan caused to the world during the war."
Obama's Purpose
Despite murmurs about this very wrong message, Obama and his closest aides remain dignified in their purpose: to promote a nuclear-free world.
They remain disdainful of the so-called conventional wisdom in Washington, but opted to ease these murmurs by reiterating that he will not apologize for the Hiroshima and Nagazaki bombings during the trip.
The International Business Times made public his itinerary for the visit, which began on Wednesday when he arrived in Japan following a tour of Vietnam.
He is set to join the Japanese Prime Minister in a trip to Hiroshima on Friday, following his visit to the Ise-Jingu Shrine on Thursday.