Hiroshima Survivors Want Obama to Understand Tragedy of 'Terrible Bomb'

Barack Obama will run through the sufferings of atomic bombing victims during his upcoming historical visit to Hiroshima, Toshiyuki Mimaki, a member of Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Casualty Council, said Wednesday.

TOKYO (Sputnik) — Obama's visit to Hiroshima is a part of his trip to Japan for Group of Seven in May, White House press release announced Tuesday. He will be the first US president to visit the site of the atomic bombing.

"It does not matter whether he [Obama] says sorry or not, whether he bends his head or not. The most important thing is that Obama will see Hiroshima, where terrible bomb was dropped, he will visit Peace Memorial Museum and feel what people felt here," Mimaki, who survived the disaster at the age of three, told RIA Novosti.

Mimaki however welcomed Obama's visit as an expression of his commitment to nuclear-free world.

"It is a big news for us. Though Japan suffered atomic bomb attack, we will wholeheartedly welcome Obama and we are happy about his visit," he added.

The United States dropped atomic bombs on Japanese towns Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, killing up to 250,000 people and forcing Japan to surrender. Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the only sites where nuclear weapon was ever used against people.