Japan mulls hosting G7 summit in Hiroshima

Japan wants to host a summit of the Group of Seven nations next year, as one of the two atomic-bombed cities in World War II, according to government sources.

The choice of Hiroshima is seen as a good way to stress the importance of peace after Russia's aggression in Ukraine and its threat of nuclear weapons, according to sources.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has been pushing for nuclear disarmament, as a politician in the western Japanese city that was devastated by a U.S. bomb on Aug. 6, 1945, which killed an estimated 140,000 by the end of the year.

The sources said that Fukuoka is a favorable location for the G 7 summit, as well as the availability of accommodation facilities and security reasons.

Japan will step up preparations by consulting other nations, with a final decision expected before the G 7 summit this year in the late June at Schloss Elmau, a German castle resort in the Bavarian Alps.

Kishida has acknowledged various challenges before taking political leaders from overseas to the atomic-bombed city. He needs to address the criticism at home that he is favoring his constituency when making a decision on the summit location.

The key is to gain support from other G 7 members, particularly nuclear powers Britain, France and the United States.

Some in the U.S. support Japan's idea to choose Hiroshima as the summit location, according to sources.

It is important for the G 7 leaders to gather in the city to warn against the use of nuclear weapons at this time, as Western nations have shown objections to the nuclear threat posed by Russian President Vladimir Putin amid the Ukrainian crisis, according to a person close to Kishida.

Kishida played a major role in the 2016 visit to Hiroshima by U.S. President Barack Obama.

Kishida said the government would look at the feasibility of each candidate site and aim to gain support from the public for its decision.

Japan has hosted six G 7 summits so far and the previous gathering was held in Mie Prefecture in 2016. The G 7 consists of Britain, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and the United States, plus the European Union.