‘We must teach this history’: Jill Biden says in Hiroshima after viewing the atomic bomb site – as she and granddaughter Maisy arrive late to the husbands’ event and keep the public waiting
- First lady Jill Biden told an audience in Hiroshima that ‘we have to teach this history’ after touring the nuclear bomb site Friday
- Dr. Biden failed to show up with Japan’s Yuko Kishida, UK’s Akshata Murty, and Germany’s Britta Ernst at a husbands event
- She and granddaughter Maisy Biden arrived 10 minutes later, with the program interrupted as the audience waited for the Americans
First lady Jill Biden told an audience in Hiroshima that “we have to teach this history” after visiting the nuclear bomb site on Friday as part of the G7 summit.
She spoke to private and public university students at the Next Generations’ Symposium early Friday evening, attended by the spouses of the top, having previously visited the Hiroshima Peace Park and Memorial Museum.
Dr. Biden failed to show up with Japan’s Yuko Kishida, UK’s Akshata Murty, and Germany’s Britta Ernst, arriving 10 minutes later with granddaughter Maisy.
The program had to be interrupted for a while because the audience waited for the arrival of the Americans.
“Today we gather just a stone’s throw from the monument that commemorates part of the deadliest war mankind has ever known,” she said when it was her turn to speak. “We must teach this history so that we can understand the choices before us.”
First lady Jill Biden (second from left) participated in a wreath-laying ceremony along with (from left) British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s wife, Akshata Murty, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s wife, Yuko Kishida, German Chancellor’s wife Olaf Scholz, Britta Ernst and husband of the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Heiko von der Leyen
“Choose creation over destruction, innovation over inhumanity, peace over carnage, democracy over autocracy,” she continued.
She told the young people that they are ‘the builders of democracy’.
And she praised the next generation for “leading movements for change,” including “working for climate justice.”
Previously, Japanese-American singer-songwriter Ai had worked with the students to teach them the English words of the song Lean on Me, which was to be performed for the spouses after reporters left the room.
They also received a history lesson on how the US dropped the atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to bring World War II to a swift end.
Previously, Dr. Biden President Joe Biden for a tour of Hiroshima’s Peace Park and Memorial Museum with other G7 leaders and the spouses who made the trip.
“We’ll work it out,” Biden said with a laugh when the president was unsure which sign to stand on when they did a photo op with the Kishidas.
First lady Jill Biden (right) walked to a wreath-laying ceremony Friday at the Cenotaph for Atomic Bomb Victims at Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima. She was accompanied by (left to right) wife of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Akshata Murty, husband of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Heiko von der Leyen, wife of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Britta Ernst, wife of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Yuko Kishida
This handout photo shows Dr. Jill Biden (right) participating in a tea ceremony with (from left) Yuko Kishida of Japan and Akshata Murty of the United Kingdom
The spouses took their own photo participating in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Cenotaph for Atomic Bomb Victims.
In the background, the only surviving downtown building from the 1945 bombing—now the Peace Memorial—was visible.
Dr. Biden will also participate in a Joining Forces event while in Japan.
She will travel to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni on Sunday and address the graduating seniors at MC Perry High School, a Department of Defense teaching activity school.
She made similar comments to students in Naples when she broke away from the president in November 2021, when Biden attended the G20 in Rome.
The first lady previously traveled to Japan to lead the US delegation at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which took place in 2021 and not 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Biden was one of the few dignitaries at the opening ceremony, which she attended with French President Emmanuel Macron.