Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa on Friday criticized recent comments by U.S. officials, including Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, that justified the August 1945 U.S. atomic bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Congress’ comments that atomic bombs ended World War II are “inappropriate and unacceptable,” Kamikawa said at a parliamentary committee meeting.
She said Tokyo told Washington that its use of nuclear weapons did not comply with the spirit of international law.
The atomic bombings cost many precious lives and forced people to face unspeakable hardships such as diseases and disabilities, Kamikawa said, adding that they “created a situation that is extremely deplorable from a humanitarian point of view.”
“The use of nuclear weapons is inconsistent with the spirit of humanitarianism because of their enormously destructive and deadly power,” she said.
