The Ambassador of the European Union (EU) to Japan and EU Member State Ambassadors will visit Nagasaki on 2-3 February for a regional Retreat that includes opportunities to exchange views with a wide range of local interlocutors.

On Friday 3 February, the Ambassadors will have separate meetings with Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue and an atomic bombing survivor (hibakusha), followed by a visit to the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum where they will collectively lay a commemorative wreath at the Atomic Bomb Hypocenter Monument. An exchange of views with students at Junshin Catholic University at its Bunkyo Campus is planned, as well as a tour of the historic Dejima district of the city, where links between Europe and Japan were maintained throughout modern history.

The EU and its Member States, as one ‘Team Europe’, take a keen interest in fostering closer ties with Japan’s regions. This visit aims to deepen existing links with Nagasaki, whose arc of reconstruction from the atomic bombing of 1945 to the flourishing city we see today is of particular significance given the Russian aggression in Ukraine and Europe’s resolve to help rebuild the country following the destruction wrought by Russia.

The Ambassadors will hold a press briefing as follows:

Date and Time:         Friday, 3 February, 11:30-12:00

Venue:                        Peace Study Room, Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum (7-8 Hirano-machi, Nagasaki) B1F

Language:                  English/Japanese (consecutive interpretation)