Hiroshima Sends Peace Ceremony Letter to Taiwan; Island Will Participate in Commemoration for First Time

The Yomiuri Shimbun

20:00 JST, May 24, 2025

HIROSHIMA — Ahead of the 80th anniversary of its Aug. 6, 1945, atomic bombing, the city of Hiroshima has sent information letters about its peace memorial ceremony to Taiwan, in addition to 195 countries and regions with which Japan maintains diplomatic channels and the Delegation of the European Union to Japan.

This is the first time the city has informed Taiwan about this ceremony, and the city says Taiwan has indicated an intention to participate.

The city has customarily invited dignitaries and ambassadors from each country to participate, but had not previously done so for Taiwan because Japan’s central government does not recognize it as a sovereign state.

However, this year, the city changed its approach from sending invitations to sending information letters to all countries and regions with which Japan maintains diplomatic channels — meaning letters were also sent to Russia and Belarus.

Taiwan was not originally included, but the city explained, “[Taiwan] offered to attend [the ceremony], so we added it to the mailing list.”

The city of Nagasaki, by contrast, will send Taiwan neither an invitation nor an information letter about its own peace memorial ceremony, to be held on Aug. 9. The city invites countries and regions that have embassies and similar facilities in Japan, as well as countries that do not have embassies but send missions to the United Nations.

A city official said, “Taiwan is not on the table,” as it meets none of these criteria.