Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sternly rebuked his defense minister yesterday for suggesting that the US atomic bombings of Japan were the inevitable way of ending World War II.
Survivors of the bombings also told Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma to stay away from future memorial ceremonies in Nagasaki after his suggestion on Saturday that the nuclear attacks on Japan by the US "couldn't be helped."
The gaffe-prone defense minister was summoned by Abe and reprimanded for his controversial remarks.
"We must not hurt the feelings of atom bomb sufferers in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I want you to strictly refrain from making remarks that would cause people's misunderstanding," Abe told Kyuma, Jiji Press reported.
"I was told by the prime minister to be careful about my comments. I'll follow his instruction," Kyuma told reporters after the meeting with Abe.
The controversy comes at a delicate time from Abe, who is already battling falling public support ahead of key upper house elections on July 29.
Kyuma, who represents Nagasaki in parliament, on Sunday apologized during a news conference in the southern port city for his remarks, which were denounced by ruling party and opposition lawmakers as well as victims of the attacks.
"His comments ridicule atomic bomb victims who have been campaigning to abolish nuclear weapons, fighting relentlessly despite their physical weakness," said Hirotami Yamada, a member of a group of A-bomb victims.
"We have sent a letter to Minister Kyuma saying that we will never allow his attendance at the peace memorial ceremony held on August 9," he said.
Some 100 demonstrators staged a rally at Nagasaki Peace Memorial Park in light rain yesterday, carrying a banner protesting that the defense minister's remarks "would lead to the justification of nuclear bombings."
"I want to express my strong feeling of regret [over Kyuma's remark] as it gave such a great shock to atom bomb survivors and the people of Nagasaki," Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue told the city assembly separately.
"I will visit Tokyo as early as [today] and tell Defense Minister Kyuma and Prime Minister Abe how the city of Nagasaki feels," the mayor said.
Top government spokesman Yasuhisa Shiozaki, however, reiterated the government had no plan to dismiss the beleaguered defense minister.
"We expect [Kyuma] to continue fulfilling his duties as a minister keeping in mind the prime minister's stern words," he said.
On Aug. 9, 1945, a US nuclear bomb, codenamed "Fat Man" after British wartime prime minister Winston Churchill, killed more than 70,000 people in Nagasaki.
The bomb was even larger than "Little Boy," which was dropped three days earlier on Hiroshima, killing some 140,000 people. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, ending World War II.
In related news, the support rate for Abe's government fell to its lowest level yet since he took office last September, a newspaper poll showed yesterday, a result that bodes ill for him in this month's elections.
Meanwhile, more than half of respondents to another newspaper poll disapproved of his Cabinet - the first time the mark has soared above 50 percent in more than six years.
The polls add to indications of a steady decline in Abe's support rates since he came to office nine months ago, making the run-up to the July 29 upper-house elections a fight for his political survival.
The ruling bloc has a majority in the largely ceremonial 242-seat upper house. While a poor showing at the polls is unlikely to knock Abe's Liberal Democratic Party out of power, it could seriously weaken his standing and prompt party elders to seek a replacement.
Twenty-eight percent of respondents to an Asahi newspaper telephone survey conducted on Saturday and Sunday said they supported Abe's government. The figure was the lowest yet and down from 31 percent in a similar poll the paper conducted early last month.
The government's disapproval rate held steady at 48 percent, the paper said.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said the government would closely monitor public sentiment as expressed in the polls and pursue its policy objectives accordingly.
"The support rate is not solely decided by whether bills are passed or not," he told reporters.
Abe's government has been plagued by a series of scandals ahead of this month's vote, including one involving missing pension records.
His ruling coalition extended the current parliamentary session to push through bills aimed at resolving the issue in a bid to boost his popularity, a legislative rush that has been strongly criticized by opposition parties and local media.
The bills were passed early on Saturday morning.
More than half of the Asahi poll's 1,013 respondents said they disapproved of the government's efforts to clear up the pension problem.
Separately, 52 percent of 1,028 respondents to a Mainichi newspaper poll said they did not support his government.
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