John Kerry makes historic visit to Hiroshima

Secretary of State John Kerry became the most senior U.S. official to visit Hiroshima when he traveled on Monday with other G7 leaders to the city's peace memorial.

In the guest book, Kerry wrote that "everyone in the world should see and feel the power of this memorial," adding that it is a "stark, harsh, compelling reminder of not only our obligation to end the threat of nuclear weapons, but to rededicate all our effort to avoid war itself." No serving U.S. president has ever visited Hiroshima since the atomic bombing that killed 140,000 Japanese, and it took 65 years before a U.S. ambassador attended the annual memorial service. A senior U.S. official told The Associated Press that next month, Obama may visit Hiroshima while in central Japan for a meeting with other world leaders.

During a wreath laying ceremony, Kerry put his arm around Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, a Hiroshima native, and he left with a necklace made of red, white, and blue origami cranes, AP reports. "While we will revisit the past and honor those who perished, this trip is not about the past," Kerry said. "It's about the present and the future particularly, and the strength of the relationship that we have built, the friendship that we share, the strength of our alliance and the strong reminder of the imperative we all have to work for peace for peoples everywhere."

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