In a news conference on a balmy afternoon as Hiroshima’s Atomic Bomb Dome loomed in the background, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Sunday underscored the role of the summit in sending a message of peace to the globe, bringing the curtain down on a momentous Group of Seven leaders summit.
The fanfare surrounding the event masked a meeting that, while rich in symbolism, was meager on substance as Kishida looks to pivot to domestic issues, begging the question: Can the prime minister translate his diplomatic successes into gains at home?
Pictures of world leaders laying wreaths in memory of the city’s atomic-bombing victims and visiting the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park’s museum — as well as footage of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s surprise visit in Japan for the G7 meeting after a 9,000-kilometer trek — will be seared in the minds of many both in Japan and across the globe.
