According to a report by the Japanese Kyodo News on August 4th, the U.S. Embassy in Japan announced on Tuesday local time that Ambassador George Glass would be absent from the Hiroshima City Peace Memorial Ceremony on the 6th and the Nagasaki City Peace Prayer Ceremony on the 9th. Instead, Aaron Snape, the Chief Diplomat at the U.S. Embassy in Japan, will represent the U.S. government at these ceremonies.
Neither the embassy nor Glass himself provided any explanation for the reason behind their absence during their statements and subsequent responses to media inquiries. After being appointed as the Japanese ambassador last year, Glass attended both ceremonies commemorating the victims of the atomic bombing in 1945 and calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
On the same day, Glass issued a statement saying that Hiroshima and Nagasaki are "symbols of peace and hope for the world." To safeguard peace and freedom throughout the Indo-Pacific region, "it is necessary to continue advancing the Japan-US partnership."
Japanese media pointed out that this is the second time in recent years that the US ambassador to Japan has missed such commemorative events, following the absence of the former ambassador Emanuel from Nagasaki City's ceremonies due to the city not inviting the Israeli ambassador to Japan.
