Hello from Tokyo. Seventy-nine years ago today, Nagasaki, a city in western Japan, was devastated by an atomic bomb. Nagasaki and Hiroshima remain the only places in the world to have experienced such destruction. Each summer, ceremonies are held in both cities to silently pray for peace and renew the resolve to achieve a planet without nuclear weapons.
This year's events have received more attention than usual due to Nagasaki's decision not to invite the Israeli ambassador -- a move that led some other ambassadors, including those from the U.S. and the U.K., to stay away in protest. This situation highlights the complex interaction between historical memory, diplomacy and current international relations.
The history of U.S. participation in these ceremonies is worth noting. For more than 60 years after World War II, U.S. ambassadors did not attend the events in either city. That changed when Ambassador John Roos went to the Hiroshima ceremony in 2010 and the Nagasaki event in 2012. The presence of U.S. presidents in these cities -- let alone the ceremonies themselves -- is even rarer, with Barack Obama becoming the first sitting president to visit Hiroshima in 2016, while Joe Biden followed in his footsteps last year.
Will U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris tread the same path as her predecessors if she becomes president? And how will she try to be different from her forerunner as she takes over from President Biden as the Democratic Party's presidential nominee? In this week's Big Story, we take an in-depth look at where U.S. foreign policy is headed in a presidential race that pits Harris against former President Donald Trump.
When it comes to national security policy, Taiwan's new defense minister, Wellington Koo Li-hsiung, is also attracting attention. Our Asia Insight looks at the 65-year-old civilian -- who shares a name with a legendary Chinese diplomat and the British "Iron Duke" of Wellington -- as President Lai Ching-te charges him with preparing for the worst amid rising tensions across the Taiwan Strait.
Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan's four main islands, is a popular destination for its relatively cool summers, but it is also attracting attention as a new semiconductor hub. Japan's chip industry has lagged behind Taiwanese and South Korean manufacturers for decades. But our Business Spotlight in this week's magazine, based on an interview with its chairman, looks at what Rapidus, which is expected to revive Japan's semiconductor industry, has learned from its past failures and how it will compete globally.
There are many things that have been lost from the world over the years, but the tragedy of some in Japan's "lost generation" hits hard. I am a member of this generation, having graduated from college during a hiring "ice age" that lasted from the late 1990s into the 2000s, with many struggling to find stable employment after the bursting of an economic bubble inflated in the 1980s. Despite signs that Japan's economy is on the verge of emerging from the lost decades, I can't help but feel very pessimistic about this week's Datawatch.
Finally, we are taking a short break next week, so there will be no magazine or my newsletter. In the meantime, you can still check our website for the latest news. We'll be back and ready for you the week after next!
Wishing you a wonderful weekend!
Shin Nakayama
Editor-in-chief, Nikkei Asia
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