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Hiroshima under tight security ahead of G7 summit

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Kyodo News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="A man offers prayers in front of a cenotaph as the Atomic Bomb Dome is seen in the background at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, Japan on May 17, 2023. The G7 Hiroshima Summit will be held from May 19 to 21, 2023. Franck Robichon, EPA-EFE" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/life/05/17/20230517-hiroshima-g7-summit-epa-1.jpg"/><figcaption>A man offers prayers in front of a cenotaph as the Atomic Bomb Dome is seen in the background at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, Japan on May 17, 2023. The G7 Hiroshima Summit will be held from May 19 to 21, 2023. <em>Franck Robichon, EPA-EFE</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>HIROSHIMA, Japan — Extensive security measures were implemented in Hiroshima on Thursday as the western Japanese city gears up for the Group of Seven (G7) leaders&#x27; summit amid safety concerns heightened by recent attacks on former and current prime ministers.</p><p>With the three-day talks starting Friday, a tense mood has enveloped the city, with security officers from across the country patrolling the streets while bus and trolley services were suspended or reduced.</p><p>Among places to be shuttered is the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, which the leaders will visit on the summit&#x27;s first day. </p><p>The Atomic Bomb Dome, which stands as a symbol of the destructive power of nuclear weapons in the city that suffered the world&#x27;s first atomic bombing on Aug. 6, 1945, will also be inaccessible during the summit.</p><p>Up to 24,000 security personnel will be mobilized during the summit, police said, and it is far more than the 5,600 mobilized for then U.S. President Barack Obama&#x27;s brief visit in May 2016.</p><p>The boosted measures follow an April incident in which an <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/04/15/23/japan-pm-unhurt-after-smoke-bomb-thrown-during-stump-speech">explosive device</a> was thrown at Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida as he was visiting Wakayama, western Japan, and the <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/07/08/22/former-japan-pm-abe-killed-in-shooting">fatal shooting</a> of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during an election stump speech in July last year.</p><p>Amid the tense atmosphere, authorities have already been called in to deal with multiple false alarms in the city stemming from unattended items, leading to bullet train cancellations and other disruptions.</p><p>To ensure ease of travel and safety for visiting leaders, including US President Joe Biden, police have designated major roads and the expressway to and from locations, including the Grand Prince Hotel, the summit&#x27;s main venue, for potential closure.</p><p>The Hiroshima Prefectural Police aim to halve traffic volumes during the summit and are urging locals to limit travel by private car. Commercial drivers are asked to operate between midnight and 6 a.m. when traffic limits are less likely.</p><p>At least 140 public schools are set to close over concerns that students and staff will struggle to come in, and businesses were also affected, including major carmaker Mazda Motor Corp., which is pausing its factory operations from Thursday through Monday.</p><p>Some locals took a flexible view of the restraints. Koji Ueda, head of the Hiroshima Prefectural Citizen&#x27;s Culture Center, which will continue to run events during the summit, said he felt they are &quot;needed to enable the G-7 leaders to gather here and see the atomic bombing&#x27;s reality for themselves.&quot;</p><p>He added that there &quot;may never be another chance like this, so we can&#x27;t let it slip away.&quot;</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/12/26/22/japan-pm-to-be-tested-in-local-elections-hiroshima-g-7-summit">Japan&#x27;s PM to be tested in local elections, Hiroshima G-7 summit</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/05/17/23/biden-to-cut-back-asia-tour-due-to-us-debt-crisis">Biden to cut back Asia tour due to US debt crisis</a></li></ul><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Rg6Hg0ruB-c?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Extensive security measures were imposed in Hiroshima, Japan ahead of the G7 summit amid safety concerns from recent attacks on prime ministers.