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High winds whipped up Pope Francis’s white cape as he disembarked a plane in Tokyo ahead of his four-day tour of Japan<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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The white cape of his papal outfit was whipped up as he gingerly descended the plane steps in heavy rain<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
During his visit to the country, he will go to the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, targets of the ‘catastrophic’ atomic bomb.<\/p>\n
Shortly after touching down, the 82-year-old Argentine turned straight to the ‘tragic episode in human history’ at the end of World War II, which killed at least 74,000 in Nagasaki and 140,000 in Hiroshima.<\/p>\n
The Pope told bishops in a welcoming ceremony: ‘I will soon visit Nagasaki and Hiroshima, where I will offer prayers for the victims of the catastrophic bombing of these two cities, and echo your own prophetic calls for nuclear disarmament,’<\/p>\n
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During his visit to the country, he will go to the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, targets of the ‘catastrophic’ atomic bomb<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
In this trip, the second leg of an Asian tour, the pontiff said he was fulfilling a long-held ambition to preach in Japan.<\/p>\n
‘I don’t know if you are aware of this, but ever since I was young I have felt a fondness and affection for these lands. Many years have passed since that missionary impulse, whose realisation has been long in coming,’ he added.<\/p>\n
The first leg of his trip took him to Thailand, where he delivered a message of religious tolerance and peace.<\/p>\n
He is expected to do the same in Japan, a country with only approximately 440,000 Catholics out of a population of 126 million.<\/p>\n
The majority of Japanese practise a mixture of Shinto and Buddhism, two closely intertwined faiths based on the worship of nature and spirits, but many in Japan also observe Christian festivals such as Christmas.<\/p>\n
‘We know that the Church in Japan is small and Catholics are in a minority, but this must not diminish your commitment to evangelisation,’ he told his bishops.<\/p>\n
Christians endured centuries of bloody repression in Japan after the religion was introduced to the country by a Spanish Jesuit priest in 1549.<\/p>\n
In the 17th century, Japan was closed to the outside world and Christians were persecuted, tortured, crucified and drowned as they were forced to recant their faith.<\/p>\n
When Japan reopened to the world in the mid-19th century and the missionaries returned, they were astonished to find an estimated 60,000 who had secretly kept the faith alive and followed a unique version of Catholicism blended with Japanese culture and religious rites.<\/p>\n
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Shortly after touching down, the 82-year-old Argentine turned straight to the ‘tragic episode in human history’ at the end of World War II, which killed at least 74,000 in Nagasaki and 140,000 in Hiroshima<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The pontiff will pay tribute to the community while in Nagasaki and also visit Hiroshima to deliver remarks at the world-famous peace memorial that marks the day, on August 6, 1945, when the atomic bomb was dropped.<\/p>\n
Father Yoshio Kajiyama, director of the Jesuit social centre in Tokyo, was born in Hiroshima shortly after the war and is eagerly awaiting the pope’s anti-nuclear speech.<\/p>\n
‘My grandfather died the day of the bomb in Hiroshima, I never knew him. <\/p>\n
‘Four days later my aunt died when she was 15 years old,’ said the 64-year-old.<\/p>\n
‘If you grow up in Hiroshima, you can’t forget the bomb.’<\/p>\n
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The first leg of his trip took him to Thailand, where he delivered a message of religious tolerance and peace. Pictured: The Pope in Bangkok<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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His cousin Sister Ana Rosa (second right), who has worked as a missionary in Thailand since 1966, was a near constant presence by his side during the visit, serving as his interpreter. Pictured: Pope Francis and his cousin Sister Ana Rosa Sivori exchange gifts with Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
In Tokyo on Monday, Francis will meet government officials, Emperor Naruhito and victims of the ‘triple disaster’, the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown in 2011 that devastated large swathes of north-eastern Japan.<\/p>\n
‘Evil has no preferences; it does not care about people’s background or identity. It simply bursts in with its destructive force,’ said Francis.<\/p>\n
He spent three nights in Buddhist-majority Thailand, where he met with Thai King Vajiralongkorn and also sat down with the Buddhist Supreme Patriarch – the head of Thailand’s Buddhists. <\/p>\n
His cousin Sister Ana Rosa, who has worked as a missionary in Thailand since 1966, was a near constant presence by his side during the visit, serving as his interpreter.<\/p>\n
In his final public address in Bangkok, the pontiff expressed gratitude to the small Catholic community for the warm welcome he received.<\/p>\n
‘I am leaving you with a task: do not forget to pray for me!’<\/p>\n
WHAT HAPPENED IN THE BOMBING OF HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI?<\/h3>\n\nThe first atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 by an American B-29 bomber dubbed the Enola Gay.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n![\"The](\"http:\/\/wardoon.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/high-winds-whip-up-pope-franciss-white-cape-as-he-kicks-off-his-trip-to-japan-9.jpg\")
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The mushroom cloud over Nagasaki, Japan is shown<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The 9,000lb uranium-235 bomb exploded 1,900 feet (580 metres) above the ground, killing between 60,000 and 80,000 people instantly, some vanishing instantly from the heat of the vast explosion.<\/span><\/p>\nOthers died as fire ripped through the city and some 135,000 people in total are thought to have perished from radiation sickness.<\/span><\/p>\nThe blast flattened more than six square miles (10 square km) of the city, with fires burning for three days, leaving thousands of survivors burnt and homeless.<\/span><\/p>\nWith major buildings like hospitals destroyed and more than 90 per cent of the city’s doctors and nurses killed in the blast, there was little help available to the injured.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span>Three days later, a second US atomic bomb killed 70,000 people in Nagasaki.<\/p>\nJapan surrendered six days after that, ending the Second World War.<\/p>\n
Ten years later, the longer-term effects of the bombs were being noticed, including a rise in leukaemia – a blood cancer not included in the study. <\/span><\/p>\n
The first atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 by an American B-29 bomber dubbed the Enola Gay.<\/span><\/p>\n The mushroom cloud over Nagasaki, Japan is shown<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The 9,000lb uranium-235 bomb exploded 1,900 feet (580 metres) above the ground, killing between 60,000 and 80,000 people instantly, some vanishing instantly from the heat of the vast explosion.<\/span><\/p>\n Others died as fire ripped through the city and some 135,000 people in total are thought to have perished from radiation sickness.<\/span><\/p>\n The blast flattened more than six square miles (10 square km) of the city, with fires burning for three days, leaving thousands of survivors burnt and homeless.<\/span><\/p>\n With major buildings like hospitals destroyed and more than 90 per cent of the city’s doctors and nurses killed in the blast, there was little help available to the injured.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span>Three days later, a second US atomic bomb killed 70,000 people in Nagasaki.<\/p>\n Japan surrendered six days after that, ending the Second World War.<\/p>\n Ten years later, the longer-term effects of the bombs were being noticed, including a rise in leukaemia – a blood cancer not included in the study. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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