IOC president Bach meets with Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor

Kajiya was one of the Olympics torch relay runners.Meanwhile a small group of protestors were seen chanting on the streets of Hiroshima near the memorial.57-year-old Yuko Inoue criticized Bach for mistakenly referring to Japanese people as Chinese during a meeting with Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto earlier this week.She also criticized the poor timing.

One week before the opening of the Tokyo Olympic Games, IOC President Thomas Bach met with an atomic bomb survivor in Hiroshima while a small group of protestors near the memorial called for the Olympics to be cancelled.

Earlier in the day, Bach laid a wreath and observed a minute of silence in the rain in front of the Peace Memorial Park cenotaph before meeting with survivors.

Fumiaki Kajiya, an atomic bomb survivor who met with Bach, said he conveyed his hopes for a successful Olympics to be held. Kajiya was one of the Olympics torch relay runners.

Meanwhile a small group of protestors were seen chanting on the streets of Hiroshima near the memorial.

57-year-old Yuko Inoue criticized Bach for mistakenly referring to Japanese people as ''Chinese'' during a meeting with Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto earlier this week.

She also criticized the poor timing. The date — Friday, July 16 — marks exactly 76 years since the Trinity nuclear test took place in New Mexico that led to the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki just weeks later.

66 year-old Yukio Nishioka , whose mother was an atomic bomb survivor, criticized the games as being driven by money-making.

The official cost of the Tokyo Olympics is USD 15.4 billion, though a government audit suggests it is much more.

The IOC has a large financial stake in the Olympics going ahead since almost 75% of its income is from selling broadcast rights.

In ordinary times, such visits to Hiroshima — largely photo ops — would draw little attention were it not for the pandemic and the Olympics.

Depending on the poll and how the question is phrased, a majority of Japanese oppose holding the Olympics.