Hiroshima mayor's comments draw criticism+

HIROSHIMA, June 17 Kyodo -
Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui has drawn criticism over his remarks in a meeting with an A-bomb survivor that some survivors demand assistance as if it is their right and have forgotten the feeling of appreciation.
On Friday evening, Matsui told a group of A-bomb survivors, ''I'm not convinced that my comments were wrong. It is important to understand that we can support the survivors only if many Japanese citizens share (a sense of) their sufferings and pains.''
He told reporters following the meeting, ''There is no need to retract my comments. I want to make sure there will not be further misunderstandings.''
According to city officials, Matsui said in a meeting with the A-bomb survivor on Thursday, ''I wish survivors would not just say 'Give me (money), give me (money)' as if it is their right to do so...They can't say such a thing if they think about those who were killed (by the atomic bomb). I hope they will not forget the sense of gratitude.''
Matsui, a Hiroshima city native, is a second generation victim of the 1945 atomic bombing and a former bureaucrat at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
On the mayor's remarks, Terumi Tanaka, secretary general of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organization, said, ''I cannot believe the mayor of Hiroshima made such comments when there are still a lot of survivors suffering from the effects of the bombing even 66 years later. It must be termed a cruel comment.''
''All A-bomb survivors will be angry and urge the mayor to retract his comments,'' Tanaka said.
==Kyodo
2011-06-18 00:11:10