Hiroshima On Our Minds. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba read a tanka poem by Shinoe Shoda at the end of his speech this year. He read it twice, which was not initially planned, saying: “With a flood of emotions as I reflect deeply on those words, I hereby conclude my address.”

The official translation:

The heavy bone must be a teacher’s. The small skulls beside it must be students gathered around.

My translation:

The big bone a teacher

Nearby tiny skulls

Huddle close

The original Japanese:

太き骨は先生ならむ

そのそばに小さきあたまの骨

あつまれり

The words of the Hiroshima poet, who wrote extensively about the horrors of war, are engraved in a memorial in that city. She died in 1965.