“This must never happen again”
October 6, 2026
Photographs: Pétur Fjeldsted.
The President opens an exhibition about the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Yahata Teruko was 8 years old when the atomic bomb exploded near her home in Hiroshima.
The opening of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum exhibition marks the beginning of a diverse program commemorating the 40th anniversary of the 1986 Reykjavík Summit at Höfði House..
Learn more
The President opened an exhibition at Reykjavík City Hall about the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. This is a traveling exhibition brought to Iceland from the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. It features artifacts, photographs, and accounts related to the attacks, and visitors can also use virtual reality equipment. On Wednesday, October 7, a related exhibition on the same subject will open at the University of Iceland.
The program at Reykjavík City Hall began with the President of the City Council, Björg Magnúsdóttir, welcoming the guests, after which Yahata Teruko took the floor. Teruko is a so-called hibakusha, one of the surviving victims of the atomic bombings who have borne witness to their horrific effects. She was eight years old when the atomic bomb exploded 2.5 kilometers from her home in Hiroshima. She recalled that experience and described the extensive consequences of the explosion.
Next, Keizo Takewaka, the Ambassador of Japan to Iceland, delivered an address. He recalled the President of Iceland’s visit to Japan in the spring of 2025. Her itinerary included the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, and that visit helped bring the museum’s traveling exhibition to Iceland, supported by the municipal authorities of Reykjavík, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki, the Japanese Embassy, the University of Iceland, and museums in Japan.
At the end of the programme, the President took the floor. "There are places we visit," she said, “and then there are places that stay with us. Hiroshima has stayed with me - the photographs, the personal belongings, the stories of children, parents and families whose ordinary lives were impacted in an instant. But what stayed with me was not only the unimaginable destruction. It was the determination that grew from it: This must never happen again. Those words carry a particular weight when spoken by the hibakusha who walked me through the museum last year and all the other people who survived the atomic bombings and have devoted so much of their lives to ensuring that the world remembers.”
The President thanked Yahata Teruko for coming to Iceland for the exhibition, for preserving the memory and passing it on to younger generations. The President then formally opened the exhibition together with Yoshifumi Ishida, Director of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.
The exhibition in Reykjavík City Hall will be open until November 1, while the exhibition at the University of Iceland will be open until November 7.
The President's address at the opening of the exhibition at City Hall is available in full here on the website.
Learn more.
Other news
September 30, 2026
“It Is Time to Choose Dialogue, Peace, and a Shared Future”
Events marking the 40th anniversary of the Reykjavik Summit.
September 30, 2026
“It Is Time to Choose Dialogue, Peace, and a Shared Future”
September 29, 2026
New British Ambassador
The President receives the credentials of Ms Jane Stevens.
September 29, 2026
New British Ambassador
September 16, 2026
New Ambassador of Lebanon
Mr. Oussama Khachab presents his Letter of Credence.
September 16, 2026
New Ambassador of Lebanon