TOKYO — Next week, Secretary of State John Kerry will become the highest-ranking American government official to visit Hiroshima, where 140,000 Japanese died from the first of two atomic bombs dropped by the U.S. in the closing days of World War II more than 70 years ago.

Kerry and the other Group of Seven foreign ministers are scheduled to visit the Hiroshima Peace Park on Monday and lay flowers to honor the dead. At least in Japan, the event will likely overshadow the rest of the foreign ministers’ annual two-day meeting, where terrorism, maritime security and nuclear non-proliferation will be discussed.

Japan hopes the meeting will revive momentum for efforts to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. Weapons stockpiles have been slow to decline, and Japan’s own accumulation of plutonium for use in power generation has caused security concerns.

Expectations are now running high among Japanese for President Barack Obama to follow suit during the G-7 leaders’ summit in May.

For many years, senior U.S. officials avoided going to Hiroshima because of political sensitivities. Many Americans believe the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 were justified and hastened the end of the war.