IOC President Thomas Bach is due to make a controversial visit to Hiroshima tomorrow ©Getty Images

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach is unlikely to be welcomed with open arms when he arrives in Hiroshima for a controversial visit to the atomic bomb-devastated city tomorrow.

A civic group in the region this week called for Bach's trip to Hiroshima, located more than 800 kilometres from Tokyo, to be cancelled and accused the German of "dishonouring" survivors of the wartime bombing of the city by the United States in 1945.

The group, which tabled a complaint about Bach's visit with Governments in Hiroshima, claimed he should not be travelling a considerable distance during a time when Tokyo is under a state of emergency because of rising COVID-19 cases.

It also raised concerns over Bach's motive for the trip, which comes on the same day as IOC vice-president John Coates is scheduled to visit Nagasaki, the other Japanese city subjected to a nuclear bomb by the US.

A separate petition urging bodies, including the Japanese Government, to call off Bach's visit has been signed by more than 70,000 people.

Hiroshima Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki is scheduled to welcome Bach, who is expected to visit the Peace Memorial Museum and view the Atomic Bomb Dome.

Thomas Bach's visit to Hiroshima coincides with a similar trip to Nagasaki by IOC vice-president John Coates ©Getty Images
Thomas Bach's visit to Hiroshima coincides with a similar trip to Nagasaki by IOC vice-president John Coates ©Getty Images

Bach has insisted the purpose of the trip is to mark the date where the United Nations Olympic Truce for Tokyo 2020 comes into effect, but sidestepped a question on whether it was appropriate for him to be coming from an area under emergency measures.

Tokyo yesterday reported 1,149 cases of COVID-19, the highest daily figure in the capital since mid-January.

"This is the message we are going to send in the city of peace - of Hiroshima," Bach said.

"This will have nothing to with politics. 

"We will not politicise this visit in any way."

Bach's arrival in Japan last week was met with the hashtag "Bach Go Home" on Twitter, while a small group of protestors opposing the Games held up signs including phrases such as "get out Bach" outside the IOC's five-star hotel in the capital.

Another sign read: "Don't go to Hiroshima."

The IOC and Bach have faced criticism in Japan for pressing ahead with organising the Games during the COVID-19 pandemic, with medical experts warning the event could become a "super-spreader" of the virus.

Shigeru Omi, the Japanese Government’s top COVID-19 advisor, has claimed staging the Olympics amid the pandemic is "abnormal".

The Olympics, pushed back to this year because of the COVID-19 crisis, are due to run from July 23 to August 8.