Nuclear watchdog's new chief is Japanese

Japan, the only nation to suffer atomic bombings, has welcomed the appointment of one of its own to lead the world's top nuclear watchdog.

The mayor of Hiroshima, the southwestern city that suffered the first nuclear attack in 1945, was among those offering congratulatory messages on Friday.

The 35-nation International Atomic Energy Agency chose Japanese diplomat Yukiya Amano, 62, as its next head in Vienna on Thursday - the first time a Japanese person has been chosen for the job.

Japan has repeatedly vowed it will never make or own nuclear weapons.

Major Japanese newspapers ran the news of Amano on their front pages and it was the top item on national TV news.

The Yomiuri, the nation's top newspaper, focused on Amano's longtime commitment to curb nuclear proliferation.

He has expressed his determination to do all he can not to repeat the tragedy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the other Japanese city where the US dropped the atomic bomb toward the end of World War II.

"The world faces a crisis on nuclear weapons, standing at a point where we will have to choose between two paths - one in which all nations will abolish nuclear weapons, or another in which every nation will possess them," said Tadatoshi Akiba, Hiroshima's mayor.

Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue expressed similar sentiments, noting that US President Barack Obama's pivotal speech last month in Prague calling for a ban on nuclear tests was helping the global push against nuclear weapons.

"But there are also growing worries about North Korea's underground nuclear weapons tests," he said in a statement.

"We have great hopes for his leadership as director general from the only nation to experience atomic bombing."

Survivors of the bombings also were counting on Amano.

Sunao Tsuboi, a leader of Nihon Hidankyo, a nationwide organisation representing some 300,000 survivors, said he hoped Amano would stay vigilant.

"He has to do his job right because nuclear weapons can be so easily made from what passes as peaceful uses," he said on nationally televised news.

It is clear Amano has a heavy responsibility in a world tackling the dangers from nations harbouring nuclear ambitions, such as Iran and North Korea, which neighbours Japan and has been testing missiles despite global protests.

Media reports said the selection of Amano showed the successful debunking of the view in some circles that Japan may pose a nuclear threat of its own.

There has been some scepticism over Tokyo's vow to never make or own nuclear weapons, because of its widespread nuclear energy program and huge supplies of uranium and plutonium, which could potentially be used to make weapons.

"We are rejoicing that Ambassador Amano has won widespread support," the Japanese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Akiba said Amano had "a warm personality and a passion".

"We have great hopes he will exercise leadership in forging a concrete path toward the abolishment of nuclear weapons," he said.