The city of Nagasaki plans soon to supply Masataka Suga, 69, with expenses to travel to and from Japan as well as stay in the country.

Suga, who resides in Vancouver, applied for the certificate the previous day at the Nagasaki city office. Under the certificate, expenses for medical treatment in Japan are free of charge.

Suga is the first recipient of the state support program for overseas victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The government launched the program June 1 to pay travel and accommodation expenses for survivors coming to Japan to apply for the certificate and undergo medical treatment.

Some groups of A-bomb victims in South Korea and Latin America have rejected the support program or are undecided, saying it would be hard for aging and ailing survivors to travel to Japan.

Suga was a junior high school student in Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945, when the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on the city, three days after dropping one on Hiroshima.

Suga will attend Friday's ceremony marking the 57th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the city.