Bikini Day events approach

March 1st will mark the 48th anniversary of the Bikini tragedy in which the Japanese tuna fishing boat Daigo Fukuryu Maru (No. 5 Lucky Dragon) was showered with fallout from a U.S. hydrogen bomb test explosion at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

Many people representing grassroots peace movements throughout the country will take part in a variety of events in Shizuoka Prefecture between February 28 and March 2 to renew their resolve for, "No more Hiroshimas, No more Nagasakis, and No more Bikinis."

On March 1st, the World Conference against A and H Bombs Organizing Committee will hold a rally in Yaizu City. The Japan Religionists' Council for Peace will organize a memorial service for the late Kuboyama Aikichi, former Daigo Fukuryu Maru crew member and a victim of the U.S. hydrogen bomb test.

The Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Japan Gensuikyo) will hold a national rally on March 2 in Shizuoka City.

Japan Gensuikyo will also hold an international exchange meeting on February 28 in Shizuoka City with overseas peace activists from the United States, the Marshall Islands, Guam, and Afghanistan.

The 2002 Bikini Day events will be held at a time when the situation relating to the movement for the abolition of nuclear weapons and world peace is experiencing new turmoil. Since the September 11 terrorist attacks and the subsequent war of retaliation, the United States has made public its unilateralism, calling Iran, Iraq, and North Korea an "axis of evil" and in essence declaring war against them.

The United States has carried out nuclear subcritical tests a number of times, the latest one being jointly conducted with Britain. It also intends to resume underground nuclear tests and develop small nuclear weapons. Such U.S. moves aiming at the actual use of nuclear weapons are being severely criticized in the world.

International exchange meeting

At Japan Gensuikyo's international exchange meeting, topics will include the dangerous U.S. policies and actions, Japan's submission to them, and ways to achieve a peaceful nuclear-free world.

Overseas participants will include: Joseph Gerson (USA), American Friends Service Committee activist and a specialist of the U.S. Asia and Pacific policy and nuclear policy; Peter Anjain (Marshall Islands), one of the Rongelap islanders who were forced to evacuate the island after the U.S. hydrogen test explosion at Bikini Atolls; and Rufo J. Lujan (Guam), an executive committee member of the Pacific Concerns Resource Centre, who has worked on the issues of indigenous people's right to self-determination. (end)