On March 1, the 2004 Bikini Day Rally was held in Yaizu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, to mark the 50th anniversary of the U.S. hydrogen bomb test explosion at Bikini Atoll in the South Pacific.
It was sponsored by the Organizing Committee for the World Conference against A & H Bombs and the Shizuoka Organizing Committee for the Bikini Day Rally.
On behalf of the organizers, Kawai Tomoyasu, member of the steering committee of the World Conference, reminded about 1,800 participants that the Japanese movement against nuclear weapons started 50 years ago following the Bikini tragedy. He called for this year's Bikini Day to become a springboard for developing the anti-nuclear movement.
Earlier in the day, about 2,000 people marched in a demonstration to the grave of Kuboyama Aikichi, captain of tuna fishing boat Lucky Dragon #5 and a victim of the U.S. hydrogen bomb test explosion.
The demonstrators were led by peace activists from the Marshall Islands, the U.S., and South Korea, holding the banner with Kuboyama's words, "Let me be the last victim of A & H Bombs."
At Kotokuin Temple where Kuboyama's grave is located, messages from the mayors of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Yaizu were introduced. Japanese Communist Party International Bureau Vice-director Kasai Akira gave an address.
Eleven out of the 23 crew members of the Lucky Dragon #5 which was showered with the radioactive fallout from the U.S. hydrogen bomb test explosion have died. (end)
