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Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

All Tottori Prefectureﾕs municipalities declared nuclear-free

With renewed nationwide efforts to increase nuclear-free local governments, Tottori in March became the third prefecture to have all its municipalities declare themselves nuclear-free, following Osaka and Kanagawa.

As the result of the national governmentﾕs push for municipal mergers, the number of municipalities in Japan decreased from 3,232 in March 1999 to 1,820 as of April 1 this year. Because a newly created municipality does not take over the former onesﾕ declarations, the number of municipalities that made the declaration, 2,645 or 81 percent of all municipalities at the peak in 2003, has decreased to 1,267 (67 percent).

As last year marked the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japanese peace organizations, including the Association for a Non-Nuclear Government and the Japan Council against A & H Bombs (Japan Gensuikyo), have revived their activities to call on local heads and assembly chairs as well as political parties to make the nuclear-free declaration in their municipalities.

Although all 39 municipalities in Tottori Prefecture had declared themselves nuclear-free by 1987, the number of municipalities has decreased to 19.

In Tottori, participants of the nationwide peace march, which takes place every year aiming at the World Conference against A & H Bombs in August, have always visited all municipalities in the prefecture to call for non-nuclear policies.

In Nagasaki Prefecture, the prefectural assembly and all 79 municipalities made the nuclear-free declaration by March 1999, but later, due to municipal mergers many declarations became invalid. Despite the setback, with the effort by the Nagasaki Association for a Non-Nuclear Government and other organizations, 90 percent of municipalities have declared themselves nuclear-free municipalities.
- Akahata, April 5, 2006