Proposal for a Declaration of a Nuclear Weapon-Free Japan

To the Government of Japan:

   In the present-day situation, achieving a world free of nuclear weapons requires great efforts both in Japan and internationally.

   A new round of discussions is starting in April in preparation for the 2010 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

   In May 2000, the five nuclear weapon states agreed to totally “eliminate their nuclear arsenals” as their “unequivocal undertaking.” With this, the world ushered in a century in which nuclear weapons will be totally eliminated. Seven years have passed, but the path to implement this promise has not been developed. Enormous stockpiles of nuclear weapons still remain in the world, including those deployed, and even the possible use of nuclear weapons has been suggested on many occasions. While new nuclear weapons are being developed, the danger of nuclear proliferation is also very real as clear from the North Korean nuclear test.

   The government of Japan, the only country to experience the tragedy of atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, has the responsibility to call on the rest of the world to make an effort to have nuclear weapons abolished.

   In order to make a success of this effort, Japan must set an example to the rest of the world by strictly observing the Three Non-Nuclear Principles of “not to possess, manufacture or allow nuclear weapons to be brought into Japan.”

   We request that at the U.N. General Assembly and the Diet of Japan, and on other occasions, the Japanese government domestically and internationally renew its promise to advocate and promote the abolition of nuclear weapons and to strictly observe the Three Non-Nuclear Principles. We further call on the government to notify all foreign governments of its “nuclear weapon-free” declaration with a call on them to join efforts to achieve a world without nuclear weapons.                                     - Akahata, April 28, 2007