Kyuma’s remark draws strong criticism

   Former Defense Minister Kyuma Fumio’s remark that the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki “couldn’t be helped” drew mounting criticism.

   The Nagasaki Prefectural Assembly on July 3 unanimously adopted a resolution in protest against his remark, stating, “It is regrettable that the defense minister made a remark that can be regarded as sanctioning the atomic bombings.”

   Nagasaki Mayor Taue Tomihisa and Nagasaki City Assembly Chair Yoshiwara Takashi on the same day visited Kyuma at the Defense Ministry. Taue lodged a protest with Kyuma, saying that Kyuma’s remark lacks consideration for Hibakusha.

   Hiroshima Mayor Akiba Tadatoshi on July 3 told reporters that the government fails to fully understand the sufferings inflicted by the atomic bombings. Stressing that new Defense Minister Koike Yuriko should never make a similar mistake, Akiba urged cabinet ministers to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

   Akiba on the next day visited the prime minister’s official residence and handed in a written statement addressed to Prime Minister Abe, stating that the prime minister should fully realize the gravity of the problem in which a person who held an important post in the cabinet made such a remark.

   In a statement published on July 3, the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo) pointed out that Kyuma’s remark is in line with the view which U.S. administrations have repeatedly expressed and that the remark was invited by successive Japanese government policies of not lodging any protest to the U.S. against its justification of the atomic bombings.

   “Approval of the genocide in Hiroshima and Nagasaki will lead to approval of not only past genocides but also future genocides,” the statement stressed.

- Akahata, July 4 & 5, 2007