Gensuikyo calls for global campaign in preparation for 2010 NPT review conference

About 1,000 people took part in a national rally in Shizuoka City on March 2 to inaugurate the 2008 movement for the abolition of nuclear weapons and the creation of  a nuclear-free Japan.

The gathering was organized by the Japan Council against A & H Bombs (Gensuikyo) as part the events marking the March 1st “Bikini Day”.

Gensuikyo Secretary General Taka Hiroshi in the keynote speech pointed out that the U.S. nuclear strategy is a source of tensions threatening world peace. Citing former senior U.S. government officials’ appeal for a “nuclear free world,” he said that calls for nuclear weapons to be abolished are being heard throughout  the world.

Taka proposed an international action calling for a world free of nuclear weapons by putting pressure on national governments including nuclear states, to begin negotiating the abolition of nuclear weapons and promoting the signature campaign for the abolition of nuclear weapons, organizing the A-Bomb exhibition to make known to the world the damage and after-effects of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and calling on all local governments to adopt resolutions urging the national government to declare Japan to be nuclear free.

Ohishi Matashichi, a former crew member of the Dai-go Fukuryumaru (Fifth Lucky Dragon), a tuna fishing boat that was showered with nuclear fallout from a U.S. hydrogen bomb test explosion at Bikini Atoll on March 1st, 1954, spoke about the horrible experience. He said, “I’m encouraged by the young people’s enthusiasm.”

The rally was attended by Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb sufferers Organizations Secretary General Tanaka Terumi and Japanese Communist Party Vice Chair Ogata Yasuo.

Ogata in his speech said, “The voices calling for the total ban on nuclear weapons are growing in strength. We need to increase the movement in preparation for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference in 2010. Although the Japanese government represents the only atomic bombed nation, it supports the pro-nuclear U.S. policies. In contrast, Japan Gensuikyo which represents the people’s call for peace and the abolition of nuclear weapons, has increased its authority as an NGO. Now is the time to open up a new opportunity based on this achievement. Let’s work hard for success in the 2008 World Conference against A- and H-Bombs.”

- Akahata, March 3, 2008