Gensuikyo sets the goal of 6 million anti-nuclear signatures by mid-March

Japan Press Weekly

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Gensuikyo sets the goal of 6 million anti-nuclear signatures by mid-March

The Japan Council against A & H Bombs (Japan Gensuikyo) at its national council meeting on February 6 and 7 decided to strive for 12 million anti-nuclear signatures by the last day of the NPT Review Conference in order to make the conference a new turning point for a total ban on nuclear weapons.

Taka Hiroshi, secretary general of Gensuikyo, proposed an action program for 2010, saying that the trend towards nuclear abolition is growing stronger, with the signature campaign in Japan for the “Appeal for a Nuclear Weapon-Free World” encouraging movements worldwide.

In order to achieve 12 million signatures, he called for collecting at least 6 million signatures before March 16, the day when a ship carrying the petitions will set sail for New York. Over 3.7 million signatures have been collected so far.

Taka called for making the March 1 Bikini Day rallies an occasion to exchange experiences among participants who are going to take part in the New York action. He also pointed out that it is important to make a successful 2010 Peace March which will start at the time of the NPT Review Conference, as well as success in this year’s World Conference against A and H Bombs.

He demanded that the Japanese government take the initiative to commence negotiations for a total ban on nuclear weapons as well as make public and scrap Japan-U.S. secret agreements on bringing nuclear weapons into Japan.

- Akahata, February 9, 2010