Peace march commemorating U.S. H-bomb test victim

Japan Press Weekly

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

Peace march commemorating U.S. H-bomb test victim

Marking the 56th anniversary since the U.S. H-bomb test explosion at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific, 1,500 people on March 1 marched in demonstration to the tomb of Kuboyama Aikichi at Kotokuin Temple in Yaizu City in Shizuoka Prefecture where the disaster-stricken Japanese fishing boat Daigo Fukuryumaru was homeported.

Kuboyama Aikichi was showered with radioactive fallout while he was on board the Daigo Fukuryumaru and died of radiation-induced diseases, and his last words were, “Let me be the last victim of atomic and hydrogen bombs.”

Yaizu City Mayor Shimizu Hiroshi at a rally held after the march expressed his intention to attend the NPT Review Conference as a member of the Mayors for Peace to call for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Daigo Fukuryumaru’s ex-crewmembers Misaki Yoshio and Oishi Matashichi were also present at the rally along with Abacca Anjain who represents the nuclear disaster-hit island of Rongelap in the Pacific.

In Shizuoka Prefecture, 70 percent of municipal heads have supported the signature campaign “For a Nuclear-Weapons Free World” and the prefecture has declared itself nuclear-free.

- Akahata, March 2, 2010