August 10, 2019

The Nagasaki Day rally of the World Conference against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs 2019 took place on August 9 in the city of Nagasaki with about 5,000 citizens participating, calling for the Japanese government to sign and ratify the UN treaty banning nuclear weapons as well as a further growth in antinuke grassroots movements before 2020.

On the same day, Nagasaki City Mayor Taue Tomihisa in the city-hosted memorial service also called on the government of the only A-bombed country in the world to sign and ratify the N-ban treaty without delay.

Next year will commemorate the 75th anniversary of the A-bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the quinquennial NPT Review Conference will take place in NYC. Resolutions adopted at the Nagasaki Day rally express people's determination to do their utmost to make the year 2020 a historic turning point to achieve the abolition of nuclear weapons. The resolutions also urge the world's governments to work on nuclear disarmament and join the prohibition of nuclear arms treaty.

The rally participants shared the story of Yokoyama Teruko, who was exposed to atomic bomb radiation at the age of four, and 17-year-old Hoshiyama Umi informed the gathering that "high school student peace ambassadors" will convey more than 200,000 no-nuke signatures collected by high school students to the United Nations.

Proposing an action plan, Yasui Masakazu, secretary general of the Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Japan Gensuikyo), called for the promotion of the Hibakusha-led international signature drive as well as for concerted global actions highlighting nuclear weapons' inhumanity and for more efforts to increase the number of signatories.

Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Koike Akira delivered a speech in solidarity to the Nagasaki Day rally. Koike criticized Prime Minister Abe Shinzo for not even mentioning the UN treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons at the Nagasaki city-hosted ceremony. Koike said, "Which county does he represent?" and added, "Let us establish a government as early as possible which signs and ratifies the UN treaty banning nuclear weapons!"

Physician-turned Dietmember Koike talked about his experience attending to A-bomb survivors' medical care and medical checkups, stating that human beings and nuclear weapons cannot coexist. He again called on the audience, "Let us work together to spread the Hibakusha signature campaign around the world in order to bring the N-ban treaty into effect!"

A 24-year-old mother with her 3-year-old daughter told an Akahata reporter that she took part in the Nagasaki Day rally for the first time and that she learned a lot about the history of Japan not only as a victim of the atomic bombs but also as a perpetrator of the Pacific War. She said, "Peace can never be achieved by force. I want to bring what I've learned here to the people in my community."

Past related article:
> Antinuke International Meeting calls for making year 2020 turning point toward abolition of nuclear weapons [August 4-6, 2019]