March 1, 2022

The two-day Bikini Day commemoration calling for "achieving a world without nuclear weapons with the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) as leverage" started online on February 28, amid growing protests in the international community against Russia's invasion of Ukraine and its issuance of nuclear threats.

At the Bikini Day National Conference hosted by the Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Japan Gensuikyo), President of the National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren) Obata Masako severely criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin for using veiled nuclear threats. She said, "Let us increase our movement to raise awareness of the inhumane consequences of nuclear weapons as evidenced in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Bikini Atoll as well as to press all the world's governments to sign and ratify the TPNW in order to establish a world without nuclear weapons."

Japan Gensuikyo Secretary General Yasui Masakazu stressed the need to increase public movements urging Russia to stop its military offensive and calling for a peaceful resolution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict based on the UN Charter. He said, "We should expand our collaboration with as many people as possible to encourage Japan to join the TPNW. Let us take the upcoming Upper House election as a chance to have Japan make a shift in its defense policy appropriate for the only atomic-bombed country in the world."

At a forum with overseas delegates, Joseph Gerson (Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security, U.S.A) called for a Russia-Ukraine ceasefire and for the U.S. administration to abandon its cold war strategy and reduce its military spending.

Marion Kuepker (German Fellowship of Reconciliation, Germany) reported that German citizens' movements had succeeded in winning Germany's participation as an observer in the Conference of State Parties to the TPNW.

Lee Jun Kyu (Researcher, Hanshin University, Republic of Korea) criticized the emerging argument calling for nuclear armament using the Russian invasion as an excuse, and said, "A movement to overcome the power logic is necessary."

In the panel discussion session titled "For a Japan taking the lead in the prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons", Wada Masako, deputy secretary-general of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, said, "The use of nuclear weapons will be what happened far more tragic than in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Japanese government must participate in the TPNW."

Environmentalist Takemoto Masahiro, a professional diver, said, "Nuclear weapons and climate change are common issues for all humanity. Movements that transcend generations are essential to protect the earth."

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Representatives Kasai Akira emphasized, "We should not allow the 'power logic’ which takes advantage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine to dismiss the UN Charter and the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution."

Nakamura Ryoka, co-representative of the civic group called KNOW NUKES TOKYO, "No one can escape from a nuclear war. So, everyone should raise their voice against nuclear weapons."