March 2 & 3, 2025
On March 1, in a special program for the annual Bikini Day main rally, co-representative of the World Conference against A and H Bombs Steering Committee Noguchi Kunikazu called for disclosing all available information on the death and destruction caused by nuclear testing in the Pacific Ocean and providing compensation and relief to nuclear test victims.
Noguchi noted that when France resumed its nuclear testing in 1995 in French Polynesia, it claimed that the resumption was necessary to maintain its nuclear deterrence in order to ultimately protect the nation’s vital interests.
Noguchi said that the development of nuclear weapons is a top priority for nuclear-weapons states, and thus is considered to be sacred and highly sensitive military information. He added that as a result, the damage caused by nuclear tests has been covered up and left hidden from the public at large.
Regarding the Bikini tragedy in which Japanese fishermen were exposed to radiation fallout from the U.S. H-bomb test explosion in 1954 at Bikini Atoll, Noguchi pointed out that the Japanese government, with its security policy of relying on the U.S. “nuclear umbrella”, neglected its duty of conducting a damage assessment and providing relief to the victims.
Noguchi stressed that nuclear powers and nuclear-umbrella states should break free from the false notion of relying on “nuclear deterrence” as a means to ensure national security and should instead participate in the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
On this day, the Bikini Day main rally took place in Shizuoka’s Yaizu City with 1,800 people participating on-site and online from across Japan.
Representative director of the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize winner Nihon Hidankyo, Kanamoto Hiroshi, and the Yaizu City mayor delivered speeches as guests. The mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki sent their messages in solidarity to the rally.
Earlier on the day, a memorial event was held in front of the tomb of the late Kuboyama Aikichi, the chief radio operator of the fishing boat Daigo Fukuryu Maru (Lucky Dragon #5) which was heavily irradiated by the fallout from the 1954 U.S. nuclear test at Bikini Atoll.
Noguchi noted that when France resumed its nuclear testing in 1995 in French Polynesia, it claimed that the resumption was necessary to maintain its nuclear deterrence in order to ultimately protect the nation’s vital interests.
Noguchi said that the development of nuclear weapons is a top priority for nuclear-weapons states, and thus is considered to be sacred and highly sensitive military information. He added that as a result, the damage caused by nuclear tests has been covered up and left hidden from the public at large.
Regarding the Bikini tragedy in which Japanese fishermen were exposed to radiation fallout from the U.S. H-bomb test explosion in 1954 at Bikini Atoll, Noguchi pointed out that the Japanese government, with its security policy of relying on the U.S. “nuclear umbrella”, neglected its duty of conducting a damage assessment and providing relief to the victims.
Noguchi stressed that nuclear powers and nuclear-umbrella states should break free from the false notion of relying on “nuclear deterrence” as a means to ensure national security and should instead participate in the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
On this day, the Bikini Day main rally took place in Shizuoka’s Yaizu City with 1,800 people participating on-site and online from across Japan.
Representative director of the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize winner Nihon Hidankyo, Kanamoto Hiroshi, and the Yaizu City mayor delivered speeches as guests. The mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki sent their messages in solidarity to the rally.
Earlier on the day, a memorial event was held in front of the tomb of the late Kuboyama Aikichi, the chief radio operator of the fishing boat Daigo Fukuryu Maru (Lucky Dragon #5) which was heavily irradiated by the fallout from the 1954 U.S. nuclear test at Bikini Atoll.
