May 10, 2009

Even after losing a series of lawsuits filed by Hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors) claiming their illnesses to be certified as atomic bomb radiation-related, the government is still reluctant to agree to settle the issue. More high court rulings over such collective lawsuits are expected to be given in Tokyo and Osaka later this month.

Demanding that the government resolve the lawsuits over the atomic-bomb certification process and drastically revise its criteria for recognizing their illnesses as caused by exposure to A-bomb radiation, over 30 people, including Hibakusha, plaintiffs, and supporters, campaigned in front of Shibuya station in central Tokyo on May 9. They collected about 200 signatures addressed to the prime minister and the health, labor, and welfare minister.

President of the Tokyo Council of A-Bomb Sufferers’ Organizations called on the government to make a political decision, because the average age of Hibakusha is over 75, and most of them are seriously ill.

Welcoming U.S. President Obama’s statement on the elimination of nuclear weapons, the Hibakusha representative said, “We want nuclear weapons to be eliminated while we are alive, and the government of the only A-bombed country must strive to achieve that aim.”