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2017 February 22 - 28 TOP3 [PEACE]

International conference held as part of 2017 Bikini Day events in Shizuoka

The Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Japan Gensuikyo) on February 27 hosted the international forum on anti-nuke movements as part of the 2017 Bikini Day events in Shizuoka City, Shizuoka Prefecture.

March 1 this year marks the 63rd anniversary of the U.S. hydrogen bomb test explosion at Bikini Atoll in 1954.

Japan Peace Committee Secretary General Chisaka Jun, who served as the moderator at the conference, in his opening address said that negotiations for a nuclear weapons ban treaty will start on March 27 in the UN headquarters in New York City, which will offer the world a golden opportunity to realize an anti-nuke framework for peace.

Speaking about the situation in the U.S., Joseph Gerson of the American Friends Service Committee said that the Trump administration’s nuclear weapons buildup policy is facing public criticism both inside and outside America. Citing the fact that five million people in 400 cities across the U.S. took part in anti-Trump protests in January, Gerson pointed out that public movements against the current administration is mounting. Concerning what is needed to realize a Nuclear Weapons Convention, he stressed the importance of the ongoing international signature collection campaign in support of the Hibakusha’s appeal for the elimination of nuclear weapons.

Former senator of the Marshall Islands Abbacca Anjain Madison said that on this year’s Bikini Day, a nuclear summit will be held for the first time in her country at which together with experts from various countries, survivors of the 1954 hydrogen bomb test will deliver speeches. She expressed her determination to gather as much support as possible for a legal ban on nuclear weapons by emphasizing the significance of that treaty.

Gensuikyo Deputy Secretary General Tsuchida Yayoi pointed out that since starting last year, the Hibakusha-led signature campaign has been spreading throughout Japan on an unprecedented scale. She stressed that now is the time for Japan’s anti-nuke movement to play its greatest role.


Past related articles:
> Ogata in 2016 Bikini Day event highlights need for nuclear weapons convention [March 1, 2016]
> Bikini Day rally participants call for ban on nuclear weapons in 70th year following US atomic bombings [March 1 and 2, 2015]