Japan Press Weekly

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2017 July 5 - 11 [PEACE]

Mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki welcome adoption of nuclear weapons ban treaty

With the historic treaty to ban nuclear weapons adopted on July 7 at the UN Conference held in New York City, the mayors of the A-bombed cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki issued comments welcoming the adoption.

Hiroshima City Mayor Matsui Kazumi on July 8 held a press conference at the city office building and released a statement. He said that the adoption of the treaty “marks the first step to fulfill the earnest hope for peace shared among A-bomb survivors (Hibakusha) and many other people”. He added that the next big challenge will be to give life to the international treaty.

Mayor Matsui in his statement said, “All countries in the world should welcome the treaty, regardless of whether it is a developed country or a developing country, a nuclear weapons state or not, or a Western country or not. The treaty clearly displays the advance in global efforts calling for the total elimination of nuclear weapons.”

The mayor pointed out that the next task is to encourage all countries, including nuclear weapons states and their allies, to ratify the international treaty. He noted that the need for the international community is to make all-out efforts to ensure strict adherence to the legal ban of nuclear weapons and that such efforts should be initiated immediately.

Meanwhile, on the same day, Nagasaki City Mayor Tanoue Tomihisa issued his statement, saying, “I hope that the approval of the treaty to make nuclear weapons illegal will create a strong movement demanding the abolition of such weapons.”

The mayor stated that he felt a rush of emotion when he learned that demands of Hibakusha and the A-bombed cities have been accepted by the international community and helped bring about the long-awaited treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons.

Tanoue criticized the Japanese government for refusing to take part in the UN Conference on the N-ban treaty, and said that as the mayor of the A-bombed city of Nagasaki, he felt a great disappointment over the government’s attitude. He stressed that the national government should stop using nuclear weapons states’ absence from the UN talks as an excuse for its own absence and should take part in the nuclear weapons treaty without delay.