Japan Press Weekly

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2017 September 6 - 12 [PEACE]

Protesting against N. Korea’s nuclear test, Hiroshima Hibakusha collect antinuke signatures

Atomic-bomb survivors (Hibakusha) took to the street in downtown Hiroshima City on September 6 to collect signatures calling for the establishment of a world without nuclear weapons, protesting against North Korea’s nuclear weapons test.

Sakuma Kunihiko of the Hiroshima Federation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Hiroshima Hidankyo) said, “What North Korea did runs counter to the global trend working toward the elimination of nuclear weapons. As a Hibakusha, I cannot tolerate nuclear tests,” and asked shoppers, passersby, and tourists for cooperation in the international signature campaign in support of the “Appeal of the Hibakusha”.

Kanbe Yasushi of the Hiroshima Council against A and H Bombs (Hiroshima Gensuikyo) said that the world’s governments will soon start to sign the UN treaty banning nuclear weapons, and added, “The abolition of nuclear weapons is what Hiroshima and Nagasaki Hibakusha have long aspired for. The government of Japan, the only atomic bombed country in the world, should also sign this treaty.”

A junior high-school student signing the Hibakusha petition said, “I have had a chance to listen to Hibakusha testimony before, and I came to understand that they are still suffering from the aftereffects of the A-bombing. I think nuclear weapons are scary and the world would be better off without them.”

Past related articles:
> JCP condemns North Korea’s nuclear test and again calls for direct talks to defuse current crisis [September 4, 2017]
> N. Korea’s nuclear test angers Hiroshima and Nagasaki Hibakusha [September 4, 2017]
> Hidankyo and Gensuikyo protest against N. Korea’s nuclear test [September 4, 2017]