Japan Press Weekly

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2017 October 11 - 17 [PEACE]

ICAN and Hibakusha to foreign press: N-ban issue should be discussed in election

Kawasaki Akira, a key member of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), and two Hibakusha on October 11 said to foreign journalists at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan (FCCJ) that Japan should join the UN nuclear weapons ban treaty.

Commenting on the Nobel Peace Prize Award, Kawasaki stated that this prize was given to all the concerned people who have been striving for the achievement of a nuclear weapons-free world.

He said, “The extraordinary silence on this treaty by the Japanese government is very disappointing and frustrating.” He also said, “I intend to visit all political parties during this election campaign, requesting that each of the political parties include the existence of the nuclear weapons prohibition treaty and discuss the matter in this particular general election.”

Kido Sueichi, the secretary general of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo), regarding the only country that experienced nuclear bombings having decided to not participate in the treaty, said, “It’s embarrassing and sad. It makes me angry.” The best way to resolve the North Korea issue is to eliminate nuclear weapons, he stressed.

Tanaka Terumi, a Nihon Hidankyo representative director, said, “Never again can we allow such weapons to be used upon human beings.” He added, “I will keep telling to the world that human beings cannot coexist with nuclear weapons.”

Past related article:
> Hibakusha celebrate ICAN winning Nobel Peace Prize [October 7, 2017]