Japan Press Weekly

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2009 April 29 - May 12 [ANTI-N-ARMS]

National Peace March calling for abolition of nuclear weapons begins

The 51st nationwide peace march started on May 6, calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

The annual peace march continues for three months till August 6, the day when the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945. Marchers will walk on 11 national routes and numerous local routes.

On May 6, peace marches on two major courses began, one from Tokyo to Hiroshima and the other from Hokkaido to Tokyo.

At a departure ceremony at Tokyo’s Yumenoshima Park, World Conference against A & H Bombs Steering Committee member Noguchi Kunikazu spoke on behalf of the organizers. Citing U.S. President Barack Obama’s speech in Prague calling for a world without nuclear weapons, he pointed out, “The world current is dramatically changing in the direction for the abolition of nuclear weapons.” He called on the participants to bring a success to the peace march amid the increasing possibility for nuclear weapons elimination.

Messages from Hiroshima Mayor Akiba Tadatoshi and Nagasaki Mayor Taue Tomihisa were read out.

After the ceremony, about 1,200 people marched in Tokyo.