Japan Press Weekly

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2012 April 18 - 24 [ANTI-N-ARMS]

A-Bomb sufferers have talks with Hiroshima mayor

Atomic bomb sufferers of Hiroshima on April 16 had a talk with the Hiroshima City mayor about ways to achieve the abolition of nuclear weapons.

The 1st preparatory committee meeting for the 2015 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference will be held from April 30 in Vienna, Austria. Mayor of Hiroshima City Matsui Kazumi is planning to attend the meeting. The Japan Council against A&H Bombs (Japan Gensuikyo) also plans to send its delegation.

Yoshioka Yukio, Vice-Chair of the Hiroshima Confederation of A- and H-Bombs Sufferers’ Organizations (Hiroshima Hidankyo), will participate as a member of Japan Gensuikyo’s delegation. On August 6 in 1945, he was exposed to radiation at 1.7 km from the ground zero. In talks with the mayor, he said, “I want to tell representatives of member countries in the preparatory committee about my experience and the importance of implementing a total ban on nuclear weapons.”

“It is important for A-bomb survivors to tell their stories and give their opinions directly to the committee members. I support your efforts,” Matsui replied. He added that he will try to work to have the next NPT conference held in Hiroshima City.

Secretary General of Hiroshima Gensuikyo Furuta Fumikazu also participated in the talks. He referred to an event at which the signature sheets collected under the initiative of Japan Gensuikyo and Mayors for Peace were piled into ‘twin towers’ in front of the United Nations Headquarters. Matsui is the head of Mayors for Peace, an international organization for peace promotion. Furuta said, “The city newspaper carried a picture of the ‘towers’ which gave us good publicity.”

Matsui added, “I think it is important to collect as many signatures as possible in order to overcome political differences and realize a world free of nuclear weapons.”