Japan Press Weekly

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2014 May 7 - 13 [PEACE]

2014 nationwide anti-nuclear weapons peace march starts

The 2014 nationwide annual peace march started with the aim to increase people’s attention to the call for the abolition of nuclear weapons in preparation for the next year’s NPT review conference and the 70th anniversary of the A-bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The peace march which began in 1958 covers all 47 prefectures using 11 main routes, including Tokyo-Hiroshima and Hokkaido-Tokyo.

In this year’s peace march, seven young people from inside and outside Japan will walk the Tokyo-Hiroshima course in relay fashion and reach Hiroshima on August 4.

A relay march of young international delegates was organized by the Organizing Committee of the World Conference against A & H Bombs in response to a proposal from Philippine peace activist Malaya Fabros who joined the peace march for the first time last year. The seven delegates, including her, are from Japan, the Philippines, Guam, India, and the United States.

On May 6, more than 800 people gathered in front of the Fifth Lucky Dragon exhibition hall in Tokyo’s Yumenoshima Park to hold a departure ceremony for the peace march heading for Hiroshima.

In the ceremony, the first marcher in the youth relay, Malaya’s younger brother Magiting Fabros explained the reason for his taking part in the relay march. He said that when he attended the 2010 and the 2013 World Conference, he was inspired by the peace marchers. He expressed his determination to speak for A-bomb survivors and create a world without nuclear weapons.

Participants in the Hokkaido-Tokyo route also departed Hokkaido’s Rebun Island on the same day.