Japan Press Weekly

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2020 August 19 - 25 [PEACE]

High school students urge gov’t to join UN nuclear weapons ban treaty

A group of 15 high school students on August 19 visited the Foreign Ministry to petition the Japanese government to join the UN treaty banning nuclear weapons.

The 15 students are taking part in activities of two peace groups. One is a group called the “Orizuru (paper crane) project” working to connect Tokyo and New York through making origami cranes, a symbol of peace, and to promote the Hibakusha-led international signature-collection drive. The other is the peace seminar for Tokyo high school students.

In the petitioning, the students’ group asked questions such as these: “Doesn’t the government think that it should join the UN antinuke treaty by taking into account the fact that 70% of the general public call for Japan’s participation in the treaty?”; “As the only A-bombed country, what is Japan doing to achieve the elimination of nuclear weapons?”; and “With the UN treaty expected to enter into force by the end of this year, how will the government respond when the treaty becomes effective?”

After the petitioning, the students held a gathering to share their impressions. A high school freshman from Tokyo said, “I’m glad to hear the opinions of government officials. It was a rare experience. I want to convey young people’s concerns and demands to the government as much as possible.”

A sophomore at a high school in Tokyo said, “I will keep working to achieve a nuclear-free world by helping to strengthen antinuke sentiment among high school students. I’ll also work even harder to increase public pressure on the government of the only A-bombed nation to sign and ratify the treaty.”

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Representatives Kasai Akira also attended the gathering.

Past related articles:
> 120 young Japanese in online event hear Hibakusha testimony [June 2, 2020]
> Youth rally of antinuke conference in NYC takes place online [May 4, 2020]