Japan Press Weekly

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2023 June 21 - 27 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Hidankyo calls for Hibakusha assistance law to be applicable also to 2nd-generation Hibakusha

A 2-day general assembly of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo) ended on June 21 in Tokyo after adopting a 2023 action program and a special resolution calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons and a break with the policy of "nuclear deterrence".

Hidankyo Secretary General Kido Sueichi announced that Hidankyo Representative Director Ieshima Masashi will attend the first session of the Preparatory Committee of the Parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) slated for August in Vienna.

In line with the action program, Hidankyo will keep moving forward with a signature-collection drive urging the Japanese government to sign and ratify the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), and will use every opportunity to make the reality of the inhumane consequences of nuclear bombs known to the world.

Hidankyo will also work to help improve the Atomic Bomb Survivors' Support Law, demanding that the government apply the aid measures to second-generation Hibakusha as well.

According to a report given at the assembly, Hidankyo in fiscal 2022 submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 1,098,810 signatures calling for Japan's participation in the TPNW. Associated with an increase in the number of Hibakusha deaths, the report says, Hibakusha activities in many districts have been under suspension or stagnant.

During the assembly, Hibakusha criticized the "Hiroshima Vision on Nuclear Disarmament" the G7 leaders published in May for mentioning neither Hibakusha nor the TPNW. They also criticized this statement for upholding the "nuclear deterrence" policy. Many second-generation Hibakusha expressed concerns about their health.