Japan Press Weekly

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2024 January 17 - 23 [PEACE]

Nearly 40% of Japanese municipalities demand that Japan sign and ratify TPNW

As of January 21, 674 local governments have adopted a resolution or a similar opinion calling on the Japanese government to sign and ratify the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), accounting for about 38% of all the 1,788 municipalities in Japan, according to the Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Japan Gensuikyo).

The treaty, which came into force on January 22 three years ago, is increasingly becoming normative. However, Japan, the only A-bombed country in wartime, clings to nuclear deterrence under the U.S. “nuclear umbrella” and keeps refusing to be a TPNW signatory.

The prefectures where more than 80% of their municipalities (prefectural, ward, city, town, village assemblies) adopted a statement to the same effect are Akita, Iwate, Niigata, Nagano, Tottori, Okayama, Hiroshima, and Tokushima. Particularly in Iwate, a similar statement was adopted at the prefectural level and in all of its 33 municipalities.

A written opinion adopted on October 5, 2023 by the Isahaya City Assembly in Nagasaki Prefecture demands that the Japanese government seriously take the ardent desire of Hibakusha into consideration and play a leading role in enhancing the effectiveness of the treaty.

The Takanezawa Town Assembly in Tochigi Prefecture adopted a resolution (Sep.14, 2023) that highly evaluates the treaty as it responds to the voices of Hibakusha and people of Japan. The resolution urges Japan to sign and ratify the TPNW to assure the world of Japan’s firm determination to realize a total ban on nuclear weapons.