Japan Press Weekly

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2024 February 21 - 27 TOP3 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Japanese banks invest or loan \7 trillion to N-weapons companies

It was recently publicly revealed that seven Japanese financial institutions have invested or loaned about 6.95 trillion yen (463.29 billion U.S. dollars) in total to nuclear weapons manufacturing companies.

The “Physicians against Nuclear War” in the Kinki region on February 23 held a press conference in Osaka City and made public this fact based on a survey report released on February 21 by the Dutch peace organization PAX.

According to the survey conducted between January 2021 and August 2023, Mizuho Bank made 2.2 trillion yen in corporate “loans and underwriting” to nuclear arms producers, Mitsui Sumitomo two trillion yen, and Mitsubishi UFJ 1.9 trillion yen. These banks ranked fifth, seventh, and nineth in the amount of money transacted, respectively.

Matsui Kazuo, who is responsible for the international campaign “Don’t Bank on the Bombs (DBOB)” at the Physicians against Nuclear War in the Osaka area, said, “Japanese people should not allow Japanese banks to use our money for nuclear weapons. We should work on bank outlets in our neighborhoods to cut off the flow of funds to nuclear weapons manufacturing companies.”