Japan Press Weekly

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2024 August 7 - 13 [POLITICS]

JCP Secretariat Head criticizes Kishida’s refusal to respond to Nagasaki’s call for abolition of nuclear weapons

Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Koike Akira on August 9 pointed out that while the Nagasaki mayor at the annual ceremony proposed that Japan focus on dialogue and diplomatic efforts rather than depending on nuclear deterrence and called for Japan’s participation in the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) without delay, Prime Minister Kishida Fumio ignored the mayor’s call and said nothing about the TPNW.

JCP Koike said this to reporters after he attended the Nagasaki City government-hosted peace memorial ceremony in the city.

Koike referred to PM Kishida’s “…make Nagasaki the last atomic-bombed city in the world” remark, and said, “This remark is inconsistent with the government’s stance of relying on nuclear deterrence. Japan’s participation in the TPNW is the only way to ‘make Nagasaki the last atomic-bombed city.’”

Koike noted that the Nagasaki mayor and governor demanded that all “Hibaku Taikensha”, those who had experienced the “black rain (radioactive fallout)” after the U.S. atomic bombing of Nagasaki in 1945, be covered by relief measures for A-bomb survivors (Hibakusha). Koike criticized PM Kishida for only mentioning support for “Hibaku Taikensha”.

Regarding the Health and Welfare Ministry’s claim that “testimonies” of Nagasaki Hibakusha cannot be seen as “objective facts”, Koike pointed out, “Like people who experienced the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, many of those who experienced the atomic bombing of Nagasaki testify that the black rain and radioactive fallout fell over a wide area of the city.”

Koike said, “The national government recognizes ‘black rain’ victims in Hiroshima as Hibakusha while refusing to do so in regard to those in Nagasaki. This is unacceptable.” He said that the JCP will strongly urge the government to certify “Hibaku Taikensha” in Nagasaki as Hibakusha.