Japan Press Weekly

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2011 March 2 - 8 [ANTI-N-ARMS]

Bikini Day participants vow to work for a world without nuclear arms

March 1 marks the 57th anniversary of the U.S. hydrogen test explosion causing damage to many Japanese fishing boats and suffering on the Marshall islanders at Bikini Atoll in the South Pacific.

On the day, about 1,600 peace activists assembled in Shizuoka’s Yaizu City where the radiation-exposed Daigo Fukuryumaru (Lucky Dragon Number Five) was based, participating in the 2011 March 1 Bikini Day Rally sponsored by the Shizuoka Prefectural Organizing Committee of Bikini Day Events and the Organizing Committee of the World Conference against A & H Bombs.


On behalf of the organizers, Noguchi Kunikazu pointed out that the abolition of nuclear weapons has become a mainstream call reverberating throughout the world and called on rally participants to create a surge of increased momentum towards the 2011 World Conference against A & H Bombs scheduled for August by increasing actions and support for a new international signature campaign and Hibakusha movements.

The rally adopted a resolution endorsing commitment for the new signature drive, “Appeal for a Total Ban on Nuclear Weapons”.

Yaizu City Mayor Shimizu Hiroshi, in support of the new signature drive, gave a speech at the rally, saying, “I hope your efforts will help to establish a world without nuclear weapons.”

Earlier in the day, 1,300 nuclear opponents, including many foreigners, marched in a demonstration to the tomb of Kuboyama Aikichi, former radio operator of the Daigo Fukuryumaru, at Kotokuin Temple. In remembering the ex-crew member, the demonstrators pledged to work to abolish nuclear weapons while standing in front of his grave.