Japan Press Weekly

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2012 November 14 - 20 [POLITICS]

Hashimoto again looks down on anti-nuclear weapons movement

“Just shouting for the ‘abolition of nuclear weapons’ will change nothing.”

Nippon Ishin no Kai head Hashimoto Toru, the mayor of Osaka City, turned his back again on movements working for the total elimination of nuclear weapons when he made this remark at a news conference on November 14.

Hashimoto on November 10 visited Hiroshima City, which was atom-bombed by the U.S. in 1945, delivering a street speech. At that occasion, he told reporters that the elimination of nuclear arms is “impossible” in the current international situation and that Japanese people are “peace-addicted”. These provocative remarks have aroused anger among citizens, including A-bomb survivors and their supporters.

At a press conference in the Osaka City office four days later, a reporter asked Hashimoto what he thinks of the fact that Hiroshima Governor Yuzaki Hidehiko calls on the mayor to correct such a “misunderstanding”. Hashimoto said, “To change global policies, it is insufficient ‘compiling papers’ in a local district in Japan. You can understand that easily if you see the postwar history, can’t you?”

On Twitter, Hashimoto insists that only the U.N. Security Council member nations, or nuclear powers, can play a key role to abolish nuclear weapons. He also questions how Japan can achieve the elimination although it is not even a non-permanent member of the UNSC.