Japan Press Weekly

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2013 February 27 - March 5 [ANTI-N-ARMS]

Gensuikyo holds Bikini Day national rally and international forum

As part of the annual Bikini Day events, the Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Japan Gensuikyo) on February 28 held a national rally in Shizuoka City with 1,200 people attending from across Japan.

This year’s March 1 Bikini Day marked a first step toward a national movement urging all states, including nuclear weapons states, to start negotiations for an international treaty banning nuclear weapons in preparation for the next NPT Review Conference scheduled for 2015.

In the keynote speech, Gensuikyo Secretary General Yasui Masakazu stressed that the overwhelming majority of people and governments of the world are seeking to create a nuclear-free world. He called on participants to launch the movement to further increase and realize people’s demand for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Pointing out that the inauguration of the Abe government and North Korea’s nuclear test have heightened the tension in East Asia, the Gensuikyo secretary general said, “We need to develop a strong anti-nuclear weapons consensus in order to get Japan, as the only A-bombed nation which has a pacifist Constitution, to play a role not only in the global political arena but also in diplomacy with other Asian nations.”

Delegates from all over the nation reported on their grass-roots efforts to strengthen the international signature drive, “Appeal for a Total Ban on Nuclear Weapons.”

On the previous day, an international forum took place under the theme, “Let’s utilize Article 9 and the Three Non-Nuclear Principles in order to build a world without nuclear weapons and a nuclear-free and peaceful Asia-Pacific.”

At the forum, three delegates from the U.S., South Korea, and Guam exchanged their views regarding the theme with Japanese participants.