Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2015 October 28 - November 3 [PEACE]

Japan Gensuikyo holds UN Disarmament Week-related event

The Japan Council against A & H Bombs (Japan Gensuikyo) on October 27 held a panel discussion as part of UN Disarmament Week (October 24-30) events in Japan.

In the panel discussion on the theme, “’Nuclear umbrella’ and the war legislation – what role Japan as the A-bombed nation should play”, Secretary General of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo) Tanaka Terumi, who was exposed to radiation in Nagasaki at the age of 13, said that based on the Japanese Constitution he has devoted himself to the anti-nuclear weapons movement. “I’m really angry at the Abe administration and the ruling parties for trying to infringe on the war-renouncing Article 9 which was set up through reflection over the tragedy of the atomic bombings of the two cities,” Tanaka added.

Japanese Communist Party Vice Chair Koike Akira said that Hibakusha’s earnest demand for “No more Hiroshimas and No more Nagasakis” works as a pillar of public movements against the war laws. Koike referred to the fact that Prime Minister Abe in the Diet discussions reiterated the need to create the war legislation as a deterrence measure. Pointing out that at the center of what PM calls deterrence is the U.S. nuclear capability, the JCP vice chair said, “The government relying on the U.S. nuclear deterrence intends to join in U.S.-led wars. This is the most dangerous nature of the war legislation.” He went on to say that the JCP proposal for a national coalition government will open up prospects for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Japan Gensuikyo representative director Taka Hiroshi said that grass-roots movements in Japan have influenced the United Nations and contributed to creating a major current in the world calling for peace and the total ban of nuclear weapons. “Together with Hibakusha, let’s work to increase awareness of the reality of the atomic bombings globally and pave the way for a global struggle for a nuclear-free world in which seven billion people across the globe can live in peace.