Meeting of Japanese member cities of Mayors for Peace ends, members call for Japan’s leadership to abolish nuclear weapons
Nov. 14, 2014
by Jumpei Fujimura, Staff Writer
On November 11, the Japanese member cities of Mayors for Peace, for which Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui serves as president, ended their two-day meeting in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture. With the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings approaching next year, they decided to make a request to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, calling for Japan’s leadership to press for the start of negotiations to bring about a nuclear weapons convention.
At the meeting, the member cities agreed that such a convention would be an effective means of advancing the abolition of nuclear weapons. The request to the prime minister calls for Japan to pursue concrete action, as the A-bombed nation, to open negotiations for the early realization of a nuclear weapons convention. They also adopted a summary document of the meeting.
Some members asked why the right to collective self-defense was not discussed at the meeting. Mr. Matsui said there are various views on self-defense and added, “I don’t want the meeting to be used as a political tool. Let us first strengthen our solidarity and increase the ratio of the member cities from today’s 87 percent to 100 percent. Then let us discuss national politics.”
The covenant for Japanese member cities was also adopted at the meeting. The mayor of Hiroshima serves as president, and the mayor of Nagasaki as vice-president. A general meeting is held once a year, and the venue is chosen from among the member cities, but at milestone years such as the 70th and 80th anniversaries of the atomic bombings and the years when a quadrennial general conference of Mayors for Peace is held, the general meeting of the Japanese member cities will be held at one of the A-bombed cities, Hiroshima or Nagasaki. Next year, the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings, Hiroshima will host the meeting.
This was the fourth domestic meeting, and the first time that the meeting was held outside Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The number of participants was the largest ever, with a total of 159 representatives from 102 municipalities, including 49 municipality heads, attending the meeting. At the press conference afterward, Akira Sugenoya, the mayor of Matsumoto, stressed the productive outcome of the meeting, saying, “Some members gave presentations on their own initiatives to promote peace in their cities. This offered the opportunity for our citizens to renew their resolve for the abolition of nuclear weapons.”
(Originally published on November 12, 2014)
On November 11, the Japanese member cities of Mayors for Peace, for which Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui serves as president, ended their two-day meeting in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture. With the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings approaching next year, they decided to make a request to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, calling for Japan’s leadership to press for the start of negotiations to bring about a nuclear weapons convention.
At the meeting, the member cities agreed that such a convention would be an effective means of advancing the abolition of nuclear weapons. The request to the prime minister calls for Japan to pursue concrete action, as the A-bombed nation, to open negotiations for the early realization of a nuclear weapons convention. They also adopted a summary document of the meeting.
Some members asked why the right to collective self-defense was not discussed at the meeting. Mr. Matsui said there are various views on self-defense and added, “I don’t want the meeting to be used as a political tool. Let us first strengthen our solidarity and increase the ratio of the member cities from today’s 87 percent to 100 percent. Then let us discuss national politics.”
The covenant for Japanese member cities was also adopted at the meeting. The mayor of Hiroshima serves as president, and the mayor of Nagasaki as vice-president. A general meeting is held once a year, and the venue is chosen from among the member cities, but at milestone years such as the 70th and 80th anniversaries of the atomic bombings and the years when a quadrennial general conference of Mayors for Peace is held, the general meeting of the Japanese member cities will be held at one of the A-bombed cities, Hiroshima or Nagasaki. Next year, the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings, Hiroshima will host the meeting.
This was the fourth domestic meeting, and the first time that the meeting was held outside Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The number of participants was the largest ever, with a total of 159 representatives from 102 municipalities, including 49 municipality heads, attending the meeting. At the press conference afterward, Akira Sugenoya, the mayor of Matsumoto, stressed the productive outcome of the meeting, saying, “Some members gave presentations on their own initiatives to promote peace in their cities. This offered the opportunity for our citizens to renew their resolve for the abolition of nuclear weapons.”
(Originally published on November 12, 2014)
