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Opinion

Commentary: Japan’s significance as the A-bombed nation is waning

by Jumpei Fujimura, Staff Writer

According to the Japanese government, “Japan will play a role in bridging the gap between the nuclear powers and non-nuclear powers.” Based on this pledge, it points to its efforts to promote “realistic arms reduction.” Japan-proposed resolutions which call for the abolition of nuclear weapons have been adopted at the First Committee of the United Nations General Assembly for 22 years in a row. The reality, however, is that the nuclear weapon states have either voted against these resolutions or abstained from voting at all, which means that Japan’s resolutions have failed to obtain any endorsements from the nuclear powers.

The resolution drafted by Japan to mark the 70th anniversary year of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki focused on the importance of people visiting these cities and the A-bomb experiences recounted by the survivors. At the drafting stage, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs was eager to create a document that would serve to replace the final document of the 2015 NPT Review Conference, for which an agreement was not reached, and help set the pace for reducing nuclear arms. Toward this end, Foreign Ministry officials made efforts to gain widespread support for the resolution.

But at the voting stage, the nuclear powers rejected it. Foreign Ministry officials say that the rift between the nuclear weapon states and non-nuclear nations has deepened since discussions on the inhumanity of nuclear weapons have gained momentum. Until last year, though, the United States, the United Kingdom, and France had lent their support to Japan’s resolutions. Given this setback, it can’t be said that the Japanese government is working effectively to bridge the gap between the nuclear powers and the non-nuclear powers.

Moreover, Japan abstained from voting on a resolution, proposed by Austria and other nations, which called for a ban on nuclear arms. This reflects Japan’s priority of remaining shielded by the U.S. nuclear umbrella and thus makes it reluctant to help seek the early establishment of a nuclear weapons convention. As a result of this stance, Japan continues to sabotage every effort being made to advance the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Japan can neither serve as a bridge between the nuclear and non-nuclear states nor can it work together with the non-nuclear nations in creating a nuclear weapons convention. Japan’s influence, with its raison d’etre as the only nation with firsthand experience of the inhumane consequences of the use of nuclear weapons, is waning.

(Originally published on November 4, 2015)

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