Editorial: More powerful message needs to be conveyed from Peace Memorial Ceremony for abolition of nuclear weapons
Aug. 7, 2020
In the summer marking the 75th anniversary of Hiroshima’s atomic bombing, the city’s Peace Memorial Ceremony was held in a vastly different form than in typical years. The Hiroshima City government was forced this year to take measures against the coronavirus, by limiting the number of event attendees, among other actions.
This year’s ceremony was held against the backdrop of dwindling numbers of A-bomb survivors and a growing sense of crisis in terms of how to hand down their memories of the atomic bombings. Efforts aimed at nuclear disarmament have bogged down, with concerns persisting about the spread of nuclear weapons. Most unfortunate was that our actions were limited that day, just when we all should have raised our voices in a call for the abolition of such weapons.
Far fewer people than usual visited in and around Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park this year. Many other annual memorial services held at various sites in the city were canceled. On that day, there were few children and overseas visitors, who usually come and listen to survivors describe their feelings about their horrendous A-bombing experiences.
We are concerned that, starting with next year’s ceremony, the A-bombed city might tone down its message.
We are also left with doubts about the message read by Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui during the ceremony. He used the term “unity” as a keyword in his Peace Declaration.
Citing the horrific experience of one A-bomb survivor, a message by Pope Francis sent from Hiroshima at his visit to the city last year, and words spoken by Sadako Ogata in her role as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Mayor Matsui made an appeal for the importance of solidarity against nuclear weapons and the coronavirus, among other threats to humanity.
For the first time, he called on the Japanese national government, in his own words, to become a signatory to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
The mayor did not explicitly ask the government to join the treaty, using “the A-bomb survivors’ wishes” as a pretense, until last year. It took three years after adoption of the treaty for him to do so, despite such a demand being appropriate for the mayor of the A-bombed city. We cannot suppress the feeling that it was all together too late. We wonder how the world interpreted his words.
On the other hand, compared with the Peace Declaration, the message by Hiroshima Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki was clear and appealing. He queried, “Why is it that Hiroshima and Nagasaki continue to be betrayed time and again despite our desperate longing for nuclear abolition over such an extended period of time?” and concluded that the theory of nuclear deterrence was a “myth.” He called on every country to realize the abolition of nuclear weapons while A-bomb survivors are still alive.
Touching on the menace of COVID-19 in their message “Commitment to Peace,” the children’s representatives described how the nuclear threat was created by humans themselves and stressed that “to be rid of nuclear weapons, we need human will.”
Such appeals should also be directed at the Japanese government, who espouses its belief in a “nuclear umbrella.”
Nevertheless, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s speech was perfunctory and included the same old phrasing: “Japan will lead the international community’s efforts to bring about a world free of nuclear weapons by serving as a mediator bridging the gap between countries with different standpoints.”
In reality, the United States and other nuclear weapons states have continued to push the modernization of their nuclear weapons stockpiles and deployment of low-yield nuclear weapons for active use. One wonders, what exactly has the Japanese government been doing as a mediator?
Prime Minister Abe also failed to touch on the issue of support for A-bomb survivors. At a meeting with representatives of A-bomb survivors, he avoided a definitive statement in response to their demand that the government refrain from appealing the recent decision of a district court that recognized all plaintiffs in a “black rain” lawsuit as being A-bomb survivors and thus having the right to receive an A-Bomb Survivor’s Certificate.
A-bomb survivors demand expansion of relief measures, and the A-bombed city calls on the national government to ratify the nuclear weapons ban treaty. As 75 years have passed since the bombings, the demands are of particular desperation for the A-bomb survivors, who have little time left. Nevertheless, are their wishes being ignored even by the Japanese government? We wonder whether their wishes will have any impact on the prime minister and his administration.
We must not be defeated by the coronavirus pandemic. Now is the time to strengthen our message and appeals conveyed from the A-bombed city to Japan and overseas for the sake of humanity’s future.
(Originally published on August 7, 2020)
This year’s ceremony was held against the backdrop of dwindling numbers of A-bomb survivors and a growing sense of crisis in terms of how to hand down their memories of the atomic bombings. Efforts aimed at nuclear disarmament have bogged down, with concerns persisting about the spread of nuclear weapons. Most unfortunate was that our actions were limited that day, just when we all should have raised our voices in a call for the abolition of such weapons.
Far fewer people than usual visited in and around Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park this year. Many other annual memorial services held at various sites in the city were canceled. On that day, there were few children and overseas visitors, who usually come and listen to survivors describe their feelings about their horrendous A-bombing experiences.
We are concerned that, starting with next year’s ceremony, the A-bombed city might tone down its message.
We are also left with doubts about the message read by Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui during the ceremony. He used the term “unity” as a keyword in his Peace Declaration.
Citing the horrific experience of one A-bomb survivor, a message by Pope Francis sent from Hiroshima at his visit to the city last year, and words spoken by Sadako Ogata in her role as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Mayor Matsui made an appeal for the importance of solidarity against nuclear weapons and the coronavirus, among other threats to humanity.
For the first time, he called on the Japanese national government, in his own words, to become a signatory to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
The mayor did not explicitly ask the government to join the treaty, using “the A-bomb survivors’ wishes” as a pretense, until last year. It took three years after adoption of the treaty for him to do so, despite such a demand being appropriate for the mayor of the A-bombed city. We cannot suppress the feeling that it was all together too late. We wonder how the world interpreted his words.
On the other hand, compared with the Peace Declaration, the message by Hiroshima Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki was clear and appealing. He queried, “Why is it that Hiroshima and Nagasaki continue to be betrayed time and again despite our desperate longing for nuclear abolition over such an extended period of time?” and concluded that the theory of nuclear deterrence was a “myth.” He called on every country to realize the abolition of nuclear weapons while A-bomb survivors are still alive.
Touching on the menace of COVID-19 in their message “Commitment to Peace,” the children’s representatives described how the nuclear threat was created by humans themselves and stressed that “to be rid of nuclear weapons, we need human will.”
Such appeals should also be directed at the Japanese government, who espouses its belief in a “nuclear umbrella.”
Nevertheless, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s speech was perfunctory and included the same old phrasing: “Japan will lead the international community’s efforts to bring about a world free of nuclear weapons by serving as a mediator bridging the gap between countries with different standpoints.”
In reality, the United States and other nuclear weapons states have continued to push the modernization of their nuclear weapons stockpiles and deployment of low-yield nuclear weapons for active use. One wonders, what exactly has the Japanese government been doing as a mediator?
Prime Minister Abe also failed to touch on the issue of support for A-bomb survivors. At a meeting with representatives of A-bomb survivors, he avoided a definitive statement in response to their demand that the government refrain from appealing the recent decision of a district court that recognized all plaintiffs in a “black rain” lawsuit as being A-bomb survivors and thus having the right to receive an A-Bomb Survivor’s Certificate.
A-bomb survivors demand expansion of relief measures, and the A-bombed city calls on the national government to ratify the nuclear weapons ban treaty. As 75 years have passed since the bombings, the demands are of particular desperation for the A-bomb survivors, who have little time left. Nevertheless, are their wishes being ignored even by the Japanese government? We wonder whether their wishes will have any impact on the prime minister and his administration.
We must not be defeated by the coronavirus pandemic. Now is the time to strengthen our message and appeals conveyed from the A-bombed city to Japan and overseas for the sake of humanity’s future.
(Originally published on August 7, 2020)
