‘Don’t turn your back on TPNW’: As Japan hesitates one year after TPNW’s enactment, Hiroshima calls for treaty ratification as first step to nuclear abolition
Feb. 14, 2022
by Kana Kobayashi and Yu Yamada, Staff Writers
January 22 marked the first anniversary of the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), a convention that comprehensively prohibits the development and possession of nuclear weapons. To this point in time, 59 nations and regions have ratified the treaty, but nuclear weapon states and Japan’s government, reliant on the nuclear umbrella provided by the United States, continue to turn their backs on the TPNW. In the A-bombed city of Hiroshima, A-bomb survivors recently called on the government to sign and ratify the TPNW in timely fashion and urged nuclear powers to take action for the realization of a world without nuclear weapons.
On that day, 10 members from the citizens’ group Hiroshima Alliance for Nuclear Weapons Abolition (HANWA) gathered in front of the A-bomb Dome, in Hiroshima’s Naka Ward, and held aloft banners reading, “Join TPNW now. Unite with Hibakusha. Make a nuke-free world,” in both Japanese and English. Shuichi Adachi, group representative, read aloud a statement that spoke to the significance of the treaty, insofar as it has forced the international community more broadly to come to grips with the inhumane nature of nuclear weapons. He also touched on the number of nuclear warheads that continue to exist globally, estimated to be around 13,000. Mr. Adachi argued it was not acceptable for nuclear nations to turn their backs on the signing and ratification of the TPNW and demanded that the Japanese government sign and ratify the TPNW without delay.
In the commercial area near the dome, members from the Hiroshima chapter of the Japan Council against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs (Gensuikyo) and the Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A-bomb Sufferers Organizations (Hiroshima Hidankyo; chaired by Kunihiko Sakuma) also held aloft banners demanding that the government take action by spearheading the effort to eliminate nuclear weapons.
On January 21, the governments of the United States and Japan released a joint statement calling on leaders of nations around the world and young people to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the two A-bombed cities. The statement, however, made no mention of the TPNW. “The TPNW is the first step toward realizing the elimination of nuclear weapons. I don’t think the two governments have drawn up a clear path forward for nuclear abolition,” stressed Hiroshima Hidankyo’s Mr. Sakuma. He explained that increasing the number of ratifying nations is crucial to enhancing viability of the treaty.
In July 2017, the TPNW was adopted at the United Nations, with 122 countries and regions voting in favor. In October 2020, the number of nations and regions ratifying the treaty reached 50, meeting the condition necessary for the treaty to enter into force, which it ultimately did on January 22, 2021. Other nations, such as Germany and Norway, members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), have shown their agreement with the treaty’s philosophy and expressed their intent to participate as observers in the First Meeting of State Parties to the TPNW, scheduled to be held in Vienna, Austria, in March.
(Originally published on January 23, 2022)
January 22 marked the first anniversary of the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), a convention that comprehensively prohibits the development and possession of nuclear weapons. To this point in time, 59 nations and regions have ratified the treaty, but nuclear weapon states and Japan’s government, reliant on the nuclear umbrella provided by the United States, continue to turn their backs on the TPNW. In the A-bombed city of Hiroshima, A-bomb survivors recently called on the government to sign and ratify the TPNW in timely fashion and urged nuclear powers to take action for the realization of a world without nuclear weapons.
On that day, 10 members from the citizens’ group Hiroshima Alliance for Nuclear Weapons Abolition (HANWA) gathered in front of the A-bomb Dome, in Hiroshima’s Naka Ward, and held aloft banners reading, “Join TPNW now. Unite with Hibakusha. Make a nuke-free world,” in both Japanese and English. Shuichi Adachi, group representative, read aloud a statement that spoke to the significance of the treaty, insofar as it has forced the international community more broadly to come to grips with the inhumane nature of nuclear weapons. He also touched on the number of nuclear warheads that continue to exist globally, estimated to be around 13,000. Mr. Adachi argued it was not acceptable for nuclear nations to turn their backs on the signing and ratification of the TPNW and demanded that the Japanese government sign and ratify the TPNW without delay.
In the commercial area near the dome, members from the Hiroshima chapter of the Japan Council against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs (Gensuikyo) and the Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A-bomb Sufferers Organizations (Hiroshima Hidankyo; chaired by Kunihiko Sakuma) also held aloft banners demanding that the government take action by spearheading the effort to eliminate nuclear weapons.
On January 21, the governments of the United States and Japan released a joint statement calling on leaders of nations around the world and young people to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the two A-bombed cities. The statement, however, made no mention of the TPNW. “The TPNW is the first step toward realizing the elimination of nuclear weapons. I don’t think the two governments have drawn up a clear path forward for nuclear abolition,” stressed Hiroshima Hidankyo’s Mr. Sakuma. He explained that increasing the number of ratifying nations is crucial to enhancing viability of the treaty.
In July 2017, the TPNW was adopted at the United Nations, with 122 countries and regions voting in favor. In October 2020, the number of nations and regions ratifying the treaty reached 50, meeting the condition necessary for the treaty to enter into force, which it ultimately did on January 22, 2021. Other nations, such as Germany and Norway, members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), have shown their agreement with the treaty’s philosophy and expressed their intent to participate as observers in the First Meeting of State Parties to the TPNW, scheduled to be held in Vienna, Austria, in March.
(Originally published on January 23, 2022)
