Prime Minister to send two A-bomb survivors to international conference on humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons to be held on June 20
Jun. 3, 2022
by Koji Higuchi, Staff Writer
On June 2, it was learned Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (representing Hiroshima Prefecture’s District No. 1) has decided to send a Japanese government delegation, including two A-bomb survivors, to the International Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons to be held in Vienna, Austria, on June 20. Several sources revealed his intension. However, he has also decided that the government will not attend the First Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) to be held there on June 21 to 23.
A-bomb survivors, who will be dispatched together with the director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Division of the foreign ministry and others, are Sueichi Kido, secretary-general of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo), and Masao Tomonaga, head of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors Council. As with the last three meetings, Mr. Kishida is planning to send a delegation including A-bomb survivors as representatives of the Japanese government to inform the world about the destruction wrought by the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The International Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons, which focuses on the devastation caused by the use of nuclear weapons, served as the primary driver behind the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in January, 2021. The meeting this year, which is to be held for the first time in eight years, will be attended by Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui.
Meanwhile, the Japanese government will not participate in the First Meeting of State Parties to the TPNW as an observer, despite the strong demand from A-bomb survivors to do so. It is believed Mr. Kishida took into consideration the current situation of the United States, an allied country, which expresses a negative attitude toward the treaty. However, some diet members from the ruling coalition Komeito party and opposition parties will attend the meeting as an international delegation of lawmakers supporting the nuclear ban treaty.
Japan’s Foreign Ministry has appointed four student group members who are going to attend the state parties’ meeting as observers as “Youth Communicators for a World without Nuclear Weapons.” This special envoy program was established by Mr. Kishida in 2013 when he was Japan’s foreign minister for the purpose of passing on the reality of the atomic bombing to younger generations.
(Originally published on June 3, 2022)
On June 2, it was learned Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (representing Hiroshima Prefecture’s District No. 1) has decided to send a Japanese government delegation, including two A-bomb survivors, to the International Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons to be held in Vienna, Austria, on June 20. Several sources revealed his intension. However, he has also decided that the government will not attend the First Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) to be held there on June 21 to 23.
A-bomb survivors, who will be dispatched together with the director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Division of the foreign ministry and others, are Sueichi Kido, secretary-general of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo), and Masao Tomonaga, head of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors Council. As with the last three meetings, Mr. Kishida is planning to send a delegation including A-bomb survivors as representatives of the Japanese government to inform the world about the destruction wrought by the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The International Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons, which focuses on the devastation caused by the use of nuclear weapons, served as the primary driver behind the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in January, 2021. The meeting this year, which is to be held for the first time in eight years, will be attended by Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui.
Meanwhile, the Japanese government will not participate in the First Meeting of State Parties to the TPNW as an observer, despite the strong demand from A-bomb survivors to do so. It is believed Mr. Kishida took into consideration the current situation of the United States, an allied country, which expresses a negative attitude toward the treaty. However, some diet members from the ruling coalition Komeito party and opposition parties will attend the meeting as an international delegation of lawmakers supporting the nuclear ban treaty.
Japan’s Foreign Ministry has appointed four student group members who are going to attend the state parties’ meeting as observers as “Youth Communicators for a World without Nuclear Weapons.” This special envoy program was established by Mr. Kishida in 2013 when he was Japan’s foreign minister for the purpose of passing on the reality of the atomic bombing to younger generations.
(Originally published on June 3, 2022)
