Mutsu City in Aomori Prefecture to join Mayors for Peace, leaving two non-member municipalities in Japan: Mayors for Peace, with 99.8 percent of Japan’s municipalities as its members, to increase efforts to call for participation
Jul. 1, 2023
Yawata City (in Kyoto Prefecture) “feels no need to join”
Sasebo City (in Nagasaki Prefecture) “will closely examine efforts of Mayors for Peace”
by Kaori Ota, Staff Writer
It was learned on June 30 that Mutsu City in Aomori Prefecture is expected to join Mayors for Peace (for which Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui serves as president), which pursues a “world without nuclear weapons,” leaving Yawata City in Kyoto Prefecture and Sasebo City in Nagasaki Prefecture as the remaining two municipalities in Japan without membership in the organization. The Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation in the city’s Naka Ward, which serves as the secretariat of the organization, will step up its efforts to have all municipalities in Japan as members of the organization.
As of July 1, Mayors for Peace has 1,738 municipalities in Japan as its members, equivalent to 99.8 percent of all municipalities in Japan. As of April 1, there remained three cities without membership in the organization. Mutsu City applied for membership at the end of June and will join the organization on August 1. The mayor’s office of the Hiroshima City government explained, “When we confirmed the intention of the new mayor who took office in April, he decided to join, because there was no specific reason that the city had not joined the organization.”
In the meantime, when a city assembly member of Yawata City urged the Mayor of Yawata to join Mayors for Peace at the city assembly in March, 2022, the mayor replied, “I think we should abolish nuclear weapons, but I don’t feel the need (to join the organization).” The city’s human rights policy division said the city had not joined Mayors for Peace in line with the mayor’s view.
In Sasebo City, a request to join the organization was submitted to the city assembly in 2012, but rejected on the grounds of the “need to keep in line with measures and policies implemented by the U.S. military and Japan’s Self-Defense Forces.” The city’s human rights gender equality division indicated its stance, saying, “We hope to closely examine efforts of Mayors for Peace and consider the issue, listening to citizens’ opinions.”
Mayors for Peace was originally established as the World Conference for Mayors for Peace through Inter-City Solidarity in 1982. Municipalities in Japan began to join the organization in 2008. The Hiroshima City government has called on municipalities to join the organization by letter or phone. The Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation said, “We will pursue a goal of having all cities in Japan as members of Mayors for Peace, considering visiting non-member cities in Japan and requesting them to join the organization.”
As of July 1, 6,527 cities in 165 overseas countries and regions are members of Mayors for Peace.
(Originally published on July 1, 2023)
