Documenting Hiroshima 80 years after A-bombing: July 27, 2016, Collecting Signatures calling for ban on nuclear weapons
May 30, 2025
by Michio Shimotaka, Staff Writer, and Kyosuke Mizukawa, Senior Staff Writer
On July 27, 2016, representatives from seven A-bomb survivor groups in Hiroshima stood near the A-bomb Dome in central Hiroshima for a campaign. They called on people in the street to sign a petition urging nations to conclude a treaty to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons.
This was part of the Hibakusha Appeal, an international signature drive promoted by the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo) and launched that year. Sunao Tsuboi, then 91, one of the nine promoters of this drive from Japan and abroad, stood in the street leaning on a cane and took the microphone to call on people to support the petition. He was then serving as both co-chairperson of Nihon Hidankyo and chair of the Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A-bomb Sufferers Organizations (Hiroshima Hidankyo). Toshiyuki Mimaki, 83, chair of Hiroshima Hidankyo and resident of Kitahiroshima-cho, and Kunihiko Sakuma, 80, chair of the other Hiroshima Hidankyo and a resident of Nishi Ward, also called on people to provide their signatures.
While nuclear disarmament remained stagnant, non-nuclear weapon states like Austria and Mexico increased their efforts to ban such weapons, focusing on their inhumanity as clearly demonstrated by the tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They held three international conferences on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons in Norway and other places in 2013 and 2014. Hibakusha also gave their testimonies. In December 2016, the U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution on the start of negotiations for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
The negotiations started in March 2017 at the U.N. Headquarters in New York. While most nuclear-armed states and many countries under the U.S. “nuclear umbrella,” including Japan, did not participate, Nihon Hidankyo brought together international signatures and dispatched Mr. Mimaki to support the treaty’s adoption.
(Originally published on May 30, 2025)
On July 27, 2016, representatives from seven A-bomb survivor groups in Hiroshima stood near the A-bomb Dome in central Hiroshima for a campaign. They called on people in the street to sign a petition urging nations to conclude a treaty to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons.
This was part of the Hibakusha Appeal, an international signature drive promoted by the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo) and launched that year. Sunao Tsuboi, then 91, one of the nine promoters of this drive from Japan and abroad, stood in the street leaning on a cane and took the microphone to call on people to support the petition. He was then serving as both co-chairperson of Nihon Hidankyo and chair of the Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A-bomb Sufferers Organizations (Hiroshima Hidankyo). Toshiyuki Mimaki, 83, chair of Hiroshima Hidankyo and resident of Kitahiroshima-cho, and Kunihiko Sakuma, 80, chair of the other Hiroshima Hidankyo and a resident of Nishi Ward, also called on people to provide their signatures.
While nuclear disarmament remained stagnant, non-nuclear weapon states like Austria and Mexico increased their efforts to ban such weapons, focusing on their inhumanity as clearly demonstrated by the tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They held three international conferences on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons in Norway and other places in 2013 and 2014. Hibakusha also gave their testimonies. In December 2016, the U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution on the start of negotiations for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
The negotiations started in March 2017 at the U.N. Headquarters in New York. While most nuclear-armed states and many countries under the U.S. “nuclear umbrella,” including Japan, did not participate, Nihon Hidankyo brought together international signatures and dispatched Mr. Mimaki to support the treaty’s adoption.
(Originally published on May 30, 2025)
