Hiroshima Round Table concludes: Chair Kiichi Fujiwara warns at press conference, “If nuclear deterrence fails, nuclear war will occur”
Sep. 3, 2025
by Eriko Shintani, Staff Writer
On September 2, two days of discussions for the Hiroshima Round Table, an expert committee tasked with exploring pathways toward nuclear disarmament and arms control, concluded in Hiroshima City’s Naka Ward. After the meeting, Kiichi Fujiwara, project professor at Juntendo University and chair of the Hiroshima Round Table, as well as Hiroshima Prefectural Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki and others spoke at a press conference, explaining the danger of the nuclear deterrence theory, which inherently entails the risk of nuclear war.
Mr. Fujiwara described the current state of the deteriorating international situation as an “era of war.” He said, “If nuclear deterrence fails, nuclear war will occur. The benefits of possessing nuclear weapons never outweigh the risks,” emphasizing the necessity of security policies that are not reliant on nuclear deterrence.
The meeting was attended by 18 experts from the nuclear powers of the United States, Russia, China, as well as those from Japan, South Korea, Australia, and Poland. In the closed-door discussions, some participants were said to have expressed concern about the growing misconception that Ukraine’s abandonment of nuclear weapons had invited Russia’s invasion.
The Hiroshima Prefectural government and the Hiroshima Organization for Global Peace (HOPe), a public-private partnership led by Hiroshima Prefecture, started holding the Round Table in 2013, with this year marking the 12th meeting. On September 26, the participants will announce the “Hiroshima Watch” statement reporting the results of their discussions and send the statement to the 193 member states of the United Nations.
(Originally published on September 3, 2025)
On September 2, two days of discussions for the Hiroshima Round Table, an expert committee tasked with exploring pathways toward nuclear disarmament and arms control, concluded in Hiroshima City’s Naka Ward. After the meeting, Kiichi Fujiwara, project professor at Juntendo University and chair of the Hiroshima Round Table, as well as Hiroshima Prefectural Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki and others spoke at a press conference, explaining the danger of the nuclear deterrence theory, which inherently entails the risk of nuclear war.
Mr. Fujiwara described the current state of the deteriorating international situation as an “era of war.” He said, “If nuclear deterrence fails, nuclear war will occur. The benefits of possessing nuclear weapons never outweigh the risks,” emphasizing the necessity of security policies that are not reliant on nuclear deterrence.
The meeting was attended by 18 experts from the nuclear powers of the United States, Russia, China, as well as those from Japan, South Korea, Australia, and Poland. In the closed-door discussions, some participants were said to have expressed concern about the growing misconception that Ukraine’s abandonment of nuclear weapons had invited Russia’s invasion.
The Hiroshima Prefectural government and the Hiroshima Organization for Global Peace (HOPe), a public-private partnership led by Hiroshima Prefecture, started holding the Round Table in 2013, with this year marking the 12th meeting. On September 26, the participants will announce the “Hiroshima Watch” statement reporting the results of their discussions and send the statement to the 193 member states of the United Nations.
(Originally published on September 3, 2025)
