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Ambassador of Japan to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva meets with Hiroshima mayor and Hiroshima governor

by Michiko Tanaka and Kenichiro Nozaki, Staff Writers

On September 18, Toshio Sano, 61, the head of the Delegation of Japan to the Conference on Disarmament, located in Geneva, Switzerland, met with Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui at Hiroshima City Hall. Mr. Sano, who assumed his post in July, expressed enthusiasm for the exercise of Japan’s leadership in nuclear abolition as the A-bombed nation.

The Ambassador of Japan to the Conference on Disarmament stands in the forefront of various international conferences on nuclear disarmament. Japan did not back the “joint statement on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons” at the second session of the Preparatory Committee of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference in April in Geneva, which earned the support of about 80 nations, on the grounds that the statement was incompatible with Japan’s security policy.

Mentioning Japan’s failure to endorse the statement, Mr. Matsui asked that Japan demonstrate its initiative in promoting peace. Mr. Sano responded that he would do his utmost toward this end, and expressed eagerness to prepare the Japanese government to support the next joint communique, which is expected to be compiled at the First Committee of the U.N. General Assembly in October.

Mr. Sano added, “Promoting nuclear disarmament will lead to confidence-building among nations, in spite of the difficult conditions we currently face in East Asia. The Japanese government’s efforts to pursue nuclear disarmament, in cooperation with the A-bombed cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, will empower Japan.”

Mr. Sano then visited the offices of the Hiroshima prefectural government and met with Hiroshima Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki.

(Originally published on September 19, 2013)

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