Hiroshima mayor visits foreign minister to seek conclusion of nuclear weapons convention
Jan. 5, 2016
by Osamu Kido, Staff Writer
On December 24, Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui, the president of Mayors for Peace, met with Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and handed him a letter of request from Mayors for Peace which urges that stronger efforts be made for the early conclusion of a nuclear weapons convention.
The general meeting for Japanese member cities of Mayors for Peace was held in the city of Hiroshima in November, and the participants approved the letter for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The letter refers to a resolution which calls for the establishment of a working group at the United Nations General Assembly to consider effective measures for nuclear disarmament, including legal provisions, and it encourages Japan to act in accord with other nations that are working to outlaw nuclear weapons. It also calls for Japan, as the A-bombed nation, to take the initiative in realizing a nuclear weapons convention.
Mr. Matsui also requested that the world leaders taking part in the Group of Seven (G7) Summit (Ise Shima Summit) visit the A-bombed cities and that a strong effort be made to carry out activities that will convey the facts of the atomic bombings at the meeting of foreign ministers in Hiroshima. Mr. Kishida said, “I will do my best so that the foreign ministers of the various nations can visit the Peace Memorial Park in a natural fashion.”
(Originally published on December 25, 2015)
On December 24, Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui, the president of Mayors for Peace, met with Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and handed him a letter of request from Mayors for Peace which urges that stronger efforts be made for the early conclusion of a nuclear weapons convention.
The general meeting for Japanese member cities of Mayors for Peace was held in the city of Hiroshima in November, and the participants approved the letter for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The letter refers to a resolution which calls for the establishment of a working group at the United Nations General Assembly to consider effective measures for nuclear disarmament, including legal provisions, and it encourages Japan to act in accord with other nations that are working to outlaw nuclear weapons. It also calls for Japan, as the A-bombed nation, to take the initiative in realizing a nuclear weapons convention.
Mr. Matsui also requested that the world leaders taking part in the Group of Seven (G7) Summit (Ise Shima Summit) visit the A-bombed cities and that a strong effort be made to carry out activities that will convey the facts of the atomic bombings at the meeting of foreign ministers in Hiroshima. Mr. Kishida said, “I will do my best so that the foreign ministers of the various nations can visit the Peace Memorial Park in a natural fashion.”
(Originally published on December 25, 2015)
