Mayors for Peace urges last 25 non-member local governments in Japan to join the organization
Jan. 7, 2018
by Yoshiaki Kido, Staff Writer
The number of Japanese municipalities that have not joined Mayors for Peace (for which Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui serves as president) has declined to 25, setting in motion a countdown until the very last local government joins the organization. The Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, which is located in Naka Ward and serves as the secretariat for the organization, has intensified its efforts to urge the last 25 municipalities to become members.
Mayors for Peace, which seeks to create a world without nuclear weapons through close cooperation among cities all over the world, was founded in 1982 under the title “World Conference of Mayors for Peace through Inter-City Solidarity.” Its name was changed to Mayors for Peace in 2001, and in 2013, the Japanese name of the organization was altered to “Heiwa Shucho Kaigi” to include the heads of all municipalities. As of January 1, the organization consists of 7,536 municipalities from 162 countries and regions. Under the “2020 Vision” to promote the conclusion of the nuclear weapons ban treaty in each country and to realize the abolition of nuclear weapons by 2020, the organization members work together to collect signatures in support of nuclear abolition and raise awareness of this cause among the people of the world.
The organization began accepting the membership of Japanese municipalities in 2008, and since that time the number of Japanese members has grown steadily. On January 1, eight municipalities joined the organization, bringing the total to 1,716 members, or the equivalent of 98.6% of all 1,741 Japanese municipalities.
Every year since fiscal 2007, the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation has sent letters to non-member municipalities to urge them to join the organization. Since fiscal 2009, staff from the foundation have also been paying visits to each of these municipalities and, as a result, most of the visited municipalities have eventually ended up joining the organization. It is mostly the municipalities that are located farther away from Hiroshima that remain non-members.
Among the 25 non-member municipalities in nine prefectures, the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation made phone calls to Kadena-cho and Motobu-cho in Okinawa Prefecture in the summer of 2017 and afterwards to explain the aim of Mayors for Peace for the first time. Both towns then began considering the idea of joining the organization in fiscal 2018. Kadena-cho officials say that although they had not been aware of the aims of Mayors for Peace before they received the phone call, the town actively seeks to promote peace and therefore has no reservations about supporting the organization’s mission.
On the other hand, officials of Motobu-cho said that they thought it would be difficult to pay the membership fee due to their need to cut spending. However, because they were told that the annual 2,000 yen payment for membership was not mandatory, the town felt they would be able to consider joining the organization.
However, there are still some municipalities which do not intend to join the organization. Daisuke Tanaka, the head of Nakano Ward, Tokyo, conveyed his view at a municipal assembly meeting in September 2017, saying that participation in the organization would not comply with Nakano Ward’s efforts to advance its own principles of peace. Mr. Tanaka expressed concern about how the municipality’s participation in the organization would be viewed by the municipal assembly.
In 2012, Nagasaki’s Sasebo City assembly also rejected the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation’s appeal for it to join Mayors for Peace, saying that they have to ensure consistency with the measures and policies implemented by the U.S. military and Japan’s Self Defense Force. At a city assembly meeting in 2016, Sasebo Mayor Norio Asanaga said that the city would not join the organization because the assembly had not been able to come to a consensus.
Kazue Iwamoto, the head of the 2020 Vision promotion division of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, said, “The principles of peace advocated by Mayors for Peace are largely understood even by non-member municipalities, and therefore we would like to consistently make clear that becoming a member of Mayors for Peace would not restrict each municipality’s own activities.”
(Originally published on January 7, 2018)
The number of Japanese municipalities that have not joined Mayors for Peace (for which Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui serves as president) has declined to 25, setting in motion a countdown until the very last local government joins the organization. The Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, which is located in Naka Ward and serves as the secretariat for the organization, has intensified its efforts to urge the last 25 municipalities to become members.
Mayors for Peace, which seeks to create a world without nuclear weapons through close cooperation among cities all over the world, was founded in 1982 under the title “World Conference of Mayors for Peace through Inter-City Solidarity.” Its name was changed to Mayors for Peace in 2001, and in 2013, the Japanese name of the organization was altered to “Heiwa Shucho Kaigi” to include the heads of all municipalities. As of January 1, the organization consists of 7,536 municipalities from 162 countries and regions. Under the “2020 Vision” to promote the conclusion of the nuclear weapons ban treaty in each country and to realize the abolition of nuclear weapons by 2020, the organization members work together to collect signatures in support of nuclear abolition and raise awareness of this cause among the people of the world.
The organization began accepting the membership of Japanese municipalities in 2008, and since that time the number of Japanese members has grown steadily. On January 1, eight municipalities joined the organization, bringing the total to 1,716 members, or the equivalent of 98.6% of all 1,741 Japanese municipalities.
Every year since fiscal 2007, the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation has sent letters to non-member municipalities to urge them to join the organization. Since fiscal 2009, staff from the foundation have also been paying visits to each of these municipalities and, as a result, most of the visited municipalities have eventually ended up joining the organization. It is mostly the municipalities that are located farther away from Hiroshima that remain non-members.
Among the 25 non-member municipalities in nine prefectures, the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation made phone calls to Kadena-cho and Motobu-cho in Okinawa Prefecture in the summer of 2017 and afterwards to explain the aim of Mayors for Peace for the first time. Both towns then began considering the idea of joining the organization in fiscal 2018. Kadena-cho officials say that although they had not been aware of the aims of Mayors for Peace before they received the phone call, the town actively seeks to promote peace and therefore has no reservations about supporting the organization’s mission.
On the other hand, officials of Motobu-cho said that they thought it would be difficult to pay the membership fee due to their need to cut spending. However, because they were told that the annual 2,000 yen payment for membership was not mandatory, the town felt they would be able to consider joining the organization.
However, there are still some municipalities which do not intend to join the organization. Daisuke Tanaka, the head of Nakano Ward, Tokyo, conveyed his view at a municipal assembly meeting in September 2017, saying that participation in the organization would not comply with Nakano Ward’s efforts to advance its own principles of peace. Mr. Tanaka expressed concern about how the municipality’s participation in the organization would be viewed by the municipal assembly.
In 2012, Nagasaki’s Sasebo City assembly also rejected the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation’s appeal for it to join Mayors for Peace, saying that they have to ensure consistency with the measures and policies implemented by the U.S. military and Japan’s Self Defense Force. At a city assembly meeting in 2016, Sasebo Mayor Norio Asanaga said that the city would not join the organization because the assembly had not been able to come to a consensus.
Kazue Iwamoto, the head of the 2020 Vision promotion division of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, said, “The principles of peace advocated by Mayors for Peace are largely understood even by non-member municipalities, and therefore we would like to consistently make clear that becoming a member of Mayors for Peace would not restrict each municipality’s own activities.”
(Originally published on January 7, 2018)
