JP

From November 27th to December 1st, 2023, the second Meeting of the States Parties of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) will be held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. After the law of TPNW came into force on January 22nd, the first meeting was held in Vienna, Austria, last year. The second meeting that will be held this year will on how this treaty would increase the international momentum toward nuclear disarmament and abolition. Non-member countries are allowed to join this meeting as observers, which means that Japan can also join; however the Japanese government has not announced its participation so far.

This year marks the 78th years since atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The average age of Hibakusha, atomic bomb survivors, is 85.01 years old. The existence of Hibakusha is the most substantial deterrence in using nuclear weapons in the world. Their aging means that one day we will have no one to tell us about the reality of atomic bombing. When that happens, the TPNW will be the most critical and distinct rule for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

We, "Connect Hiroshima", a student group based in Hiroshima, request Japanese government to participate in the second conference of TPNW as an observer for the following five reasons.

 

1.The significance for Japan, the world's only wartime nuclear bomb target, to face this treaty

The affiliation to this treaty by Japan, which is the world's only wartime target of nuclear bombs and is currently under the nuclear-umbrella of the U.S., has to be realized as soon as possible. The Japanese government has not signed the treaty yet on the grounds of nuclear threats from Russia, China, and North Korea. However, we think that the realistic measure is to make the U.S., Russia, and China promise not to use nuclear weapons on non-nuclear weapon states and to resolve disputes peacefully, and to pursue establishment of a peaceful order in North east Asia. To achieve this, the Japanese government needs to show its attitude to face the TPNW. Many of the countries have already participated on this treaty, The idea that nuclear weapons are not necessary evil but "absolute evil" and the support for nuclear abolition have been spreading globally. By joining the upcoming TPNW meeting as an observer, the Japanese government can show readiness to not turn its back on this treaty. We believe that this is the first step toward the abolition of nuclear weapons.

 

2. A growing nuclear threat 

A year and a half has passed since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The remark of Russian former president Medvedev recently shocked the world; he commented on the Russian state-run TASS news agency that "it is possible to any kind of war quickly... if you do what Americans did in 1945, when they used their nuclear weapons and bombed two Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Japanese military indeed curtailed the campaign, in exchange of 300,000 civilian lives." (July 5th, 2023) This remark shows clearly that as long as nuclear weapons exist in this world, our safety will always be threatened, and that there is also a high possibility that nuclear weapons will be used again. As the risk of the use of nuclear weapons increases, the world expects a message and concrete actions from Japan, the only country that experienced atomic bombing during the war. The upcoming TPNW conference is a place for each government to share information about concrete actions and plans for nuclear disarmament and abolition and promote cooperation. Observers also have the right to speak about this treaty.

 

3.Valuable discussions at the first conference

From 21st to 23rd, 2022, the first conference of TPNW was held in Vienna, Austria. Yukiko Ouchi, who is the organizer of this petition and the head of Connect Hiroshima, flew to Vienna and Joined the ICAN civil society forum and Vienna conference regarding the impact of nuclear weapons on humanity. She was not able to join the first conference of TPNW but exchanging thoughts with world diplomats and activists were inspiring experiences that have led to the creation of this campaign and Connect Hiroshima's activities.

However, the Japanese government did not participate in that conference. While Japan was absent, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, and Australia, which are all under the U.S. nuclear umbrella just like Japan, did participate. During the meeting, these countries had enough opportunities to speak, so they explained their own challenges and barriers for ratification. The Japanese government should also exchange opinions at this forum where the world discusses nuclear weapon issues. Japan's participation could help finding a clue toward nuclear disarmament with countries that cannot decide to sign and ratify because of the same national security concerns as Japan's

 

4. Given the outcome of the G7 Hiroshima summit

From May 19th to 21st, 2023, the G7 summit was held at the atomic bomb site, Hiroshima, The G7 countries consist of nuclear-weapons states as well as countries that rely on the U.S. What would they see and say? Countless people paid attention to their actions. In the end, the leaders visited the Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima city for 40 minutes, but they looked around only the east building and did not set foot in the main building where major exhibitions were held. Moreover, the exhibits they saw were selected under the guidance of U.S. and the contents have not been revealed to the public even now. Meeting with Hibakusha, Keiko Ogura was only for a short time, and her story has also not been revealed because of the directions from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Japan. All were completely closed to the public. Regarding this, Akira Kawasaki who is the co-chairman of the ICAN International Steering Committee, answered the TOKYO Newspaper's interview as follows; Why is the Japanese government so secretive about it? There is even no photo. As if meeting Hibakusha is undesirable. It is rude to Hibakusha.

During the summit, the official document specifying nuclear disarmament was released for the first time. It is called “G7 Leaders’ Hiroshima Vision on Nuclear Disarmament.” It says “Our security policies are based on the understanding that nuclear weapons, for as long as they exist, should serve defensive purposes, deter aggression and prevent war and coercion.”. Including Hibakusha, many people feel indignant at the G7 leaders' attitude. That's because they affirm nuclear deterrence even after visiting the atomic-bombed city and also they do not reflect on their nuclear possession and national security policies relying on nuclear weapons.

Given these circumstances, the world is paying attention to how Japan would face nuclear weapons from now on. We believe that Japan, the world's only wartime nuclear bomb target, should not affirm nuclear deterrence but appeal to the world about the reality and inhumanity of nuclear weapons.

 

5. A appeals from political parties to the government to join as an observer

On August 5th, 2023 a public debate titled "Toward abolition of nuclear weapons. What Japan should take action now?” was held in Hiroshima city by the Japan NGO Network for Nuclear Weapons Abolition. Each Diet member (legislator) from the main eight political parties participated in it. During the discussion, Natsuo Yamaguchi who is the president of the political party Komeito remarked, “To enhance the validity of no use of nuclear weapons, we should not turn our back on to the discussion of the treaty, ... we ought to participate in this year's second conference of TPNW and pursue the role of mediation for both nuclear powers and non-nuclear states." Akira Nagatsuma who is a member of the Constitutional Democratic Party insisted that Japan can contribute constructively to victims' support and environmental reclamation which are written in Article 6 of the TPNW. In addition to this, he also appealed that “We request strongly to the ruling party to participate in the conference this year.” The other five political parties also argued in favor of Japan’s observer participation. 

 

For all these five reasons, we call for the Japanese government to participate as an observer at the second conference of TPNW.

Please join our campaign and sign our petition! Each signature will be responsibly submitted to the Japanese government. Thank you so much for your cooperation.