Anti-nuclear march organised by Gensuikyo for their 2010 conference
Representatives of the Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Gensuikyo) meet with the Foreign Ministry of the Japanese government on October 9, to call on Japan to initiate nuclear disarmament negotiations in 2015, the 70th anniversary of A-bombing.
Gensuikyo, which was founded in 1955, presents a powerful voice of Japanese public. The have collected over 30 million signatures from Japanese citizens demanding the abolition of nuclear weapons (See Gensuikyo signature campaign). Gensuikyo has also been instrumental in supporting Hibakusha (A-Bomb sufferers). They have helped hibakusha get their message to the world about the uniquely destructive and inhumane impact of nuclear weapons, and the imperative that there should never again be the use of nuclear weapons as there was against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Gensuikyo meets with the Japan Foreign Ministry
In their meeting with the Japanese Foreign Office, Gensuikyo presented a letter to Prime Minister Mr. ABE Shinzo and Foreign Mnister Mr. KISHIDA Fumio, calling on Japan to use the occasion of the 2015 Conference of States Parties to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (in April-May) to build agreement for the start of negotiations for the complete prohibition of nuclear weapons.
‘Having agreed on the Final Document of the 2010 NPT Review Conference, Japan, as a state party to the NPT, has the responsibility for implementing it. Agreeing to achieve a “world without nuclear weapons,” the Final Document confirmed the need to make special efforts to create the framework for it, and noted the five-point proposal of the U.N. Secretary-General, including the start of negotiations for a nuclear weapons convention.”
The letter also cited UN Resolutions calling for a nuclear weapons convention, and highlighted the responsibility of Japan to support these. “Given the fact that not only all the ASEAN countries but also China, DPRK, India and Pakistan have supported the NAM and Malaysian resolutions calling for the start of negotiations on a nuclear weapons convention, we call on the Japanese government to take the initiative in opening new dialogue and cooperation in Asia for achieving a total ban and the elimination of nuclear weapons.”
The letter also calls on Japan to ‘break away from the security policy depending on extended deterrence’, the so-called “nuclear umbrella” provided by U.S. nuclear weapons and policy.
Gensuikyo flyer for their appeal for a total ban on nuclear weapons
Gensuikyo plans to bring a large contingent of Japanese activists to New York for the Spring/Autumn 2015 Mobilisation being organised to urge the NPT Review Conference to take concrete steps towards the global abolition of nuclear weapons.