TOKYO: The Nihon Hidankyo organization of atomic bomb survivors accused Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government of undermining Japan’s pa...
TOKYO: The Nihon Hidankyo organization of atomic bomb survivors accused Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government of undermining Japan’s pacifist constitution and its policy of rejecting nuclear weapons, according to a statement adopted to mark the group’s 70th anniversary.
"The government is seeking to change the country’s non-nuclear principles and constitution without sufficient debate," the statement said.
It emphasized that Japan, as the only country to have suffered atomic bombings, has a special responsibility to rid the world of nuclear weapons. Nihon Hidankyo called on Tokyo to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons as a first step toward that goal.
The UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was adopted on July 7, 2017, following negotiations that did not involve nuclear powers, including Russia, the United Kingdom, China, the United States and France. Japan, relying on US nuclear guarantees, also did not join the talks and has no plans to sign the treaty.
Tokyo says adopting the treaty without nuclear-armed states involved would prevent its implementation, a position repeatedly stated by the Foreign Ministry.
Japanese officials also support open discussion of the country’s three non-nuclear principles: not possessing, producing or introducing nuclear weapons.
Nihon Hidankyo was founded in 1956 to defend the rights of survivors of the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and to expand the movement against nuclear weapons. In 2024, the organization received the Nobel Peace Prize.
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