New organization established to urge the Japanese government to ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

A new organization, comprised of atomic bombing survivors and other young individuals, was established in Japan earlier this April to advocate for a world without nuclear weapons. Under the name “Japan Campaign to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons”, it aims to achieve the country’s ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons by 2030 at the latest. 

Registered as a general incorporated association​, the organization held an event commemorating its launch on April 20 in Minato Ward, Tokyo. 

Terumi Tanaka - one of the managing directors of Nihon Hidankyou (the Japan Confederation of A- and H- Bomb Sufferers Organization), also serves as the organization’s director. In a video message, he expressed how there is an urgent need for the Japanese government to ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, as well as for citizens to exert all of their efforts to move the government. 

Tetsu Kawasaki, executive director of the organization and also a senior member of the ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons) that won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize, further elaborated on the organization’s operating strategy. 

More specifically, to achieve its goal of getting the Japanese government to ratify the nuke ban pact by 2030 at the latest, the organization will carry out activities such as actively engaging with government officials and members of the Diet, organizing public events, and visiting businesses to raise awareness and boost momentum for the nuclear ban, as well as holding international conferences on the inhumanity of nuclear weapons.

Masako Wada, who serves as the deputy head of the group, also how believes that cooperation between organizations can play a vital role in the achievement of the nuclear ban.

Source: NHK