How to let the world know about the horror?

 August 6, 2014

Editorial: Spread our memories of the horrors of nuclear weapons

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/perspectives/news/20140806p2a00m0na013000c.html

This year marks the 69th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on Aug. 6 and Nagasaki on Aug. 9. The average age of bomb survivors is now nearing 80, and less than 200,000 of them remain. Every year there are fewer and fewer people who directly experienced the bombings, which makes passing down its memory even more important.

A tragic incident took place in Nagasaki in May. An A-bomb survivor was showing around a group of junior high school students on a school trip near the bomb's hypocenter, when some of them called the guide "a useless old man who escaped death." It symbolizes how difficult it has become to communicate the meaning and significance of the atomic bombings to younger generations.

In the United States, meanwhile, the last surviving crew member of the Enola Gay, which dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, died in July. There are no more people who have direct knowledge of the circumstances of that bombing.

Both sides must now step up efforts to pass down our stories to younger generations and prevent the atomic bombings from being forgotten.

The Nagasaki Peace Declaration that is to be delivered this year on Aug. 9 will address the public's fears that the debate over collective self-defense and other national security issues is forcing the country to veer from its foundations as a nation that has experienced nuclear bombings and will never wage war again, overhauling the whole concept of Japan as a peaceful country.

Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui, meanwhile, earlier said that the right to collective self-defense would not be directly mentioned in Hiroshima's Peace Declaration, claiming that an appeal for pacifism sufficiently addresses the issue. However, the declaration will call for Japan to take to heart its 69-year run of not going to war, and to continue on its path as a peaceful nation.

While there may be a slight difference in tone between the two declarations, they have in common the concern that a shift in national security policy will increase the potential for bringing about the tragedies of war once again. We urge the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to respect the concerns of these cities.

Five years have passed since U.S. President Barack Obama called for a world without nuclear weapons. And yet some countries possess nuclear weapons while others do not. Some are dependent on a "nuclear umbrella" while others are not. A complex web of various interests and intentions has prevented the vision from moving closer to reality.

Japan, which relies on the U.S. nuclear deterrent, has been unable to take the lead toward this goal. A joint statement signed by Japan and other participants in the Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Ministerial Meeting held in Hiroshima this April described nuclear weapons as inhumane for the first time. But the conference fell short of laying down a specific roadmap toward a Nuclear Weapons Convention that would ban the development, production, and use of nuclear weapons -- which is what many bomb survivors seek.

What is necessary to avoid war and eliminate nuclear weapons? Shigenori Takemoto, 82, who lost his sister to the A-bomb in Hiroshima and has shared his experiences as a survivor, says, "In the end, it will become a question of people's wisdom." He believes that because humankind has experienced the tragedy of war and atomic bombs, it possesses the capacity to prevent violence through painstaking discussion.

As the only country to have suffered nuclear attacks, let us offer some wisdom that will bring us closer to a world without nuclear weapons. Because bomb survivors' stories are becoming increasingly difficult to pass down, it is important now, more than ever, to let the world know the horrors of nuclear weapons.