JfP Statement on nuclear disarmament    

October 18, 2006

We were deeply saddened by the nuclear test conducted North Korea on 9th October. As a peace group of Japanese nationals, we have learnt from the experience of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where more than 200,000 people were killed. Despite that unprecedented happening, the nuclear arms race has accelerated since then, and has now produced nine nuclear weapon states.  

North Korea is a fragile country, with a starving population under the dictatorship of Kim Jong-il. We do not want to see ordinary people suffering in North Korea. We have to emphasise that these people are also victims of the dictatorship, and they do not deserve unnecessary threats from the rest of the world. We urge our world leaders to take the initiative in solving this emergency by peaceful means.

We are afraid that the test may trigger a further crisis in East Asia, leading to nuclear proliferation throughout the Asia-Pacific region. This would be a worst case scenario, which we have to avoid at all cost. We know that peace loving people around the world have been working hard to try to eliminate nuclear weapons. Yet there are more than 20,000 nuclear warheads possessed by nine nations. Most of them are in the hands of the U.S. and Russia. These nations are responsible for the proliferation of nuclear weapons despite the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Japan maintains the ‘Three Non-Nuclear Principles': no possession, no production, and no permission for the introduction of nuclear weapons into Japan. This stance needs to be further strengthened. We strongly oppose nuclear armament by Japan. With the Peace Constitution proclaiming the renunciation of war, Japan should act as a model for the world, not to imitate nuclear weapon nations but to oppose the possession of nuclear weapons by any nation. It also has an important role to play in reopening negotiations with the aim of normalising diplomatic relations with North Korea.

We will continuously promote our vision of peace building together with all the peoples of the world, from our special standpoint of maintaining the legacy of Hibakusha . (victims of nuclear bombings and nuclear testing and nuclear accidents).