No.1316 Campaigns Against Nuclear Weapons And Energy Kick Off
Commemorating the 78th anniversary of the attack by atomic bombs at the end of WWII, together with the nuclear power plant disaster in Fukushima in 2011, a series of mass rallies will be held in Fukushima (July 30), Hiroshima (August 4-6) and Nagasaki (August 7-9). Let’s share in common the conviction to build up ‘the 21st century without nuclear weapons and atomic energy generation and without a war’. Let’s make a steady progress for the objective.
TOWARD ABOLITION OF NUCLEAR ARMS AND ATOMIC ENERGY GENERATION
The Appeal for Peace at Hiroshima by Pope John Paul II, who visited the city of Hiroshima in 1981, impressed and moved people emotionally. It reads that ‘war is the work of man. War is destruction of human life. War is death. To remember the past is to commit oneself to the future. To remember Hiroshima is to abhor nuclear war. To think over Hiroshima is to assume responsibility for peace’.
On August 6, 78 years ago, the humankind has witnessed the most horrible catastrophe in history. It was the first experience to see the destructive power of nuclear weapons.
Thus, the entire world has certainly learned that ‘nuclear weapons and the humanity cannot coexist’. But today the lesson is gone, imperceptible in our life.
Abolition of nuclear weapons is shelved
Summit meetings of the G7 were held in Hiroshima this year. But the leaders did not refer to the issue of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons; they justified the nuclear deterrence theory, which approves ‘nuclear arms for defense’, and deferred the abolition of this kind of arms as an ‘ultimate goal’.
Furthermore, the seven leaders, denouncing the nuclear threat waged by Russia, invited President Zelensky of Ukraine, a warring party of the Russia-Ukraine war, to Hiroshima, a city dedicated to peace, and agreed to provide the country with more weapons.
Prime Minister Kishida Fumio chaired the meetings. He not only infringed the aspiration of the Hibakushas, but also renounced the role of the country which was attacked, solely, by the nuclear arms, rejecting to ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and declining to take initiative in the campaigns to eliminate nuclear arms. He debauched the city of Hiroshima.
Where is gone a lesson from the NPP disaster?
The accident at the Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant resulted in a large number of victims and refugees. The region has not yet been recovered. The world was, again, obliged to acknowledge the severe consequences and dangers of nuclear power plant accidents. People in Japan have as a whole understood that the nation’s energy policy, which is relied on nuclear power generation, must be changed.
But the Kishida government forced to enact a law, the GX (=green transformation) De-carbonized Electricity Generation, which incorporates the five laws, including the revised Electric Power Industry Act, which authorizes operation at the nuclear power plants older than 60 years of service.
In addition, the government, against the people’s objections, attempts to release radio-active, contaminated water into the ocean and ‘reuse’ polluted soils.
We must build up struggles further to eliminate nuclear arms and atomic energy generation with firm determination.
「戦争は人間の仕業です。戦争は人間の生命を奪います。戦争は死そのものです。過去を振り返ることは、将来に対する責任をになうことです。ヒロシマを考えることは、核戦争を拒否することです。ヒロシマを考えることは、平和に対しての責任を取ることです」
ローマ法王ヨハネ・パウロ二世が１９８１年に広島を訪れて語った「平和アピール」は、人々に大きな感銘を与えた。 78年前の８ 月６日、人類は史上、最も恐ろしい惨事を目撃し、核兵器の破壊力がどれほどのものか初めて目の当たりにした。
そして、「核と人類は共存できない」ことを全世界は教訓としてきたはずである。しかし、その教訓はいまだに生かされていない。
核廃絶を先延ばし
被爆地・広島で開かれた「先進７カ国首脳会議」（Ｇ７サミット）は核兵器禁止条約に触れることなく、「防衛目的の核」は是とする核抑止論を正当化し、核廃絶は「究極の目標」と先延ばしにした。
それどころかロシアの核威嚇を非難する一方で、ロシア・ウクライナ戦争の一方の当事者であるウクライナのゼレンスキー大統領を平和都市・広島に招き、更なる武器供与を決めた。
議長を務めた岸田文雄首相は、被爆者の心を踏みにじっただけでなく、唯一の戦争被爆国である日本が果たすべき役割、核兵器禁止条約を批准し、核兵器廃絶の先頭に立つことを放棄し、平和都市・広島を貶めた。
原発事故の教訓は
福島第一原発事故は多くの犠牲者や避難者を生み、復興は未だに遠く、世界は原発事故の過酷な現実と危険性をあらためて認識せざるを得なかった。そして、原子力に依存したエネルギー政策の転換を日本国民は共有してきたはずだった。
しかし岸田政権は、原発の60年超え運転を可能にする電気事業法改定など５本を束ねた「Ｇ Ｘ（グリーン・トランスフォメーション）脱炭素電源法」の成立を強行した。
さらに放射能汚染水の海洋放出や放射能汚染土壌の「再利用」など国民の反対を押し切って強行しようとしている。私たちは、核兵器と核発電の廃絶を今一度しっかりと心に刻み、闘いを再構築しなくてはならない。
英訳版↓
No.1316 Campaigns Against Nuclear Weapons And Energy Kick Off
Commemorating the 78th anniversary of the attack by atomic bombs at the end of WWII, together with the nuclear power plant disaster in Fukushima in 2011, a series of mass rallies will be held in Fukushima (July 30), Hiroshima (August 4-6) and Nagasaki (August 7-9). Let’s share in common the conviction to build up ‘the 21st century without nuclear weapons and atomic energy generation and without a war’. Let’s make a steady progress for the objective.
TOWARD ABOLITION OF NUCLEAR ARMS AND ATOMIC ENERGY GENERATION
The Appeal for Peace at Hiroshima by Pope John Paul II, who visited the city of Hiroshima in 1981, impressed and moved people emotionally. It reads that ‘war is the work of man. War is destruction of human life. War is death. To remember the past is to commit oneself to the future. To remember Hiroshima is to abhor nuclear war. To think over Hiroshima is to assume responsibility for peace’.
On August 6, 78 years ago, the humankind has witnessed the most horrible catastrophe in history. It was the first experience to see the destructive power of nuclear weapons.
Thus, the entire world has certainly learned that ‘nuclear weapons and the humanity cannot coexist’. But today the lesson is gone, imperceptible in our life.
Abolition of nuclear weapons is shelved
Summit meetings of the G7 were held in Hiroshima this year. But the leaders did not refer to the issue of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons; they justified the nuclear deterrence theory, which approves ‘nuclear arms for defense’, and deferred the abolition of this kind of arms as an ‘ultimate goal’.
Furthermore, the seven leaders, denouncing the nuclear threat waged by Russia, invited President Zelensky of Ukraine, a warring party of the Russia-Ukraine war, to Hiroshima, a city dedicated to peace, and agreed to provide the country with more weapons.
Prime Minister Kishida Fumio chaired the meetings. He not only infringed the aspiration of the Hibakushas, but also renounced the role of the country which was attacked, solely, by the nuclear arms, rejecting to ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and declining to take initiative in the campaigns to eliminate nuclear arms. He debauched the city of Hiroshima.
Where is gone a lesson from the NPP disaster?
The accident at the Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant resulted in a large number of victims and refugees. The region has not yet been recovered. The world was, again, obliged to acknowledge the severe consequences and dangers of nuclear power plant accidents. People in Japan have as a whole understood that the nation’s energy policy, which is relied on nuclear power generation, must be changed.
But the Kishida government forced to enact a law, the GX (=green transformation) De-carbonized Electricity Generation, which incorporates the five laws, including the revised Electric Power Industry Act, which authorizes operation at the nuclear power plants older than 60 years of service.
In addition, the government, against the people’s objections, attempts to release radio-active, contaminated water into the ocean and ‘reuse’ polluted soils.
We must build up struggles further to eliminate nuclear arms and atomic energy generation with firm determination.
July 26, 2023