Japan Brief/FPCJ, No. 0945
August 7, 2009


Hiroshima Marks 64th Anniversary of A-Bombing,
Issues Peace Declaration

On August 6, 1945, an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, and the city with a population of 350,000 people was completely destroyed in an instant. Three days later, on August 9, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, bringing tragedy to that city as well. Sixty-four years later, the Peace Memorial Ceremony was held again this year on August 6 in Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park. According to reports, the ceremony was attended by about 50,000 people, more than the approximately 45,000 people who attended last year. In addition to such dignitaries as United Nations General Assembly President Miguel d’Escoto and former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, this year’s attendees included ambassadors and consuls general to Japan from a record-high 59 countries, including Russia, a nuclear-weapons state.

US President Obama’s Prague Speech and the Hiroshima Mayor’s Peace Declaration

In his address at the ceremony, Prime Minister Taro Aso said, “Japan is the only country to know the devastation actually wrought by atomic bombs. We must expand every possible effort to achieve international peace so that the tragedy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki shall never be repeated.” He continued, “Today I again renew the pledge that Japan shall firmly maintain the Three Non-Nuclear Principles [not possessing, not producing, and not permitting the introduction of nuclear weapons into Japan] and lead the international community towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons and the realization of eternal peace.”

The Hiroshima mayor’s peace declaration at the Peace Memorial Ceremony draws great interest every year, but it attracted even more attention than usual this year following the immense change that has occurred in the international environment calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons in the wake of US President Barack Obama’s speech in Prague on April 5 in which he urged the realization of a world without nuclear weapons. The peace declaration delivered by Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba clearly showed sympathy and support for President Obama’s speech. Mayor Akiba also referred to the fact that Mayors for Peace, which he himself chairs, now has more than 3,000 member cities worldwide and emphasized that a great majority of people and countries are now calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Referring to this great majority as the “Obamajority,” Mayor Akiba called for the elimination of all nuclear weapons by 2020. He concluded the declaration in English, saying, “We have the power. We have the responsibility. And we are the Obamajority. Together, we can abolish nuclear weapons. Yes, we can.”

Major Newspaper Editorials

On the occasion of the anniversary of the Hiroshima atomic bombing, all five of Japan’s major newspapers carried editorials on the nuclear problem in their August 6 editions. The editorials all gave positive evaluations of President Obama’s Prague speech but differed in their comments on such issues as how to respond to moves toward nuclear proliferation and the relationship between Japan’s national security and nuclear deterrence.

Giving warm praise to President Obama’s speech, the Yomiuri Shimbun editorial commented, “In the speech, Obama stated that ‘the United States has a moral responsibility’ to spearhead an effort to realize a world without nuclear weapons ‘as the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon’” and “. . . there is no doubt that the speech by the president of the United States, where there is a deep-seated tendency to justify the dropping of the atomic bombs, has brought excitement and hope to people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” It also warned about the gap between ideal and reality, however, noting, “Japan also faces serious nuclear threats. Earlier, North Korea went ahead with missile launches and a second nuclear test despite international condemnation. Japan has no choice but to depend on the US nuclear umbrella to defend itself from any North Korean nuclear missile and other military threats. It is only reasonable that the Japanese government has sought to reconfirm the workability of the nuclear umbrella with the United States since Obama’s speech, which Japan fears would weaken the US nuclear deterrence.”

The Asahi Shimbun editorial remarked, “Creating a security framework that doesn’t rely on nuclear arms will require formulating and implementing a broad array of policies. We have a raft of proposals for countries that have nuclear arsenals. In particular, we want them to work on spreading the ‘nonnuclear umbrella.’” The Asahi made three proposals in this respect: (1) the United Nations Security Council should adopt a resolution banning nuclear attacks against any nonnuclear countries that are part of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT); (2) effective use should be made of the treaties on nuclear-weapon-free zones that exist in Latin America, the South Pacific, Africa, Southeast Asia, and Central Asia; and (3) nuclear-armed nations should declare that they will not stage preemptive nuclear strikes and thereby confine the role of their arsenals to deterrence to nuclear attacks from other countries.

The Mainichi Shimbun editorial observed, “Achieving the abolition of nuclear weapons faces an extremely high hurdle. As President Obama himself admitted, ‘This goal will not be reached quickly—perhaps not in my lifetime.’” It went on, “The response to India and Pakistan, nuclear-weapons states that do not belong to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and to Israel, which is thought to possess many nuclear warheads, will be difficult, too. Indeed, concern about the proliferation of nuclear weapons is increasing. For example, North Korea announced its withdrawal from the NPT and has conducted nuclear tests, and Iran is ignoring the demands of the United Nations Security Council and others and is continuing uranium enrichment. The threat of terrorists getting their hands on nuclear weapons is becoming increasingly realistic as well.”

The Nikkei editorial reported, “A Japanese person, Yukiya Amano, has been elected as the next director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA], which is called the ‘nuclear watchdog’ and aims to prevent the proliferation of nuclear substances. He will take office in December. Using the messages of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan should take the lead in strengthening the nuclear disarmament and nuclear nonproliferation regimes.” It concluded, “Some people are saying that Japan also should go nuclear in response, for example, to the moves of North Korea, but this is an extremely dangerous argument. Rather, the important mission of Japan is to invite President Obama to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki and to renew its pledge to abolish nuclear weapons.”

The Sankei Shimbun editorial commented, “We must not forget the reality that, unlike Europe, Asia, and Northeast Asia in particular, faces a serious threat from a nuclear-armed North Korea. The existence of China, which is hurrying to modernize its nuclear arsenal and expand its military power, cannot be ignored, either. For Japan and South Korea, deterrence under the US nuclear umbrella remains essential. Recently the discussion about Japan’s Three Non-Nuclear Principles has been rekindled. Can Japan’s safety be protected if the US military is prohibited from bringing in nuclear weapons? A debate on revision of the Three Non-Nuclear Principles is necessary.”

(Copyright 2009 Foreign Press Center, Japan)

*Japan Brief is an original production of the Foreign Press Center, Japan, and does not represent the views of the Government of Japan or of any other body.


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