Japanese Hibakusha Group Reiterates Call for Nuclear-Free World

Tokyo, Oct. 12 (Jiji Press)--The Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, or Nihon Hidankyo, reiterated its call for achieving a world without nuclear weapons on Saturday, a day after the group of hibakusha atomic bomb survivors was named this year’s winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Terumi Tanaka, 92-year-old co-chair of Nihon Hidankyo, told a press conference in Tokyo that Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, in a congratulatory phone call earlier on Saturday, acknowledged the need for nuclear deterrence as a practical response to security challenges.

Ishiba’s rhetoric is “out of the question,” Tanaka said. “We must not allow nuclear weapons to exist,” he said.

Tanaka said that he has received an offer of a face-to-face meeting with Ishiba and said, “I want to hold thorough discussions and persuade him.”

“Abolishing nuclear weapons is a challenge for mankind. The point is what roles Nihon Hidankyo can play,” Tanaka said. “It’s a matter for the entire public, and you are all potential victims if you think about the future,” he said.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]