Dispatches from Nagasaki No.25
Nagasaki Peace Declaration 2018
Again this year, on August 9 Mayor Tomihisa Taue read out the Nagasaki Peace Declaration.
(https://nagasakipeace.jp/english/appeal/archives.html : 11 languages)
(https://nagasakipeace.jp/content/files/appeal/2018/english.pdf : English version)
For this first time, the Nagasaki Peace Memorial Ceremony was attended by the incumbent UN Secretary-General, Mr. António Guterres. After first recalling the catastrophes wrought by the atomic bombings, Mayor Taue expressed the United Nations’ expectations regarding the abolition of nuclear weapons, emphasizing the significance of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which was adopted by the United Nations last year. He then strongly requested that the Japanese Government support the Treaty, towards which it has maintained an oppositional stance. In addition, welcoming recent developments in the North Korea situation, Mayor Taue expressed expectations for the realization of a Northeast Asia Nuclear Weapons Free Zone (NEA-NWFZ).
Next, Mayor Taue expressed in the words of Mr. Sumiteru Taniguchi and Dr. Hideo Tsuchiyama— longtime leaders of Nagasaki’s anti-nuclear movement who passed away last year—the importance of the young generation who have never experienced war never forgetting the pacifism of the Constitution of Japan, which opposes the tragedy and misery of war. He also emphasized the importance of individual Nagasaki citizens contributing towards peace efforts. Finally, in closing the declaration, Mayor Taue touched on the practical issue of providing relief for those who “experienced atomic bombings” but are unable to receive assistance because they are not recognized as hibakusha—despite their being thought to have been harmed due to the atomic bombings—as well as the people who are still suffering as the result of the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
With regard to the Treaty, in addition to the Nagasaki Peace Declaration strongly requesting the Japanese Government to sign and ratify the treaty, UN Secretary-General Guterres also strongly insisted that Japan should completely support the Treaty, expressing his concern about the current stagnation in nuclear disarmament efforts and calling on the nuclear weapons states in particular to promote nuclear disarmament. At the same time, UN Secretary-General Guterres praised the hibakusha, saying, “The survivors of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the hibakusha, have become leaders for peace,” and presenting a stance of pouring all effort into the abolition of nuclear weapons, declaring, “Let us all commit to making Nagasaki the last place on earth to suffer nuclear devastation.” In response, President Toyokazu Ihara of the Society of Hibakusha Certificate Holders of Nagasaki Prefecture said that the Secretary-General’s words had given him “strong expectations,” and President Tamashii Honda of the Nagasaki Surviving Families Association also commenting that he thought the Secretary-General” was a “very progressive thinker,” both welcoming Mr. Guterres’s words. (10 August 2018 edition of The Asahi Shimbun) Dr. Tatsujiro Suzuki, Director of RECNA also commented that Mr. Guterres’s message of ‘making Nagasaki the last place on earth to suffer nuclear devastation’—which clearly steps into the territory of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons— has been spread widely throughout the world. This is extremely meaningful.” (10 August 2018 edition of The Asahi Shimbun)
In contrast, however, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who also attended the ceremony, said not even a word regarding the Treaty during his address (http://japan.kantei.go.jp/98_abe/statement/201808/_00003.html), and to the representatives of the atomic bombing survivor groups with whom he met, he again displayed a stance of rejecting Japan’s participation in the Treaty, stating that the Japanese Government intended to take a different approach towards achieving the abolition of nuclear weapons. (10 August 2018 web edition of The Nagasaki Shimbun) In response, President Shigemitsu Tanaka of the Nagasaki Atomic-bomb Survivors Council said that, “If Japan does not take the lead in abolishing nuclear weapons, it should not be called the ‘only country to have experienced atomic bombings. The hibakusha are being ignored” (10 August 2018 web edition of The Nagasaki Shimbun). Chairman Koichi Kawano of the Liaison Council of Hibakusha, Nagasaki Peace Movement Center, said, “[The Japanese Government’s] statements are inconsistent. They have absolutely no real intention of abolishing nuclear weapons.” (10 August 2018 web edition of The Nagasaki Shimbun). Furthermore, President Ihara said, “The government’s approach is mistaken. As matters currently stand, Japan cannot possibly seize the initiative in the abolition of nuclear weapons.” (10 August 2018 web edition of The Nagasaki Shimbun) Strong voices of criticism were raised one after the other, centered on hibakusha. Even Mayor Taue said, “It was disappointing that I could not hear a positive statement” (10 August 2018 web edition of The Nagasaki Shimbun). Thus August 9, this year was a day on which the gap between the wishes of Nagasaki—one of the cities that experienced atomic bombings—and the Japanese Government’s security policies was clearly visible.
2018年度長崎平和宣言
今年も8月9日に田上富久市長により、長崎平和宣言が読み上げられた。（https://nagasakipeace.jp/japanese/peace/appeal/pdf.html : 11カ国語）
（https://nagasakipeace.jp/content/files/appeal/2018/english.pdf : 英語版）今年は初めて現役の国連事務総長、アントニオ・グテーレス氏が長崎の原爆犠牲者慰霊平和祈念式典に出席したこともあり、まず原爆投下によって引き起こされた惨禍を思い起こした後、核兵器廃絶へ向けての国連に対する期待と、昨年国連で採択された核兵器禁止条約の意義を強調する内容となった。そして核兵器禁止条約に対して反対する姿勢を変えようとしない日本政府に対して、核兵器禁止条約に賛同するように強く求めている。さらに最近の北朝鮮情勢の展開を歓迎し、北東アジア非核兵器地帯の実現に期待を表明した。
続いて長く長崎において核兵器反対運動のリーダーを務め、昨年他界した土山秀夫氏と谷口稜曄氏の言葉を引用し、戦争経験のない世代が、戦争の悲惨さに立脚する日本国憲法の平和主義を絶対に忘れてはならない旨を表明している。そして市民一人一人が平和のために努力することの重要性を指摘し、最後に福島第一原発事故でいまだに苦しんでいる人々と、原爆により被害を受けていると思われるにもかかわらず被爆者と認定されず、援護を受けられない「被爆体験者」の救済という現実の問題に触れ、宣言を締めくくっている。
核兵器禁止条約に関しては、平和宣言で日本政府に対し強くその署名、批准を求めているだけでなく、グテーレス事務総長も力強く核兵器禁止条約を全面的に支持する旨を述べ、核軍縮が停滞している現状に懸念を表明したうえで、特に核兵器保有国に対し、核軍縮の推進を訴えた。同時にグテーレス事務総長は被爆者のこれまでの活動を「平和と軍縮の指導者となった」と称え、「長崎を核兵器による惨害で苦しんだ地球最後の場所にするように決意しましょう」と、核兵器廃絶へ向けて、全力で取り組む姿勢を見せた 。これに対し、長崎県被爆者手帳友の会の井原東洋一会長は「期待を強く持った」と感想を述べ、また長崎原爆遺族会の本田魂会長も「進んだ考え方を持っていると思った」とその発言を歓迎した（朝日新聞8月10日）。RECNAの鈴木達治郎センター長も、「核禁条約にはっきりと踏み込んでいる」「『長崎を最後の被爆地に』というメッセージが世界に大きく発信された。とても意義のあることだ」とコメントした（朝日新聞8月10日）。
しかし、その反面、式典に参列した安倍晋三首相は挨拶（http://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/98_abe/statement/2018/0809nagasaki.html）の中で核兵器禁止条約について一言も言及せず 、面会した被爆者団体の代表らに対し、日本政府は核兵器禁止条約とは異なるアプローチで核兵器廃絶を目指すとして、核兵器禁止条約への参加を拒否する姿勢をあらためて確認した（長崎新聞Web版 8月10日）。これに対し、長崎原爆被災者協議会の田中重光会長が「核廃絶の先頭に立たないなら、唯一の被爆国と言うべきでない。被爆者を無視している」（長崎新聞Web版 8月10日）、長崎県平和運動センター被爆連の川野浩一議長が「言動が矛盾している。本気で核兵器を廃絶する気はさらさらない」（長崎新聞Web版 8月10日）、また長崎県被爆者手帳友の会の井原東洋一会長が「アプローチの仕方が間違っている。今のままでは（核兵器廃絶の）主導権は握れるわけがない」（長崎新聞Web版 8月10日）と述べるなど、被爆者を中心に強い批判の声が相次いだ。田上富久市長も「前向きな言葉聞けずに残念だ」とコメントする（長崎新聞Web版 8月10日）など、被爆地ナガサキと日本政府の安全保障政策とのギャップがより鮮明になった今年の8月9日であった。
