Hiroshima Peace Declaration on 72nd A-bomb anniversary
The following is the
full text of the Peace Declaration read Sunday by Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui
at a ceremony to mark the 72nd anniversary of the atomic bombing of the city.
--
Friends, 72 years ago
today, on August 6, at 8:15 a.m., absolute evil was unleashed in the sky over
Hiroshima. Let's imagine for a moment what happened under that roiling mushroom
cloud. Pika -- the penetrating flash, extreme radiation and heat. Don -- the
earth-shattering roar and blast. As the blackness lifts, the scenes emerging
into view reveal countless scattered corpses charred beyond recognition even as
man or woman. Stepping between the corpses, badly burned, nearly naked figures
with blackened faces, singed hair, and tattered, dangling skin wander through
spreading flames, looking for water. The rivers in front of you are filled with
bodies; the riverbanks so crowded with burnt, half-naked victims you have no
place to step. This is truly hell. Under that mushroom cloud, the absolutely
evil atomic bomb brought gruesome death to vast numbers of innocent civilians
and left those it didn't kill with deep physical and emotional scars, including
the aftereffects of radiation and endless health fears. Giving rise to social
discrimination and prejudice, it devastated even the lives of those who managed
to survive.
This hell is not a
thing of the past. As long as nuclear weapons exist and policymakers threaten
their use, their horror could leap into our present at any moment. You could
find yourself suffering their cruelty.
This is why I ask
everyone to listen to the voices of the hibakusha. A man who was 15 at the time
says, "When I recall the friends and acquaintances I saw dying in those
scenes of hell, I can barely endure the pain." Then, appealing to us all,
he asks, "To know the blessing of being alive, to treat everyone with
compassion, love and respect -- are these not steps to world peace?"
Another hibakusha who
was 17 says, "I ask the leaders of the nuclear-armed states to prevent the
destruction of this planet by abandoning nuclear deterrence and abolishing
immediately all atomic and hydrogen bombs. Then they must work wholeheartedly
to preserve our irreplaceable Earth for future generations."
Friends, this appeal
to conscience and this demand that policymakers respond conscientiously are deeply
rooted in the hibakusha experience. Let's all make their appeal and demand our
own, spread them throughout the world, and pass them on to the next generation.
Policymakers, I ask
you especially to respect your differences and make good-faith efforts to
overcome them. To this end, it is vital that you deepen your awareness of the
inhumanity of nuclear weapons, consider the perspectives of other countries,
and recognize your duty to build a world where we all thrive together.
Civil society fully
understands that nuclear weapons are useless for national security. The dangers
involved in controlling nuclear materials are widely understood. Today, a
single bomb can wield thousands of times the destructive power of the bombs
dropped 72 years ago. Any use of such weapons would plunge the entire world
into hell, the user as well as the enemy. Humankind must never commit such an
act. Thus, we can accurately say that possessing nuclear weapons means nothing
more than spending enormous sums of money to endanger all humanity.
Peace Memorial Park is
now drawing over 1.7 million visitors a year from around the world, but I want
even more visitors to see the realities of the bombing and listen to survivor
testimony. I want them to understand what happened under the mushroom cloud,
take to heart the survivors' desire to eliminate nuclear weapons and broaden
the circle of empathy to the entire world. In particular, I want more youthful
visitors expanding the circle of friendship as ambassadors for nuclear
abolition. I assure you that Hiroshima will continue to bring people together
for these purposes and inspire them to take action.
Mayors for Peace, led
by Hiroshima, now comprises over 7,400 city members around the world. We work
within civil society to create an environment that helps policymakers move
beyond national borders to act in good faith and conscience for the abolition
of nuclear weapons.
In July, when 122
United Nations members, not including the nuclear-weapon and nuclear-umbrella
states, adopted the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, they
demonstrated their unequivocal determination to achieve abolition. Given this
development, the governments of all countries must now strive to advance
further toward a nuclear-weapon-free world.
The Japanese Constitution
states, "We, the Japanese people, pledge our national honor to accomplish
these high ideals and purposes with all our resources." Therefore, I call
especially on the Japanese government to manifest the pacifism in our
constitution by doing everything in its power to bridge the gap between the
nuclear-weapon and non-nuclear-weapon states, thereby facilitating the
ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. I further
demand more compassionate government assistance to the hibakusha, whose average
age is now over 81, and to the many others also suffering mentally and
physically from the effects of radiation, along with expansion of the
"black rain areas."
We offer heartfelt
prayers for the repose of the atomic bomb victims and pledge to work with the
people of the world to do all in our power to bring lasting peace and free
ourselves from the absolute evil that is nuclear weapons.
