Before the NPT = Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference to be held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York next month, A-bomb survivor groups and others will meet with a person in charge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the final document to be compiled at the conference will include the significance of the Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty. I requested that you specify.
The representative of the "Nuclear Weapons Abolition Japan NGO Liaison Committee" made up of A-bomb survivor groups and NGOs visited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 20th and exchanged opinions with the person in charge for about an hour.
Among them, the NGO side requested that the Japanese government make further efforts toward nuclear disarmament at the NPT review meeting next month, and that nuclear weapons are not included in the final document showing the direction of nuclear disarmament. We requested five items, such as being humane and recognizing and clearly stating the significance of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
In response, a foreign ministry official said he would emphasize the importance of spreading accurate awareness of the inhumanity of nuclear weapons as the only war-bombed country, but said he would not participate in the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Reflecting the traditional position of the government, he only acknowledged that efforts to involve nuclear-weapon states are necessary in light of the current situation in which nuclear-weapon states, which require cooperation, are not participating.
After the visit, Mr. Terumi Tanaka, the representative of the Japan Confederation of Atomic Bomb Victims, said, "I was expecting a little on behalf of Prime Minister Kishida from Hiroshima, but the answer was still understanding the voices of the survivors. I felt that it wasn't done. I wanted you to show a breakthrough, but it seemed like a thing. "