|
1st Mayors for Peace Japanese Member Cities Meeting
|
|
On January 13 and 14 of this year, Mayors for Peace, Hiroshima City and Nagasaki City held a 2-day
meeting of Mayors for Peace Japanese Member Cities, the first ever such meeting, with the
aim of enhancing initiatives of Mayors for Peace in Japan. The meeting was held in Hiroshima.
|
|
1st Mayors for Peace Japanese Member Cities Meeting
|
First Japanese Member Cities Meeting
Since its establishment in 1982, Mayors for Peace has focused solely on calling overseas cities to
become members, with a view to increasing international support for the abolition of nuclear
weapons. However, the organization became aware of the need for local governments in Japan,
the only country to have suffered an atomic bombing, to take the lead in initiatives for the
elimination of nuclear weapons and the gathering of international public support. Therefore from
February 2008, Mayors for Peace has been calling on Japanese cities too to become members.
As a result, as of April 1, 2012, 1,139 cities (65.4% of all municipalities in Japan) have become
members of Mayors for Peace. This is over 20% of the total membership (5,221 cities in 153
countries), and it is foreseeable that the role expected of the Japanese member cities will further
increase in the future.
It was against this backdrop that the 1st Mayors for Peace Japanese Member Cities Meeting was
held in Hiroshima. The meeting was attended by 131 people (of which 41 were heads of
government) from 88 municipalities across Japan.
|
January 13 (Fri)
Opening, A-Bomb Testimony
After the opening speech by Hiroshima Mayor
Kazumi Matsui, the Chairman of Mayors for
Peace, an a-bomb testimony was given by Ms.
Yoshiko Kajimoto. Moved by the testimony, all
participants renewed their intention to eliminate
nuclear weapons.
Visit and Flowers Placed at the Cenotaph for A-Bomb Victims ／ Tour of
the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum
Participants then visited the Cenotaph for A-Bomb
Victims. After listening to the explanation
of the inscription by peace volunteers, they
placed flowers at the Cenotaph. This was
followed by a tour of the Hiroshima Peace
Memorial Museum.
Report on Results of the 8th Mayors for Peace Executive Conference ／ Viewing of the film "Hiroshima"
Mayor Matsui reported on the results of the 8th
Mayors for Peace Executive Conference held in
Granollers City, Spain, last November. The
participants also viewed a part of the film
"Hiroshima", which portrays the awful situation
after the atomic bombing.
|
A-bomb testimony by Ms. Yoshiko Kajimoto
|
|
Participants placed flowers at the Cenotaph
|
Session I (Report on Activity Case Studies in Membership Cities)
①Activity Case Study Report by Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture
Matsumoto Mayor Akira Sugenoya reported on Matsumoto City's governmental peace initiatives
and provided an overview of the 23rd United Nations Conference on Disarmament Issue in
Matsumoto held in July last year.
②Activity Case Study Report by Zushi City, Kanagawa Prefecture
Zushi Mayor Ryuichi Hirai reported on the 1st Zushi Peace Day held in August last year and the
city's initiative to dispatch peace messengers to Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
|
|
Report by Matsumoto Mayor Akira Sugenoya (left)
|
Report by Zushi Mayor Ryuichi Hirai
|
January 14 (Sat)
Session II (Future Activities in Japan)
On the second day, participants deliberated on the following items: all member cities to conduct a
grass-roots petition campaign calling for the start of negotiations for a nuclear weapons
convention; a request to be made to the Japanese national government to promote initiatives for
the prompt realization of a nuclear weapons convention; member cities to hold poster exhibits on
the reality of the damage inflicted by atomic bombs. All proposals were approved without revision.
There were also lively discussions on the appropriate cost sharing arrangement for operation of
Mayors for Peace, the establishment of a Mayors for Peace regional organization in Japan, and
other items.
|
|
Session II
|
The secretariat provided an explanation of the
dispatch of a Mayors for Peace delegation to
the 1st Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for
the 2015 Review Conference of the Parties to
the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons (NPT) (held in Vienna, Austria), and
the holding of the 8th Mayors for Peace General
Conference in Hiroshima in August 2013. There
was also a discussion on changing the name of
Mayors for Peace in Japan to Leaders for Peace,
and appropriate disaster countermeasures based
on the experience of the Great East Japan
Earthquake.
|
Session III (Adoption of Final Document), Closing
Participants adopted the 1st Mayors for Peace Japanese Member Cities Meeting Final Document,
which incorporated the items approved in Session II, and the meeting was closed with a speech
by the deputy chairman of Mayors for Peace, Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue.
|
Activities Petitioning the Japanese Government
Regarding the request to the Japanese national
government that was approved at the meeting,
on January 26 of this year, Hiroshima Mayor
Matsui and Mr. Norihiro Kamichika, director of
Nagasaki City Tokyo Office, met with Mr. Jo
Nakano, the parliamentary secretary to the
Minister of Foreign Affairs, and submitted a
written request to Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda
calling for leadership to start concrete
negotiations for the prompt realization of a
nuclear weapons convention.
|
From left: Mr. Nakano (parliamentary secretary to the Minister of
Foreign Affairs), Mayor Matsui, Mr. Hiroaki Hashimoto (House of Representatives member), and
Mr. Norihiro Kamichika (director of Nagasaki City Tokyo Office)
|
|
|
(Peace and International Solidarity Promotion Division)
|
|
