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Visit to United States to attend Annual Meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors
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Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui, the President of Mayors for Peace, and Yasuyoshi Komizo, Secretary-General of Mayors for Peace (and Chairperson of this Foundation), attended the 87th Annual Meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors held in Honolulu City in Hawaii.
While they were in the U.S., a nuclear superpower, they made requests for support to expand Mayors for Peace membership and to develop momentum at the municipal and civic level for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Mayor Matsui also gave a lecture at the high school that former President Obama attended, Punahou School, where he spoke about the reality of the damage from the A-bomb, communicated the earnest wishes of the hibakusha, and shared their desire for peace.
June 28
Mr. Komizo, representing the Hiroshima City Mayor, attended a discussion session with Ms. Kennedy, the former US Ambassador to Japan.
Together with him in the discussion were a general secretary from Honolulu City;
the Consul-General of Japan in Honolulu Mr. Ito;
and the mayors of three cities in Japan (Uwajima, Chigasaki and Nagaoka) that have a sister city relationship with Honolulu.
Mr. Komizo expressed his gratitude to former Ambassador Kennedy for her efforts in organizing the visit to Hiroshima of former President Obama in 2016.
He also asked for the ambassador's continued support and cooperation in Mayors for Peace activities aiming for the achievement of a world free of nuclear weapons.
Mr. Komizo then attended the Honolulu Sister City Exchange Summit, together with representatives of the Japanese Consulate-General, Honolulu City and the three cities mentioned above.
The attendees each gave presentations on the background to their sister city relationship with Honolulu City, and a discussion was held on how to position sister city exchange within the city's initiatives and how to expand such exchange activities in the future.
Mr. Komizo explained that the large number of immigrants from Hiroshima City in Honolulu was a factor in establishing the sister city relationship.
He also spoke about projects being implemented by Mayors for Peace, and asked participants to be proactively involved in such initiatives.
There was also a discussion with Hawaiian peace activists who had gathered there thanks to calls by Jacqueline Cabasso, a member of this Foundation.
Ms. Cabasso helped explain the Mayors for Peace activities.
June 29
Mr. Komizo attended the international committee to discuss a resolution to support Mayors for Peace activities aiming for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
This committee had been proposed by the mayor of Des Moines City, an American Leader City for Mayors for Peace.
There was no opposition to the resolution and it was decided to propose the resolution at the plenary session.
At the general conference in the morning, former Ambassador Kennedy gave a speech.
She said that her father, former President Kennedy, believed that it is not only a government that changes a country, but that the efforts of mayors who work closely with citizens on a daily basis have a major impact.
She also spoke about his desire for a world without nuclear weapons.
She talked about the importance of "conciliation" and "moral awakening", themes from former President Obama's speech in Hiroshima, and about her thoughts on Hiroshima.
Mr. Komizo then had an opportunity to speak.
He expressed his gratitude for the efforts made to organize former President Obama's visit to Hiroshima, and asked for future cooperation in Mayors for Peace activities aiming to realize a world free of nuclear weapons.
Mayor Matsui, who had arrived later in Honolulu, paid his respects at the cenotaph for Japanese immigrants in Hawaii together with Mr. Komizo, commemorating the struggles of the people who immigrated from Hiroshima to Hawaii, and offered a silent prayer to the victims of the First and Second World Wars.
June 30
Mayor Matsui and Mr. Komizo attended the annual general meeting (day 3), and observed a session titled "The Path to 100% Renewable Energy in American Cities".
At this session, Honolulu's Mayor Caldwell made a speech.
He first touched upon former President Obama's visit to Hiroshima in 2016, and then, introducing Mayor Matsui, he said
"the mayor of that city, Hiroshima, is here with us today. Next year Hiroshima will commemorate 75 years since the atomic bombing. A tragedy like that which occurred in Hiroshima and Nagasaki must never be allowed to happen again."
Mayor Matsui then stood up and made some remarks, and was welcomed by applause by the attendees.
At the lunch session that followed, Mayor Matsui had the opportunity to make a speech.
The Mayor of Columbia City in South Carolina, Mayor Benjamin, who is the chairperson of the United States Conference of Mayors, introduced Mayor Matsui, saying that as President of Mayors for Peace, Mayor Matsui has tirelessly worked with Des Moines Mayor Cownie and mayors of other member cities throughout the world to build international public opinion for the realization of a world without nuclear weapons.
He said that the United States Conference of Mayors has a long relationship with Mayors for Peace, and that the activities of Mayors for Peace are more important and timelier now than ever before, as we face an extremely chaotic global situation.
Mayor Matsui then took to the stage.
After explaining Mayors for Peace activities, Mayor Matsui said that the hibakusha, whose
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average age is now 82 years old, are continuing to plea for us to realize a world free of nuclear weapons as soon as possible, based on the belief that no-one else should experience what they did.
He also said that the budgets that are being spent by nuclear weapon states on modernizing and developing advanced functionality of their nuclear forces could be used more constructively on things like people's welfare or building city infrastructure.
He said that he strongly hopes we can all work together toward the realization of a world without nuclear weapons, so that the tireless efforts of all like-minded people to protect the safe and secure life of the people will not be wasted through the use of nuclear weapons.
He received a warm round of applause.
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Speech at the Annual Meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors
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At the afternoon session on Leadership of Mayoresses, Mayor Matsui listened to a speech by Ms. Tulsi Gabbard, a member of the US House of Representatives representing Hawaii who has announced that she will run in the presidential election.
In the same way as Mayor Matsui's speech before her, Ms. Gabbard referred to the huge amount of taxpayer's money being spent on the development of nuclear weapons, and said that in the case of Hawaii, this is money that should be spent on aging infrastructure.
She stated that she decided to run in the presidential election to appeal for the fact that national security issues have a direct impact on people's lives.
After her speech, Mayor Matsui spoke to Ms. Gabbard, and asked for her to visit Hiroshima and for her future collaboration in Mayors for Peace activities.
After this, Mayor Matsui was interviewed by Hawaiian newspapers.
The journalists, one of whom had a grandmother who was a hibakusha in Hiroshima, and another who had conducted interviews in Hiroshima, asked
"What kind of impact does it have on your position as mayor when you have family members who were hibakusha?"
The mayor replied that his mother and other relatives were hibakusha, but that they did not really want to talk about their painful experience to the family.
He said that as he has spoken to many hibakusha after becoming mayor, he has heard about their experiences and feelings about the atomic bombing, and now has a better understanding of the feelings of his mother and other relatives.
In the second half of the interview, Mayor Doyle of Beaverton City Oregon, a Mayors for Peace member city, also attended.
Every year, Mayor Doyle jointly proposes the resolution at the annual meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors affirming the activities of Mayors for Peace and calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Mayor Doyle stately firmly that mayors change the country together with the people, and for that reason Mayors for Peace are going to bring about change throughout the countries of the world to create a world that is free of nuclear weapons.
July 2
At Punahou School, which former President Obama attended, Mayor Matsui gave a talk to around 130 students attending the summer school there who were learning about Asian history.
He talked about the reality of the damage from the atomic bombing and the wishes of the hibakusha, and said that he wanted the students to walk together with him on the path toward creating a world without nuclear weapons.
The students listened keenly to the mayor's talk, taking notes, and afterwards asked many questions.
In response to questions such as "Is the abolition of nuclear weapons possible?",
"how do you assess your achievements as the president of Mayors for Peace?",
and "What can other countries learn from the dropping of the A-bomb?",
Mayor Matsui replied "The dropping of the A-bomb was an extremely unfortunate incident for the whole of humankind. To ensure that such a tragedy does not occur again, it is important to think logically about how we can resolve differences of opinions in a peaceful way, and make the world sustainable."
He gave the student representative paper cranes that had been folded by junior high school students in Kanagawa Prefecture, and conveyed the desire for peace.
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Talk at Punahou School
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In the morning session of the Annual Meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors, the resolution affirming the abolition of nuclear weapons and the activities of Mayors for Peace was adopted unanimously.
This resolution has now been adopted for fourteen consecutive years, since 2006.
At the Annual Meeting on this day, Mayor Barnett of Rochester Hills City, Michigan, gave his first speech as president of the United States Conference of Mayors, saying
"Everyone has the right to live happily. As mayors, we have to make efforts to achieve that."
After the speech, Mayor Matsui handed Mayor Barnett paper cranes that had been folded by junior high school students from Osaka, and asked him to join Mayors for Peace.
In the evening, at an event organized by Honolulu City, Mayor Matsui made requests for membership of Mayors for Peace to Columbia Mayor Benjamin, who had been the president of the United States Conference of Mayors up until this year's Annual Meeting and had issued a Peace City Statement in August of this year, and to Mayor Callaway of Hillsboro City, Oregon, who is growing A-bomb gingko trees, and received a positive response.
The membership request form was later submitted by Columbia City, and it became a member from October 1.
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| (Mayors for Peace and 2020 Vision Promotion Division) |
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