Seventy Years from Hiroshima Ground Zero

This is the seventieth anniversary of dropping an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Killing one hundred and forty thousand people cannot be justified with an argument that it avoided further sacrifice of the war, while most victims were innocent citizens. There is no space on the earth for that inhumane weapon of mass destruction. It will be too late, if the great powers recognize the true consequence of nuclear war. This is the time for eliminating all nuclear weapons.

In the ceremony of praying peace for the victims, Mayor of Hiroshima, Kazumi Matsui, issued the declaration for peace. “There still exist over fifteen thousands of nuclear weapons in the world, and the leaders of nuclear powers reiterate speeches or actions insisting on nuclear blackmailing with selfish notions. A number of incidents that might possibly have ignited nuclear war or explosion were revealed, while growing concern on nuclear terrorism spreads,” told Matsui. Raising possibility that any person on the earth can suffer from being a nuclear victim, Matsui urged all people in the world to think about nuclear elimination as a matter of themselves.

Mainichi Shimbun ran a headline on front page of today’s issue, reading “70 Years from Exposal, Asking Peace.” In its column article, the newspaper introduced an episode of dead child grabbing a swallow in his hand in pine forest close to the dropping point of the atomic bomb. There were a number of swallows or sparrows with burnt wings, waddling around dead bodies of children. The article asks what the child with a swallow in his hand thought right before dying.

In the reviewing conference of United Nations Non-proliferation Treaty, the world failed to deliver final agreed document. An initiative of Arab nations to create non-nuclear zone in Middle East was dismissed by United States that supported Israel, which is out of framework of Non-proliferation Treaty. Mainichi introduced a comment of U.N. Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, that urged abolishment of nuclear weapons. “We owe responsibility to achieve the world without nuclear weapons for hibakusha, every creature and future generation,” told Ban.

Justification of dropping atomic bombs cannot stand as long as the damage is ongoing. Damage on people’s health depended on personal conditions. Some sufferers could live for decades, while the others immediately died. There still are a number of people who have not registered as the nuclear sufferers by government of Japan. They had to live their life with potential concern of cancer, discrimination in the society, and isolation from society without governmental help. The government argues strange concept that damage of war should be persevered by every person. A nuclear weapon distorts human society forever.