Hiroshima governor planning to visit former nuclear testing site in Kazakhstan
They say Governor Yuzaki Hidehiko hopes to visit Kazakhstan's capital Astana to discuss peacebuilding policy and other topics with senior government officials.
The sources say he also plans to travel to the former Semipalatinsk nuclear testing site in the country's northeast and visit a museum documenting the experiments.
More than 450 nuclear tests were conducted at the site during the Cold War, and an estimated 1.5 million people are believed to have suffered health issues.
Kazakhstan gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The country has been working to rid the world of nuclear weapons. In March, it chaired the third Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
This year marks eight decades since the atomic bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the closing days of World War Two.
Analysts say Hiroshima Prefecture hopes the governor's visit will boost relations with Kazakhstan and deepen collaboration in pursuit of the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NHK
6 hours ago
- NHK
NHK survey: nearly half foresee increase in nuclear arms
An NHK survey shows nearly half of respondents predict either no change or actually an increase in the number of nuclear weapons that currently exist around the world. NHK surveyed by mail 3,600 people aged 18 or older across Japan from May through July ahead of the 80th anniversary of the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The response rate was 55.3 percent. When asked how they view the US atomic bombings, 67 percent said it is unforgivable even now, while 20 percent said that it was unavoidable. In contrast, an NHK survey 10 years ago conducted by telephone showed 49 percent said it cannot be forgiven, while 40 percent said it was unavoidable. But, the results cannot be precisely compared due to different survey methods. Asked what they think will happen to nuclear weapons that exist now, only 2 percent said that they will be completely abolished, and 11 percent said they cannot be completely abolished but their number will decrease substantially. Thirty-six percent predicted a slight decrease, while 49 percent said there will be no change, or they will actually increase in number. The 2015 survey showed 2 percent, 12 percent, 45 percent and 32 percent, respectively. Professor Kawano Noriyuki at the graduate school of Hiroshima University said that people are aware that an ultimate goal, and an ideal, is clearly a world without nuclear arms as those in the atomic bombed cities are pursuing. But he adds that they also know it cannot happen amid escalating tensions in some parts of the world. Kawano said that people are standing on a major threshold: whether to accept the current reality, or take a specific action toward the goal. He said the atomic-bombed cities are facing a major challenge.
NHK
2 days ago
- NHK
Hiroshima releases outline of peace declaration for 80th atomic bomb anniversary
The mayor of Hiroshima plans to quote atomic bomb survivors known as hibakusha to call for peace in a divided world at the ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of the city's atomic bombing. Hiroshima on Friday released the gist of the peace declaration that Mayor Matsui Kazumi will read out at the ceremony on August 6. Hibakusha joined experts in drafting the statement. The declaration will quote the phrase "never give up" that hibakusha Tsuboi Sunao repeated during his lifelong campaign to seek the abolition of nuclear weapons. Tsuboi, who was active at home and abroad, died four years ago at the age of 96. It will also draw on the testimonies of other survivors to convey the importance of passing on their wish for peace. The declaration will take note of the spreading idea that nuclear weapons are needed for national defense. It will ask world leaders if they've ever considered the possibility that their security policies are producing international conflicts. Mayor Masui told reporters that the peace declaration will emphasize the hibakusha's wish for peace, to urge world leaders to establish security frameworks based on relationships of trust built through dialogue.
Japan Times
5 days ago
- Japan Times
Hibakusha's stories will change the world, Nobel committee chair says
Norwegian Nobel Committee chair Jorgen Frydnes has emphasized that the testimonies of hibakusha, or people who survived the 1945 U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, will bring changes to the world. "Their story is also a story of memory becoming a force for change," he told a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo on Monday. He, therefore, highlighted the historic importance of activities of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, also known as Nihon Hidankyo, which won last year's Nobel Peace Prize. Frydnes visited the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki last week, ahead of the 80th anniversaries of the atomic bombings of the cities on Aug. 6 and 9, 1945, respectively, in the closing days of World War II. Noting that he was the first member of the committee to visit the country of the Nobel Peace Prize winner, Frydnes said, "We walked through places that changed the course of human history." He stressed the importance of maintaining nuclear taboo, saying that the atomic bombings created "an international norm that ... any use of nuclear weapons is not only dangerous, but deeply and morally unacceptable." While Nihon Hidankyo has been working for the abolition of nuclear weapons, Japan is protected under the U.S. nuclear umbrella. On this, Frydnes said, "I don't think fear (of nuclear weapons) is the solutions to our problems," adding, "The hibakusha clearly shows that it is possible, even though in a situation of pain, sorrow, (and) grief, to choose peace, and that's the message we want the world to listen to."
