Latest news with #NagasakiAtomicBombSurvivorsCouncil
7 days ago
- General
Nobel C'ttee Head Calls for Passing Down Hibakusha Experiences
Nagasaki, July 24 (Jiji Press)--The Norwegian Nobel Committee chair has highlighted the importance of handing down experiences of hibakusha atomic bomb survivors during his visit to the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum in southwestern Japan. Joergen Frydnes, the committee chief, visited Nagasaki Prefecture's namesake capital for the first time Wednesday. After looking around exhibitions at the museum, he wrote a message in a guest book that "we honor those who died, those who remember, and those who have transformed their suffering into a lasting call for peace." Giving a message to young people, he said, "Use the opportunity, while we still have hibakusha with us, to listen to their stories to understand what happened, because we, others untouched by the violence of the past, need to carry on the message of hibakusha: 'No more hibakusha. Nuclear weapons should never be used, ever again,'" he said, "So, we should use the precious time to listen and to understand." Frydnes talked with hibakusha and children of such people at the office of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors Council. Council leader Shigemitsu Tanaka, 84, said that Frydnes "is very reliable as he highly evaluates what hibakusha have done." [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
Scoop
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
We Have Turned The Nagasaki 80th Into A Celebration Of Israeli Genocide
Israel's key enablers, the G7, plus Australia and New Zealand, have succeeded in muscling Israel back onto the invite list for the commemorations in Nagasaki on 9 August. Last year Israel was excluded, triggering a refusal by these countries to attend in 2024. Does the 'personal' invitation that Nagasaki has just sent to Israel represent a triumph of Western diplomacy or a sick joke? You know who your mates are when you're committing genocide As I wrote at the time, the boycott by the powerful white-dominated Western nations was a stunning 'Fuck you' to the Hibakusha, the last few survivors of the US's 1945 nuclear attack. More importantly it was as clear a statement of collective commitment to Israel's war on Palestine as you could possibly wish for. You really find out who your true mates are when you're committing genocide. At the time, Shigemitsu Tanaka, the 83-year-old head of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors Council, said he supported the move to keep the Israelis away from the commemorations, saying it was inappropriate to invite representatives from countries waging armed conflicts in defiance of calls from the international community. Israel's invitation is a triumph of Western pressure A year later, the City buckled under pressure and has personally invited the Israelis. 'After Israel was excluded last year over the Gaza war, Nagasaki's mayor is avoiding renewed diplomatic tensions – especially following a clear message from the US,' Israel's most popular news site, Ynet reported this month. It is a triumph for Netanyahu and his government, cause for celebration in Tel Aviv, but diminishes the nobility of an event that was created with the explicit intention to say Never Again and to remind the world of the indefensible criminality of attacks on defenceless civilian populations. Nagasaki and the Boycott Israel campaign Israel goes to incredible lengths to break efforts to impose BDS (Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions) and so Nagasaki had to be brought to heel. July 2025 marked the 20th anniversary of the founding of BDS, a non-violent campaign designed to hold Israel accountable for its crimes and apply real-world pressure for the state to change course. BDS is potentially a game-changer which is why Israeli government ministers routinely make threats of physical violence against leading BDS activists. Israel Katz, currently the Israeli Defence Minister is on record as calling for Israel to engage in 'targeted civil eliminations' of BDS leaders with the help of Israeli intelligence. 70,000 tons of bombs on Gaza – and Israel is invited to a peace ceremony Think for a moment what the presence of Israel at this year's event represents as an astonishing piece of semiology. A state that is actively committing the crime of crimes, genocide, sitting alongside the Hibakusha. They won't be the only war criminals in attendance. American, German, and British bombs have levelled the tiny enclave of Gaza. More of their bombs – 70,000 tons and climbing – have been used to massacre Palestinians in Gaza than were used in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (36,000 tons), the fire bombings of Tokyo (1,665 tons) and Dresden (3,900 tons), and the London Blitz (19,000 tons) combined. And it is happening on our watch. Another piece of astonishing optics: less than two months ago the US and Israel bombed Iran's nuclear facilities, doing so with no UN mandate but only their position as powerful, lawless states. Their actions dramatically raise the prospect of Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and others deciding they need nuclear weapons as deterrence. What look will the US and Israeli ambassadors cast over their faces as the Mayor of Nagasaki delivers the message of "Nagasaki's wish for the establishment of lasting world peace and the abolition of nuclear weapons?' Is the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize the next to be trashed? Talking of tone deaf and morally repellent, Donald Trump has been openly lobbying to receive the Nobel Peace Prize despite having killed thousands of people and bombed multiple countries this year. Interestingly, the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize winner was Nihon Hidankyo (Japan's Atomic Bomb Survivors Organization). In his acceptance speech last year, Terumi Tanaka, one of the Co-Chairpersons of Nihon Hidankyo, said that the organisation was created in 1956 'to demand the immediate abolition of nuclear weapons, as extremely inhumane weapons of mass killing, which must not be allowed to coexist with humanity.' New Zealand is a genocide enabler. What happened to our soft power? As a New Zealander I am deeply ashamed of my country for having refused to attend last year's ceremony and for its criminal complicity with Israel today. New Zealand's tragic trajectory from humanitarian champions and nuclear-free pioneers to racist genocide enablers is captured in all its horror in this month's Nagasaki commemorations. New Zealand, the country that went to the brink of civil war in 1981 to stop sporting contact with Apartheid South Africa is now a fully-paid up member of Apartheid Israel's war on Palestine. Everywhere our government is tearing down the pillars built by decades of struggle in New Zealand. The anti-nuclear policy, the anti-apartheid victories, the non-aligned foreign policies, the sacred principles of partnership between indigenous Maori and the Pakeha (those who settled from Europe and elsewhere) are all being shredded. We refuse to recognize Palestine, we refuse to join South Africa's case against Israel at the ICJ, we refuse to join the Hague Group which is mobilising countries to make those responsible for the genocide accountable and to shoulder state-level responsibility for forcing the end to it. But we mobilise to get Israel invited to the Nagasaki peace events. From Auschwitz to Nagasaki to Gaza: whatever happened to Never Again? Whatever happened to our decency? The Australian journalist Caitlin Johnstone wrote this month 'If you're still supporting Israel in the year 2025, there's something seriously wrong with you as a person.' That goes triple for governments. Eugene Doyle
Tokyo Weekender
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Tokyo Weekender
‘A Great Blow to the Church': Japan Mourns the Passing of Pope Francis
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru expressed his deep sadness following the death of Pope Francis on Easter Monday. He described the late pontiff as someone who 'dedicated himself to protecting the environment and promoting peaceful diplomacy with a strong voice supported by approximately 1.4 billion Catholics.' He also paid his 'heartfelt respect' for his achievements and called his death 'not only a great loss for the people of the Vatican and Catholics, but also for the international community.' Another leader to pay his respects was former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Posting on X , he commended his Holiness Pope Francis for his achievements and offered his heartfelt condolences. The two men met in 2022 and discussed their common hope for a world free of nuclear weapons. Like Kishida, Hiroshi Suzuki, the Japanese Ambassador to the United Kingdom, posted a picture of himself with the late P ope. He wrote , 'His Holiness Pope Francis was a great inspiration. I am saddened with profound grief at His Holiness's passing away.' According to the death certificate released by Vatican doctor Andrea Arcangeli, Pope Francis died of a cerebral stroke and irreversible heart failure on Monday. He was 88. A day earlier, he delivered a blessing through an aide to thousands of Easter worship p ers in St Peter's Square. Born Jose Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, he was known as the 'People's Pope.' A former janitor and nightclub bouncer, he welcomed communities that were historically shunned by the church and famously took the bus instead of riding in the chauffeur-driven Vatican car on the way to say mass at the Sistine Chapel. List of Contents: Pope Francis' Visit to Japan Electing the Next Pope Related Posts Pope Francis' Visit to Japan In 2019, he became the first Pope to visit Japan since Pope John Paul II in 1981. Delivering speeches in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he called for the elimination of nuclear weapons. 'His call for nuclear abolition was inspiring. It's truly regrettable that someone who worked so hard for peace is now gone,' said Shigemitsu Tanaka, 84, co-chair of Nihon Hidankyo and chair of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors Council. Kayoko Mori, an 82-year-old Catholic atomic bomb survivor, said listening to the late pope speak made her 'feel deeply that he was on our side.' During his short stay in Japan, Pope Francis also met with victims of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami and said mass to around 50,000 people at the Tokyo Dome. 'When we rode around the Tokyo Dome in an open car together, I saw in him a pastor filled with love and mercy, waving to everyone with a smile of genuine joy and blessing the children,' said Cardinal Isao Kikuchi, who serves as the archbishop of Tokyo. Kikuchi, who was appointed to the College of Cardinals last December, first met Pope Francis in May 2013. 'It is a great blow to the Church to lose such a strong pastor at this time when we are on the path to the Holy Year,' he said. 'I did not expect the Holy Father to go away so fast… I would like to continue to walk the path he showed us, following his example, while finding the role he expects me to play.' Electing the Next Pope Pope Francis's death will be followed by a nine-day mourning period, which is known as Novemdiales. During this period, his funeral — weather permitting — will be held in St. Peter's Square. He has asked to be laid to rest in Rome's St. Mary Major Basilica and buried in a simple wooden casket. Between 15 and 20 days after his death, the election of a new Pope will begin. During the ancient selection process known as the papal conclave, the voting cardinals are cut off from communication with the outside world. It's held in strict secrecy inside the Sistine Chapel. If white smoke emerges from the chapel, a new Pope has been chosen. Related Posts The Vatican Unveils Its Anime Mascot: Luce English-Speaking Churches in Tokyo The Story of Japan's Hidden Christians
Japan Today
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Japan Today
Pope Francis mourned in Japan by atomic bomb survivors, others
Pope Francis prepares to deliver a speech during a meeting at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima on Nov 24, 2019. The death of Pope Francis was mourned across Japan on Monday by those who had met him during his 2019 visit to the country, including survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings and 2011 northeastern Japan earthquake and tsunami. During the first papal visit to Japan in 38 years, the pope, known for his strong advocacy for the sanctity of life, called for the elimination of nuclear weapons in addresses delivered in the two atomic-bombed cities. Toshiyuki Mimaki, head of the Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A-bomb Sufferers Organizations, said he felt the pope's "gentle nature." "I hoped he would recover and continue advocating for peace around the world," said the 83-year-old, who had handed a letter to the pope at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima at the time, asking him to call on world leaders to stop war. Kayoko Mori, an 82-year-old Catholic atomic bomb survivor who also met the pope in Hiroshima, said, "Seeing him call for the abolition of nuclear weapons made me feel deeply that he was on our side. I'm at a loss for words." Shigemitsu Tanaka, 84, who attended, as chair of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors Council, the pope's speech in the city, recalled that the pontiff had prayed for a long time for atomic bomb survivors and peace despite the heavy rain. "His call for nuclear abolition was inspiring. It's truly regrettable that someone who worked so hard for peace is now gone," Tanaka said. In 2019, the pontiff also met the victims of the Fukushima nuclear crisis, triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami that hit the northeastern region in March 2011. Tokuun Tanaka, 50, a Buddhist priest from Fukushima Prefecture who was forced to evacuate due to the nuclear disaster, recalled how the pope exuded "a warmth and greatness that seemed to embrace everything" during a gathering with disaster survivors in Tokyo. Cardinal Isao Kikuchi, who remembered the pontiff's sincere attitude during his meeting with disaster survivors, said the pope believed that "human life is a gift from God and must be protected." Kikuchi, a native of Iwate Prefecture in northeastern Japan who has been actively involved in disaster recovery, had been scheduled to meet with the pope in late March, but the meeting was canceled due to the pope's declining health. "He was trying to reshape the modern Church. I had hoped he would recover and continue that work," Kikuchi said. Earlier this year, Kikuchi personally delivered a letter of joy from the pope to Iwao Hakamata, who was recently acquitted after spending nearly half a century on death row following a conviction for a quadruple murder. Hakamata, 89, was baptized as a Catholic in 1984 while in detention and attended a Mass held by the pontiff in Tokyo in 2019. His sister, Hideko, 92, recalled that being invited to the Mass was "very reassuring." © KYODO
