An organization of atomic bomb survivors and young people plans to hold an international forum in Tokyo next year to boost the momentum for nuclear arms abolition.
The Japan Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons made the announcement at a news conference in Tokyo on Monday.
Campaign officials say the forum will take place at the University of the Sacred Heart on February 8 and 9 next year.
They say they will invite government officials and experts to hold lectures and discussions on themes including the inhumanity of nuclear arms and support for atomic bomb survivors. They are also planning an exhibition to showcase the reality of nuclear attacks.
The campaign officials say they will submit proposals to the third Meeting of the States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The meeting is scheduled for next March.
Tanaka Terumi from the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, or Nihon Hidankyo, said Japan’s Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru referred to what is called “nuclear sharing,” and the situation is apparently getting more difficult. But he said that through the forum, he wants to reveal the inhumanity of nuclear arms and urge the Japanese government to lead the efforts to create a nuclear-free world.
Next year will mark the 80th anniversary of the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.