BikiniDay3

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March 1 Bikini Day Rally held in Yaizu

With red and white roses in their hands, about 1,500 peace activists from around the country took part in the annual Bikini Day Assembly in Yaizu City (Shizuoka Pref.) on March 1 to commemorate the tragedy caused by the March 1, 1954 U.S. hydrogen bomb test explosion at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific. Converging on the tomb of Kuboyama Aikichi, a victim of the "Bravo" explosion, participants renewed their determination to increase efforts to achieve the swift elimination of nuclear weapons.

Fifty-two years ago, Kuboyama Aikichi left Yaizu Port aboard the tuna fishing boat Daigo Fukuryu Maru (5th Lucky Dragon). The crew was exposed to radioactive fallout. Six months later Kuboyama died and was buried in Yaizu.

The Organizing Committee of the World Conference against A and H Bombs and the Shizuoka Pref. Organizing Committee for the March 1Events sponsored the assembly.

The rally was briefly linked up by telephone with a Japan Council against A & H Bombs (Gensuikyo) delegation now visiting the Marshall Islands in which Bikini Atoll is located.

Oishi Matashichi, one of the 23 crew members on the Daigo Fukuryu Maru, and Kuwano Yutaka, former crew of the Daini Kohsei Maru (2nd Lucky Life) from Kochi Prefecture, spoke about their tragic experiences.

Nataliya Gudzily, a Chernobyl victim, sang songs.

Speaking on behalf of the organizers, Kawai Tomoyasu of the Organizing Committee of the World Conference stressed the importance of recalling how the anti-nuclear weapons movement started 52 years ago. Criticizing the Japanese government for firmly supporting U.S. nuclear policy, Kawai stated that overcoming this government policy is the Japanese people's essential international task.

Mayor Tomoto Takao of Yaizu City addressed the peace rally. Messages from the prefectural governors and mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were read.

Overseas delegates, Hibakusha, religious people, and Gensuikyo representatives took the podium and called for drastically accelerating the signature collection drive "For the swift elimination of nuclear weapons."

All participants stood up and sang together the song "Negai (Hope)."

Nagai Yasuko, a 22-year-old participant from Tokyo said, "Before Kuboyama's tomb, the epitaph reads 'Please make me the last victim of the atomic and hydrogen bombs.' I decided to do everything I can to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons.
- Akahata, March 2, 2006