January 19, 2024

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Representatives Kasai Akira on January 18 attended a forum held between Executive Director for the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), Melissa Parke, and Japanese Dietmembers in the Diet building.

Secretary General of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo), Kido Sueichi, was also present and spoke at the forum.

Kasai, who took part in the 2nd Meeting of State Parties to the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) last year, reported that the JCP during its Congress which ended on the same day decided the following: The JCP will press the Japanese government to sign and ratify the treaty before the 3rd meeting of state parties slated for March 2025 takes place.

In order for the Japanese government to break away from nuclear deterrence theory, Kasai proposed that ruling and opposition parties recognize the significance of the TPNW and that the government hear the opinions of local municipal assemblies where resolutions calling for Japan’s participation in the treaty have been adopted.

Kasai also proposed that ruling and opposition parties invite A-bomb survivors (Hibakusha) and specialists in this field to the Diet to discuss the role the only A-bombed country of Japan should play in the world and discuss ways to overcome Japan’s dependence on nuclear deterrence.

Perke at the outset of the forum said that it was regrettable she did not see Japan’s presence in the 1st and 2nd meetings of TPNW parties while even some NATO-U.S. allies took part in both meetings.

She called on the Japanese government to abandon the logic of nuclear deterrence which is willing to use nuclear weapons if declared necessary and to sign the TPNW.