Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2025 June 25 - July 1 TOP3 [PEACE]

Hibakusha angry at President Trump likening US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites to 1945 A-bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Japanese A-bomb survivors on June 26 voiced their outrage over U.S. President Trump’s remarks equating the U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities with the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

President Trump, in his meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on the previous day, compared the U.S. strikes on Iran this time to the A-bomb strikes on two Japanese cities 80 years ago and said, “This was essentially the same thing: that ended that war; this ended this war.”

Tanaka Terumi, a representative director of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo), said, “I think he knows nothing about the damage and aftereffects of the A-bombings. Tens of thousands of people were killed in an instant, and survivors are still suffering from radiation-related diseases and long-term genetic effects. The Japanese government should protest against President Trump’s remarks.”

Tanaka continued to say, “Whenever this kind of issue arises, Hibakusha are always asked for comments. However, it is not just an issue for Hibakusha. It is an issue for everyone around the world. We must speak out and take action for peace so that no one will be victimized by nuclear war. People must urge their own governments to engage in ‘dialogue, not war’ to address the issue.”

Yasui Masakazu, secretary general of the Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Japan Gensuikyo), also voiced his outrage over Trump’s remarks.

He criticized Israel and the U.S. for unilaterally launching armed attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities, though Iran is an NPT signatory as a “non-nuclear-weapon state” whose nuclear sites have been regularly inspected by the IAEA.

He demanded a retraction of President Trump’s anachronistic remarks, saying that the victims of the A-bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were unarmed civilians and that the dropping of the A-bombs was unjustifiable mass murder even under the international law of the time.