This document was presented in response to the suggestion made by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda that Japan review its so-called three non-nuclear principles. In his protest, the mayor said, "The inhumanity of nuclear weapons has been established by an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, and such weapons cannot be tolerated." He went on, "With danger mounting of nuclear war between India and Pakistan, this comment can only lead to the conclusion that the ultimate goal of this administration is for Japan to become a nuclear-weapon state."

The mayor also demanded that the administration, "..eliminate all concern at home and abroad by expressing Japan's intent never to become a nuclear-weapon state. This will require enacting a legal instrument prohibiting all nuclear armaments, thereby taking a leading role in eliminating nuclear weapons, as befits the only A-bombed nation."

Every August 6 since 1996, the city of Hiroshima requests not only that the prime minister strictly abide by the three non-nuclear principles, but that he enact a comprehensive prohibition on all nuclear armaments. The first such request was made by Mayor Hiraoka in his 1996 Peace Declaration. The request was submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through Hiroshima's Tokyo office.

Also on June 10th, the 360 Japanese member cities of the Japan Nuclear-free Municipal Authorities Association (President: Iccho Itoh, mayor of Nagasaki) presented their own emergency request to the administration for a legal restriction supporting the three non-nuclear principles.

Hiroshima, Nagasaki officials protest U.S. nuke test

HIROSHIMA, June 8 Kyodo - The governors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the mayor of Nagasaki and many other municipal government officials protested Saturday against a U.S. subcritical nuclear test conducted Friday.

In a letter to U.S. President George W. Bush, Hiroshima Gov. Yuzan Fujita said he is angry the United States conducted the test despite repeated calls on it not to.

Fujita criticized the Bush administration for failing to rule out the possibility of a nuclear attack on Iran and Iraq and described the test as "a challenge to the international community."

Nagasaki Gov. Genjiro Kaneko and Nagasaki Mayor Itcho Ito sent similar protest messages to the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. "It is a very dangerous act that could lead to a nuclear arms race," Kaneko wrote in his letter.

"It is an offense to the international community, which is seeking nuclear disarmament and it cannot be allowed," Ito said.

The Nagasaki mayor also told a news conference in his city Saturday, "I feel a strong sense of indignation. Should the United States continue a self-righteous nuclear policy, I would think it may well lead to nuclear proliferation or generate the risk of a nuclear war occurring."

Ito also expressed a sense of crisis that Washington may resume a nuclear experiment that, unlike a subcritical test, involves an explosion, given the U.S. policy of pushing subcritical tests despite protests from various quarters and a plan to resume the manufacture of explosive nuclear devices.

"I am compelled to think they are moving under a scenario of seeking further nuclear development or producing smaller nuclear weapons,"he said." In the not so distant future, it is plausible that a nuclear explosion test will be conducted."

The cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were devastated by U.S. nuclear bombs in World War II.

Other Japanese cities also joined in the chorus of anger.

Kyoto Mayor Yorikane Masumoto and Toshiko Isobe, chairwoman of the city assembly, sent a protest letter to Bush urging Washington to suspend all tests related to nuclear explosions and play a leading role in bringing about the eradication of nuclear weapons and establishing world peace.

The mayors of the cities of Sakai, Hirakata, Takatsuki and Suita in Osaka Prefecture also sent protest letters to the U.S.

In Hiroshima, more than 80 people staged a sit-in for about 30 minutes, protesting the U.S. nuclear test in front of a cenotaph for the atomic bomb victims at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.

"It is a test directly linked to war, so it is very regrettable," said Akito Suemune, 76, a survivor of the U.S. atomic bombing on August 6, 1945.

The U.S. conducted its 17th subcritical nuclear experiment Friday at an underground test site in Nevada. The test was scheduled for Wednesday, but was postponed for technical reasons. ==Kyodo 2002-06-08