| Chugoku Shimbun Peace News | |
| Prime minister's memory of Hiroshima fading: quick trip like last year | '03/8/7 |
- Anger among the hibakusha
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi attended the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony on the 6th, but, like last year, left the A-bombed city in a hurry. He visited only Peace Memorial Park (Naka-ku, Hiroshima City) and did not meet with hibakusha representatives. His press conference was only five minutes long. Though he has attended three consecutive years, angry voices are saying he is "..not fit to be prime minister of the A-bombed nation." "What he said at the ceremony failed to touch the hearts of hibakusha. It sounded like empty form." Sunao Tsuboi, secretary general of the Hiroshima federation of A-bomb sufferers, spoke as his face clouded over with disappointment. The prime minister's evident disinterest as he read his greeting "..conveyed no warmth." At the press conference in the park after the ceremony, he had little to add regarding the abolition of nuclear weapons. He spoke very quietly from start to finish. He did not mention Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba's demand that three new non-nuclear principles be accepted as national precepts. The only point at which he showed some emotion was in response to an unexpected question that included the comment, "Criticism is rising in Hiroshima regarding your obsequiousness toward the US." "That is a difference of opinion," he said curtly and continued, "Cooperation with the US is extremely important to ensuring peace in Japan." He also forgot the now-routine pre-press conference ceremony, of placing paper cranes on a box until he was reminded by a member of his party. Last year, he became the first prime minister to skip the Meeting to Hear Demands from Survivor Representatives. Again this year, he did not make it to the meeting in a downtown hotel. He left from Hiroshima Station, taking a train to Osaka at 9:30 a.m., two hours before the meeting. At the Meeting to Hear Demands, Kazushi Kaneko, chairman of the Hiroshima Prefectural Federation of A-bomb Sufferers Associations protested strongly. "Many people suffered nuclear damage. Refusing to listen to the voices of those people is not the proper attitude for the prime minister of an A-bombed nation." Fifty-eight years since "that day." The fading of the A-bomb experience has reached the prime minister, the representative of the Japanese people. The representatives of the hibakusha are saying, "Three years in a row is intolerable." - Peace Declaration / widening gap with government regarding US Prime Minister Koizumi was among the first to voice support for the US-UK War on Iraq. In his Peace Declaration, Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba strongly criticized that war and especially the use of depleted uranium weapons that spread "..radioactive contamination that will be with us for billions of years." At the Peace Memorial Ceremony on the sixth, this difference in attitude toward the US came into clear relief. In his Declaration, Mayor Akiba harshly criticized the US-UK attack on Iraq saying, "And the weapons of mass destruction that served as the excuse for the war have yet to be found." and others. Prime Minister Koizumi responds with "that interpretation is wrong." Meanwhile, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda at a press conference today revealed his displeasure saying, "The decision to support [the US and UK] has been thoroughly discussed. I see no need to go through that again." With respect to Mayor Akiba's invitation to President Bush and North Korea's Chairman Kim Jong Il to come to Hiroshima, Chief Cabinet Secretary Fukuda said, "That's up to them [whether they come or not]," showing that the national government has no intention of supporting the idea. The A-bombed city and the government should be appealing to the world together for the abolition of nuclear weapons, but with no meaningful dialogue taking place, the gap between the two merely grows wider. (Caption)Prime Minister Koizumi placing paper cranes after being reminded of this Hiroshima routine by a member of his party. (Peace Memorial Park, Naka-ku, Hiroshima)
    
|
|