THE 2010 WORLD CONFERENCE
AGAINST A&H BOMBS

2011 World Conference against A & H Bombs-Nagasaki
Call from Nagasaki

66 years ago, on August 9, the United States dropped a plutonium bomb on Nagasaki. The radiation, heat rays and the explosion blast created by the chain reaction of nuclear fission mercilessly assaulted the city and its people, destroying everything. The atomic bomb still continues to threaten the life of the surviving Hibakusha and inflict unending suffering on them.

"Nuclear weapons cannot coexist with humans" -- this is the unchanged starting point of the anti-A and H-bomb movement which, carrying the calls "No more Hibakusha", and "Let Nagasaki be the last victim city of nuclear weapons", has developed hand in hand with the Hibakusha to become what it is today.

The Great East Japan Earthquake and the nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant of the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) that occurred in March this year brought about a catastrophic destruction and caused massive radiation contamination. Since then, activities have been undertaken to support the victims, help reconstruction of local communities and protect people from radiation. Mutual aid and new circles of solidarity are developing among the Japanese people. And more and more people are outraged at the government and electric power industry, including TEPCO, for fooling them with the "safety myth of nuclear power plants." They are voicing their demand for complete withdrawal from nuclear power generation and opt for renewable energies.

Now is the time to disseminate among the broadest range of people the knowledge about what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the inhumanity of nuclear weapons and the reality of radiation damage. Relying on the people united in solidarity as strength, we must build and expand the public opinion and a strong popular movement for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Responding to the call of the Declaration of the International Meeting of the 2011 World Conference against A & H Bombs, with the resolve to take our movement a quantum leap forward in this once A-bombed country, we propose to take the following actions:

• Taking the lead in the world-wide actions demanding an immediate start of negotiations for a Nuclear Weapons Convention, let us play a role worthy of the movement of the A-bombed country. The signature campaign for the "Appeal for a Total Ban on Nuclear Weapons" has been endorsed by the U.N. Secretary General, nearly 1200 mayors and local assembly speakers and many leaders of the society in Japan and internationally. We must develop this campaign broadly through the effort of all the players in each community. At every key moment in our campaign, including the forthcoming U.N. General Assembly Session and the start of the next round of the NPT review process in 2012, let us initiate massive waves of the signature drives from our workplaces, communities and school campuses.
• Let us press strongly the Japanese government to assume its role as the government of A-bombed nation by proposing the start of negotiations for a Nuclear Weapons Convention in the U.N. General Assembly, and let us denounce Japan's continued reliance on the U.S. "nuclear umbrella." By abrogating the "secret nuclear deal" and strictly observing the "Three Non-Nuclear Principles," we must break away from the "nuclear umbrella" and realize a nuclear-free Japan. We call for the removal of Futenma Base in Okinawa and other U.S. military bases from Japan and ending the homeporting of the nuclear aircraft carrier. Let us strengthen the movement to defend and honor Article 9 of our Constitution.
• Let us make known the realities and aftereffects of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombing, through a variety of activities, including A-bomb exhibitions. Rejecting any underestimation of the A-bomb damage, we demand fundamental review and improvement of the measures for the Hibakusha, and the provision of State compensation for the damage they suffered. We shall work harder to support the nuclear test victims in different parts of the world and the victims of Chernobyl, Fukushima Daiichi and other nuclear power plant accidents. Let us learn and study the connection between nuclear weapons and nuclear power generation and the reality of radiation damage. We shall work together to prevent any more people from suffering from radiation damage. We demand the withdrawal from nuclear power generation and development of renewable energy resources. Let us work to develop cooperation with broadest range of people nationwide for this.

We call on all the people to pass on to the next generations the experiences and struggles of the Hibakusha as an "undertaking of the human race." To open the doors for a "nuclear weapon-free world", let us rise in action together with the Hibakusha and with the younger generation who bear the future of humanity.

August 9, 2011
2011 World Conference against A & H Bombs-Nagasaki