Following the NPT Review Conference: We Will Not Give Up on a 'Nuclear-Free World'

We are a cooperative group dedicated to valuing food, agriculture, and life based on our philosophy of 'creating a rich life and a symbiotic society.' To protect the lives of our members and build a society founded on peace, we learn about the tragedy of war and the importance of peace, and pass this knowledge on to the next generation.

The NPT (Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons) Review Conference closed on May 22 without reaching an agreement on a final document. This marks the third consecutive conference to fail to adopt a document. We reiterate our call for the realization of a nuclear-free world with a strong sense of urgency.

In August 1945, 81 years ago, atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki instantly extinguished the lives of many who had been living peacefully just moments before. Survivors also succumbed to injuries while suffering from burns and radiation sickness. It is said that the toll exceeded 200,000. Even those who survived live with deep pain and distress throughout their lives.

Thus, nuclear weapons, which create countless horrific tragedies for innocent citizens, are clearly inhumane weapons. Their earliest possible abolition is required.

From April 24 to May 1, our Pal System group visited New York, USA, as part of a delegation including the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo) and representatives from 27 cooperatives nationwide. On-site, we joined atomic bomb survivors in appealing to governments and NGOs for the realization of a nuclear-free world.

At the Review Conference, the complex motives of state parties, particularly nuclear-weapon states, prevented the adoption of a final agreement. However, we keenly feel the current reality where non-nuclear-weapon states are increasingly alarmed by nuclear weapons and more passionate than ever about their abolition.

Following the NPT, the Review Conference for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons will be held starting this November. This treaty has already been ratified by 74 countries and regions. The global tide is definitely heading toward the abolition of nuclear weapons. We strongly call on the Japanese government, as the only country to have suffered atomic bombings in war, to participate in this treaty's Review Conference.

In the long history of humanity, we know that all wars, including the use of nuclear weapons, without exception, 'take irreplaceable human lives, deeply wound human dignity, and breed only a negative chain of emotions.'

Let us realize a world without conflict and pass it on to our children, the leaders of the future. As a cooperative that protects daily life, we reiterate our determination to continue widely advocating for the importance of peace and to keep taking action without giving up to realize a world without nuclear weapons.