Tokyo, Japan – In a move that has drawn widespread criticism from Japanese human rights circles, the Israeli embassy in Tokyo refused to accept an official statement from four groups of atomic bomb survivors (hibakusha) that strongly condemned the Israeli and US military strikes on Iran. The Nagasaki Prefectural Atomic Bomb Survivors Council reported on Saturday that the post office returned the document to the groups, citing the embassy’s refusal to officially accept it.
This move carries significant symbolic and moral weight, as Nagasaki was the second city devastated by an American atomic bomb at the end of World War II, and its survivors are considered leading global voices advocating for peace.
Survivors’ reactions
Shigemitsu Tanaka, the 85-year-old president of the council, expressed his dismay at the action, saying, “The document was returned without even being read. I think they have become completely closed off to the voices of peace.” The four organizations, which dedicate their activities to promoting world peace and preventing nuclear war, had issued a joint statement earlier this month calling for an immediate ceasefire following the intensified US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran, which began in late February. The statement described the attacks as “outrageous,” warning of the region’s slide toward a full-blown humanitarian catastrophe.
Nobel Peace Prize enters the fray
For its part, the Nihon Hidankyo, Japan’s leading atomic bomb survivors’ group and a 2024 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, issued a separate statement calling for an immediate halt to the military escalation. The organization accused the United States and Israel of carrying out “preemptive strikes” that blatantly disregard international law and UN conventions, asserting that survivors of the horrors of weapons of mass destruction understand better than anyone the consequences of military recklessness in the modern era.
