
DUBAI: Japanese Prime Minister ISHIBA Shigeru on Wednesday met with Nobel Peace Prize winners, who are part of the Nihon Hidankyo group of atomic bomb survivors.
Ishiba acknowledged the group’s efforts in trying to create a world free of nuclear weapons, Kyodo News reported.
Nihon Hidankyo is calling on Japan to join the UN nuclear ban treaty and Ishiba said that the government will consider participating as an observer.
Japan is the only nation to have ever been attacked by nuclear bombs and 2025 will marks the 80th anniversary of the 1945 US atomic bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
Nihon Hidankyo won the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize and the group’s president MIMAKI Toshiyuki was quick to criticize Israel’s brutality against children in Gaza.
In a press conference last October, Mimaki said: “In Gaza, a child is being held and gushes with blood. It reminds me of Japan 80 years ago.”
He added that politicians around the world say that world peace is maintained thanks to nuclear weapons. However, Mimaki said these weapons could be used by terrorists.
“For example, if Russia uses them against Ukraine, Israel against Gaza, it won’t end there. Politicians should know these things,” he explained.