Japanese Non-State Actors’ Under-Recognised Contributions to the International Anti-Nuclear Weapons Movement

Year 2022, , 193 - 210, 30.07.2022

Lili Chin Geetha Govindasamy Md Nasrudin Md Akhir

https://doi.org/10.20991/allazimuth.1150300

Abstract

Since the 1950s, Japanese non-state actors in the international anti-nuclear
weapons movement have disseminated the dangers of nuclear weapons, tied to
Japanese experiences of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in
1945. Coming from the only country that has experienced nuclear attacks, they
provide much needed evidence of the humanitarian impacts of nuclear weapons.
These actors include survivors of the atomic bombings, commonly known as
hibakusha, who have initiated and persistently maintained the humanitarian
focus on nuclear discourse for decades. This paper examines their contributions
to eyewitness testimonies on the impacts of nuclear weapons and their efforts
leading to major milestones in international efforts for nuclear abolition. It also
focuses on the roles played by the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers
Organization (Nihon Hidankyo) and the Japan Association of Lawyers Against
Nuclear Arms (JALANA), which made tremendous contributions facilitating the
success of the World Court Project in the 1990s and the Humanitarian Initiative
in the 2010s that led to the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
Non-state Japanese contributions were, unfortunately, under-recognised, and
the successes of international nuclear abolition were often attributed to other
international actors. Hence, this paper recognises the contributions of non-state
Japanese actors in sustaining the international anti-nuclear weapons movement
and achieving the nuclear ban treaty.

Keywords

Non-state actors, Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, Hibakusha, Nihon Hidankyo, Japan Association of Lawyers against Nuclear Arms

References

• Akiba, Tadatoshi. “Postscript: The Survivors.” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 61, no. 4 (2005): 63. Accessed April 19, 2022. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.2968/061004013.
• Akimoto, Daisuke. “The Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty and The Paradox of Japan’s Nuclear Identity.” Journal of International & Global Studies 9, no. 2 (2018): 58–75. Accessed April 19, 2022. https://digitalcommons.lindenwood.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1402&context=jigs.
• Ban Ki-moon. “70th Anniversary of the Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” August 6, 2015. Accessed April 15, 2022, https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/articles/2015-08-06/70th-anniversary-bombings-hiroshima-and-nagasaki.
• Benford, Robert D., and David A. Snow. “Framing Processes and Social Movements: An Overview and Assessment.” Annual Review of Sociology 26 (2000): 611–39.
• Booth, Arthur. “Atomic bombs and human beings.” International Social Science Journal 30, no. 2 (1978): 377–92. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000028972.
• Borger, Julian. “Obama Hails Historic Resolution to Rid World of Nuclear Weapons,” The Guardian, September 24, 2009. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/sep/24/nuclear-weapons-un-security-council
• Borrie, John. “Humanitarian Reframing of Nuclear Weapons and the Logic of a Ban.” International Affairs 90, no. 3 (2014): 625–46.
• Branciforte, Laura. “The Women’s Peace Camp at Comiso, 1983: Transnational Feminism and the Anti-Nuclear Movement.” Women's History Review 31, no. 2 (2022): 316–43.
• Buijs, Peter. “How Physicians Influenced Dutch Nuclear Weapon Policies: A Civil Society Case Study.” International Relations Journal, Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University 14, no. 4 (2021): 475–502.
• Clapson, Mark. “Commemoration and Controversy: Remembering Air Raids and their Victims Since 1945.” In The Blitz Companion: Aerial Warfare, Civilians and the City since 1911, edited by Mark Clapson, 173–228. London: University of Westminster Press, 2019.
• Dewes, Kate. “Hiroshima and the World: Inspired by Hibakusha.” Hiroshima Peace Media Center, February 23, 2009. Accessed April 19, 2022. http://www.hiroshimapeacemedia.jp/?p=19698.
• Egashira, Chiyoko. “From Memories of Darkness and Hardship: Up Until the Day Shiroyama Primary School was Closed.” In The Light of Morning: Memoirs of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors, translated by Brian Burke-Gaffney, 17–43. Nagasaki: Nagasaki National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims, 2005.
• Forsythe, David P. The Humanitarians: The International Committee of the Red Cross. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
• Fujimura, Junpei. “Interview with Terumi Tanaka, Head of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-bomb Sufferers Organizations, On Nuclear Disarmament Conference in Oslo.” Hiroshima Peace Media Center, March 25, 2013. Accessed April 19, 2022. http://www.hiroshimapeacemedia.jp/?p=20442.
• Gibbons, Rebecca Davis. “The Humanitarian Turn in Nuclear Disarmament and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.” The Nonproliferation Review 25, no. 1-2 (2018): 11–36.
• Hawkins, Dimity, Dave Sweeney, and Tilman Ruff. “ICAN’s Origins - From Little things, Big Things Grow...” International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). October 2019. Accessed December 9, 2021. https://www.icanw.org/ican_origins.
• Hidankyo. “Chronology of Hidankyo’s International Activities.” Accessed December 9, 2021. https://www.ne.jp/asahi/hidankyo/nihon/english/about/about2-01.html.
• Hook, Glenn D. “Evolution of The Anti-Nuclear Discourse in Japan.” Current Research on Peace and Violence 10, no. 1 (1987): 32–43.
• International Court of Justice. “Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons, Advisory Opinion, I.C.J. Reports 1996.” 1996: 226–67. Accessed April 19, 2022. https://www.icj-cij.org/public/files/case-related/95/095-19960708-ADV-01-00-EN.pdf.
• International Peace Bureau. “Sean MacBride Peace Prize Ceremony 2020/21.” Accessed December 9, 2021. https://www.ipb.org/news/sean-mac-bride-peace-prize-ceremony-2020-21/#:~:text=On%20March%2C%2017th%202021%2C%20the,the%20Appeal%20of%20the%20Hibakusha.
• International Review of the Red Cross. “After the Atomic Bomb: Hibakusha Tell Their Stories.” 97, no. 899 (2015): 507–25.
• International Review of the Red Cross. “Seventy Years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Reflections on the Consequences of Nuclear Detonation.” 97, no. 899 (2015): 553–62.
• Johnson, Rebecca. “Banning Nuclear Weapons: Point of No Return.” Open Democracy, February 19, 2014. Accessed December 9, 2021. https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/banning-nuclear-weapons-point-of-no-return/.
• Jones, Greta. “The Mushroom-Shaped Cloud: British Scientists' Opposition to Nuclear Weapons Policy, 1945–57.” Annals of Science 43, no. 1 (1986): 1–26.
• Josselin, Daphne, and William Wallace. “Non-State actors in World Politics: A Framework.” In Non-State Actors in World Politics, edited by Daphne Josselin and William Wallace 1–20. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2001. Kingston, Jeff. “Atomic Bomb Survivors Nominated for Nobel Prize.” The Japan Times, August 1, 2015. Accessed December 9, 2021, https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2015/08/01/commentary/atomic-bomb-survivors-nominated-nobel-prize/#.Xh2HFMj7SyI.
• Kmentt, Alexander. “The Development of the International Initiative on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons and Its Effect on the Nuclear Weapons Debate.” International Review of the Red Cross 97, no. 899 (2015): 681–709.
• Kubota, Tsuyoshi. “Hibakusha Appeal Network Collects Final Tally of 13.7 Million Signatures Calling on Countries to Join Nuclear Ban Treaty.” Hiroshima Peace Media Center, January 14, 2021. Accessed December 9, 2021. http://www.hiroshimapeacemedia.jp/?p=103119.
• Kurosaki, Miyako. “A 75-year Rally Against Nuclear Weapons Brings the World Closer to Justice.” All Things Nuclear, January 15, 2021. Accessed December 9, 2021. https://allthingsnuclear.org/guest-commentary/a-75-year-rally-against-nuclear-weapons-brings-the-world-closer-to-justice/.
• Kurosawa, Mitsuru. “The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons: Its Significance and Challenges.” Osaka University Law Review 65 (2018): 1–24. Accessed April 19, 2022. https://ir.library.osaka-u.ac.jp/repo/ouka/all/67739/oulr065-001.pdf.
• Kuznick, Peter J. “Nagasaki and the Hibakusha Experience of Sumiteru Taniguchi: The Painful Struggles and Ultimate Triumphs of Nagasaki Hibakusha.” The Asia-Pacific Journal - Japan Focus 18, issue 16, no. 1 (2020): 1–10. Accessed April 17, 2022, https://apjjf.org/-Peter-J--Kuznick/5447/article.pdf.
• Laucht, Christoph, and Martin Johnes.“Resist and Survive: Welsh Protests and the British Nuclear State in the 1980s.” Contemporary British History 33, no. 2 (2019): 226–45.
• Lovold, Magnus. “Courage, Responsibility and the Path towards A World Without Nuclear Weapons: A Message to Youth.” August 21, 2019. Accessed April 16, 2022, https://blogs.icrc.org/law-and-policy/2019/08/21/courage-responsibility-path-towards-world-without-nuclear-weapons/.
• Magee, Seana K., “Hibakusha Join Activists at U.N. Event in Calling for Nuke Ban Treaty.” The Japan Times, October 22, 2016. Accessed December 9, 2021. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/10/22/national/hibakusha-join-activists-u-n-event-calling-nuke-ban-treaty/.
• Magno, Paul. “The Plowshares Anti-Nuclear Movement at 35: A Next Generation?” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 72, no. 2 (2016): 85–8.
• Minor, Elizabeth. “Changing the Discourse on Nuclear Weapons: The Humanitarian Initiative.” International Review of the Red Cross 97, no. 899 (2015): 711–30.
• Miyazaki, Hirokazu. “Hiroshima and Nagasaki as Models of City Diplomacy.” Sustain Sci 16 (2021): 1215–228.
• Mizukawa, Kyosuke. “Seven A-Bomb Survivors’ Groups Initiate Signature Campaign to Call on Japanese Government to Ratify Nuclear Ban Treaty.” Hiroshima Peace Media Center, March 23, 2021. Accessed December 9, 2021. https://www.hiroshimapeacemedia.jp/?p=104602.
• Moore, Mike. “World Court Says Mostly No to Nuclear Weapons.” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 52, no. 5 (1996): 39–42.
• Nakamura, Akitoshi. “Photo Gallery: Ground Zero Nagasaki.” International Review of the Red Cross 97, no. 899 (2015): 543–52.
• Naono, Akiko. “Ban the Bomb! Redress the Damage!: The History of the Contentious Politics of Atomic Bomb Sufferers in Japan.” Asian Journal of Peacebuilding 6, no. 2 (2018): 223–46.
• Nebel, Jacob. “The Nuclear Disarmament Movement: Politics, Potential, and Strategy.” Journal of Peace Education 9 no. 3 (2012): 225–47.
• Nishimoto, Masami. “My Life: Interview with Former Hiroshima Mayor Takashi Hiraoka, Part 15.” Hiroshima Peace Media Center, November 5, 2009. Accessed April 19, 2022. http://www.hiroshimapeacemedia.jp/?p=23439.
• Obata, Eisuke. “Hibakusha: Paving the Way Toward the Abolishment of Nuclear Weapons.” The Mainichi, May 11, 2016. Accessed December 9, 2021. https://Mainichi.jp/english/articles/20160511/p2a/00m/0na/010000c.
• Oyama, Hiroto. “How the Red Cross Has Been Playing Its Role in A Humanitarian Approach Towards the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.” Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation 71 (2014). Accessed April 19, 2022. http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/hpcf/heiwabunka/pce071/English/14E.html.
• Rich, Motoko. “Sumiteru Taniguchi, 88, Who Survived Nagasaki to Become Activist, Dies.” New York Times, August 31, 2017. Accessed December 9, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/31/world/asia/taniguchi-nagasaki-atomic-bomb.html.
• Ruff, Tilman. “Negotiating the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and the Role of ICAN.” Global Change, Peace & Security 30 no. 2 (2018): 233–41.
• Salleh Buang. “A Difficult, But Worthy Cause.” New Straits Times, March 3, 2016. Accessed December 9, 2021. https://www.nst.com.my/news/2016/03/130782/difficult-worthy-cause.
• Satheesh, Silpa, and Robert D. Benford. “Framing and Social Movements.” In The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology Vol. 2, edited by George Ritzer and Chris Rojek, 1–5. London: Wiley-Blackwell, 2020.
• Southard, Susan. Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War. New York: Penguin Books, 2016.
• Tachibana, Seiitsu. “The Quest for a Peace Culture: The A-Bomb Survivors’ Long Struggle and the New Movement for Redressing Foreign Victims of Japan’s War.” Diplomatic History 19, no. 2 (1995): 329–46.
• Taheran, Shervin. “Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons Conference in Vienna.” Arms Control Now, May 15, 2015. Accessed December 9, 2021. https://www.armscontrol.org/blog/2015-05-15/humanitarian-impact-nuclear-weapons-conference-vienna.
• Takemoto, Makiko. “Nuclear Politics, Past and Present: Comparison of German and Japanese Anti-nuclear Peace Movements.” Asian Journal of Peacebuilding 3, no. 1 (2015): 87–101.
• Tanaka, Miya. “Hibakusha Memoir 'The Atomic Bomb on My Back' to be Published in English.” The Japan Times, July 23, 2020. Accessed December 9, 2021. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/07/23/national/history/hibakusha-memoir-english/
• Ticehurst, Rupert. “The Martens Clause and the Laws of Armed Conflict.” International Review of the Red Cross 37, no. 317 (1997): 125–34.
• Tomonaga, Masao. “Can Japan Be A Bridge-Builder Between Deterrence-Dependent States and Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty Proponents?” Medicine, Conflict and Survival 34, no. 4 (2018): 289–94.
• Tomonaga, Masao. “Voices of Nagasaki after 75 Years.” Journal for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament 4, no. sup1 (2021): 276–83.
• United Nations (UN). “Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.” 2017. Accessed December 9, 2021. https://treaties.un.org/doc/Treaties/2017/07/20170707%2003-42%20PM/Ch_XXVI_9.pdf.
• United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA). “Handing Over of Signatures in Support of the “Appeal of the Hibakusha” for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.” October 7, 2016. Accessed December 9, 2021. https://www.un.org/disarmament/update/handing-over-of-signatures-in-support-of-the-appeal-of-the-hibakusha-for-the-elimination-of-nuclear-weapons/.
• Wittner, Lawrence S. “The Forgotten Years of the World Nuclear Disarmament Movement, 1975-78.” Journal of Peace Research 40, no. 4 (2003): 435–56.
• Yanagawa, Yoshiko. “Yoshiko Yanagawa (Female).” Memories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Messages from Hibakusha, 2005. Accessed December 9, 2021. http://www.asahi.com/hibakusha/english/hiroshima/h00-00007e.html.