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

Year 2022, Volume: 11 Issue: 2, 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

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