On February 8 and 9, the Japan Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons hosted the International Civil Society Forum to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons at Tokyo’s Sacred Heart University, bringing together experts, students and diverse voices from the nuclear disarmament field around the world to discuss and how to progress towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons.
This civil society forum was the first large event to mark the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, bringing together over 90 speakers from around the world, and hundreds of participants. It also presented the opportunity for participants to hear directly from and engage with hibakusha, including the 2024 Nobel Laureates Nihon Hidankyo.
#Hibakusha Dialogue- a special room at the Intnl Civil Society Forum to Abolish Nuclear Weapons is space for participants to learn from, share & chat with A-bomb survivors, including Wada Masako of #NihonHidankyo🕊️
— Peace Boat（NGOピースボート） (@peace_boat) February 9, 2025
Please visit in person or join online: https://t.co/SrhJmW5g09 pic.twitter.com/743iBWUy8i
Topics ranged from the current risks and urgency of taking action, to how to provide assistance to people affected by atomic bombings and nuclear tests and the impact of nuclear tests on the environment, and how this all translates into action. ICAN’s Deputy Director Daniel Högsta spoke at a panel on the challenges and future prospects of engaging nuclear armed states and their allies with the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). “We often hear from the nuclear armed states and their allies that, “the security environment is not right for nuclear disarmament". The notion that nuclear disarmament can only take place once certain undefined conditions are achieved is extremely naive. The reality is that nuclear weapons exacerbate tensions in an already unstable and dangerous geopolitical climate – and the risk of nuclear escalation is extremely high. This is not an issue we can afford to delay—nuclear weapons are an urgent, existential threat.”
The panelists shared recommendations to engage with nuclear-weapons-reliant on the catastrophic consequences of nuclear weapons and the danger of the nuclear deterrence policy.
The Forum also highlighted the opportunities and importance for divestment work, with ICAN’s programme coordinator Susi Snyder sharing key tactics. In Japan, seven financial institutions, including megabanks, have invested and loaned approximately 5.5 trillion yen to nuclear weapons manufacturing companies. The latest “Don’t Bank on the Bomb” report - co-published by PAX and ICAN - is expected later in February.
Recommendations to Japanese Diet: engage with the UN Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty
At the Forum, participants drafted recommendations on Nuclear Victim Assistance, Universalization of the TPNW and Nuclear Disarmament in East Asia ahead of the third meeting of states parties (3MSP), a summary of which was presented a roundtable to the Japanese Members of Parliament on February 10, 2025.
Photo: Peace Boat | Meri Joyce
At the roundtable, atomic bomb survivor Terumi Tanaka of the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize laureates Nihon Hidankyo, along with the other participants, urged the Japanese government to observe the upcoming meeting of States Parties on the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Until now, the government has refused to disclose whether it intends to observe, despite huge pressure from opposition parties and civil society.
“For a government that seeks to identify itself as a bridge builder, it is extremely strange that the government of Japan has always refused to engage with the TPNW in any way, the goals of which it claims to share,” said Daniel Högsta..
The recommendations developed at the Forum will also be presented in full to the 3MSP in early March in New York.