Ten Thousand Things

"Ten Thousand Things" is a Buddhist expression representing the dynamic interconnection and simultaneous unity and diversity of everything in the universe.

Remembering NAGASAKI MAYOR ICCHO ITOH: Global Peace and Disarmament Activist

"The human race cannot coexist with nuclear weapons.” – Iccho Itoh

Nagasaki Mayor ICCHO ITOH was one of the world's most outspoken and respected disarmament and anti-nuclear advocates.

The vice president of the 1,608-strong MAYORS FOR PEACE, Iccho Itoh was eulogized by the organization's president, Hiroshima mayor Tadatoshi Akiba:

"For 12 years, since taking office as the mayor of Nagasaki in 1995, Mayor Itoh served as vice president of Mayors for Peace. As mayors of A-bombed cities, we worked together to persuade the world to abolish nuclear weapons and build genuine and lasting peace. At the NPT Review Conference in New York in 2000, Mayor Itoh represented Mayors for Peace with an eloquent speech at UN headquarters, then met with many government representatives to defend the absolute necessity of total nuclear weapons abolition. In part because of his efforts, the final document from that conference included “an unequivocal undertaking by the nuclear-weapon States to accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals.”

"Five years later, at the NPT Review Conference in 2005, he participated in a Mayors for Peace delegation that included the representatives of 80 cities. He helped to lead 40,000 people gathered from around the world on a march through the streets of New York. He again rose before world leaders to forcefully present the expectations of the A-bombed cities. I will never forget the bold resolve with which he worked to abolish nuclear weapons, and I find it extremely painful to imagine about how he must feel about having been cut down before the job was done."

In 1995, the year he succeeded Mayor Hitoshi Motoshima, who survived a 1987 right-wing assassination attempt, and the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War, Itoh reminded us in his 1995 NAGASAKI PEACE DECLARATION, that "we must listen to the words of the atomic bomb survivors, study about the historical events leading to World War II, the horror of war and the reality of the atomic bombings, and recognize the fact that the human race cannot coexist with nuclear weapons." He ended with a global appeal, " Ladies and gentlemen, I ask you to join me in rising above the barriers of age and nationality and in forging a peaceful future for all humankind."

At the 2005 NAGASAKI ATOMIC BOMBING COMMEMORATION, Mayor Itoh challenged the sanity of the American led world armaments craze:

"The United States has 10,000 nuclear weapons, has conducted sub-critical nuclear tests and on top of that is pursuing the development of miniature nuclear weapons. Do the American people really think the policies of their country are going to bring about peace? We know that most of you are actually really seeking the abolition of nuclear weapons. We should all unite to bring peace to the world."

Mayor Iccho Itoh's 2006 NAGASAKI PEACE DECLARATION reiterates the horrifying facts of atomic testing and weapons that still have not sunk into the minds of our world leaders, reminding them that nuclear weapons are weapons of indiscriminate genocide, challenging the U.S. government for encouraging the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and urging the Japanese government to respond more sincerely and fully to the situation of atomic bombing survivors within and outside of Japan:

" At the close of the 61st year following the atomic bombings, voices of anger and frustration are echoing throughout the city of Nagasaki.

" At 11:02 a.m. on August 9, 1945, a single atomic bomb destroyed our city, instantly claiming the lives of 74,000 people and injuring 75,000 more. People were burned by the intense heat rays and flung through the air by the horrific blast winds. Their bodies bathed in mordant radiation, many of the survivors continue to suffer from the after-effects even today. How can we ever forget the anguished cries of those whose lives and dreams were so cruelly taken from them?

"And yet, some 30,000 nuclear weapons stand ready nonetheless to annihilate humanity.
"A decade ago, the International Court of Justice stated that the threat or use of nuclear weapons would generally be contrary to the rules of international law, strongly encouraging international society to strive for the elimination of nuclear armaments. Six years ago at the United Nations, the nuclear weapon states committed themselves not merely to prevent proliferation, but to an unequivocal undertaking to accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals.

"Nuclear weapons are instruments of indiscriminate genocide, and their elimination is a task that mankind must realize without fail.

"Last year, the 2005 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, to which 189 countries are signatories, ended without result, and no progress has been observed since.

"The nuclear weapon states have not demonstrated sincerity in their efforts at disarmament; the United States of America in particular has issued tacit approval of nuclear weapons development by India, and is moving forward with the construction of cooperative arrangements for nuclear technology. At the same time, nuclear weapon declarant North Korea is threatening the peace and security of Japan and the world as a whole. In fact, the very structure of non-proliferation is facing a crisis due to nuclear ambitions by various nations including Pakistan, which has announced its possession of nuclear arms; Israel, which is widely considered to possess them; and Iran.

"The time has come for those nations that rely on the force of nuclear armaments to respectfully heed the voices of peace-loving people, not least the atomic bomb survivors, to strive in good faith for nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, and to advance towards the complete abolishment of all such weapons.

"It must also be said that nuclear weapons cannot be developed without the cooperation of scientists. We would urge scientists to realize their responsibility for the destiny of all mankind, not just for their own particular countries, and to abandon the development of nuclear arms.
"Once again we call upon the Japanese government, representing as it does a nation that has experienced nuclear devastation firsthand, to ground itself in reflection upon history, uphold the peaceful intentions of the constitution, enact into the law the three non-nuclear principles, and work for establishment of a Northeast Asian Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone, that the tragedy of war may not occur again. We also urge the Japanese government to provide greater assistance to aging atomic bomb survivors, both within Japan and overseas.

"For 61 years, the hibakusha atomic bomb survivors have recounted their tragic experiences to succeeding generations. Many have chosen not to hide the keloid scars on their skin, continuing to tell of things that they might rather not remember. Their efforts are indeed a starting point for peace. Their voices reverberate around the world, calling for the deepest compassion of those who are working to ensure that Nagasaki is the last place on our planet to have suffered nuclear destruction.

"The 3rd Nagasaki Global Citizens' Assembly for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons will be held in October of this year. We invite people working for peace to span generations and national boundaries, and gather together to communicate. Let us firmly join hands and foster an even stronger network for nuclear abolition and peace, extending from Nagasaki throughout the world.

"We remain confident that the empathy and solidarity of all those who inherit the hopes of the hibakusha atomic bomb survivors will become an even more potent force, one that will surely serve to realize a peaceful world free of nuclear weapons.

"In closing, we pray for the undisturbed repose of the souls of those who lost their lives in such misery, we resolve that 2006 should be a new year of departure, and we proclaim our commitment to continue to strive for the establishment of lasting world peace."

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