The mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki asked the Japanese government to support a United Nations treaty that would ban nuclear weapons, according to The Japan Times.
“A recognition that nuclear weapons are an absolute evil has spread in the world,” said Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui said at a meeting at the Foreign Ministry, according to The Japan Times. Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue also attended the meeting.
Hiroshima 1945 by Everett Collection. Shutterstock.
Both mayors presented a letter to Japan’s Senior Vice-Foreign Minister Eiichiro Washio calling on the Japanese government to exert leadership in nuclear disarmament talks, The Japan Times reported. (RELATED: 6-Year-Old WWII Resistance Agent Who Passed Messages Behind Nazi Lines Honored On Veterans Day)
“The hibakusha’s strong appeal never to let anyone experience (atomic bombings) created a powerful movement. The treaty is a result of many countries sharing a sense of crisis regarding slow progress in nuclear disarmament talks,” the letter read, according to The Japan Times.
Honduras was the fiftieth country to sign the pact, meaning that it will take effect in January 2021, according to The Japan Times. This excludes the five members of the U.N. Security Council that have nuclear weapons, which are China, Britain, Russia, France and the United States.