Tokyo: Dozens of demonstrators rallied in Hiroshima on Saturday to protest the Japanese government’s decision to skip a global debate on nuclear weapons next week, media said.
An estimated 80 people, according to the Kyodo news agency, gathered in the Peace Memorial Park, a tribute to over 140,000 killed in the US nuclear bombing at the end of World War II.
Demonstrators slammed the government for refusing to join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons or register for the first meeting of 86 signatory nations in Vienna from June 21-23.
The UN-sponsored treaty took effect in January 2021. Japan is the only country ever attacked with nuclear weapons but its government has resisted public pressure to sign the landmark treaty because it would mean an end to reliance on US nuclear deterrent.
