University student Hideyuki Aoki has no connection to Hiroshima or Nagasaki, nor does he have a relative who suffered through the atomic bombing of either city near the end of World War II.

But the Waseda University senior still sympathized when he heard a lecture on campus by an organization seeking to ban nuclear weapons.

“The abolition of nuclear weapons is not a problem just for atomic bomb survivors and atomic-bombed cities,” Aoki, 22, said he thought at the time. “It is a problem that everyone has to face.”

So, Aoki embarked on a solo effort to file a petition with the assembly of his home city of Kazo, Saitama Prefecture, asking it to call on the central government to join an international convention that bans the possession and use of nuclear arms.

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the pact in question, celebrated the first anniversary going into force on Jan. 22.

The Kazo assembly did not adopt the petition. However, Aoki said that he believes that the experience he gained was worth the effort.

He said he plans to continue calling on Japan to join the nuclear ban treaty even after he graduates from university and heads out into the real world this spring.

WHAT HE CAN DO TO HELP

Aoki had never thought deeply about the nuclear arms issue. But he became motivated to do something after attending a lecture at his university given by Akira Kawasaki, a member of the International Steering Group with the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).

ICAN, an international nongovernmental organization, had received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017.

Aoki asked himself what he could do to help as a student.

He decided to file a petition with his local city assembly, asking it to submit a written opinion calling on the central government of Japan to sign and ratify the nuke ban treaty.

The assembly would submit the written opinion to the central government and the Diet if Aoki’s petition were to be adopted. He thought it would carry a strong impact to have the opinion delivered on behalf of a city assembly, which represents his local community.

A petition to the city assembly has to be supported by an assembly member, so Aoki called assembly members, none of whom he personally knew. One offered to help him, and he was able to submit his petition last August.

Deliberations on the petition would have taken place in a committee hall in normal times.

They were held instead in the plenary session hall, which is more spacious, as a precaution against the novel coronavirus. Aoki took the podium himself to state his argument.

“The entry into force of the TPNW is so groundbreaking,” he said in his speech. “I should point out the Japanese government’s stance is partly responsible for the scant headway being made on nuclear disarmament.”

Many assembly members said, however, that they believe the matter was in the central government’s hands and the nuclear umbrella was working effectively. Aoki’s petition was rejected. 

“Some told me that my petition campaign could hurt me in my job hunt,” Aoki said. “I realized how embarrassing it can be to express a view on the nuclear arms issue.”

The experience, however, gave Aoki opportunities to exchange views with members of different assembly groups and to get to know like-minded individuals in his local community. He also said he gained confidence from having worked on his own to come this far.

Aoki is currently participating in activities for visiting embassies or diplomatic outposts of countries and regions that have yet to join the TPNW.

He is also planning to attend a conference of young people to be held in Austria on the sidelines of a meeting of states parties to the nuclear ban treaty this year. 

The TPNW has entered the second year since it went into force.

“I want to see the treaty ratified by more nations and help give a push to the Japanese government, which has been so slow to act,” Aoki said. “I hope to help create a trend for ratifications in various regions of the world.”

ACTIVIST STRESSES NEED TO PUSH GOVERNMENT

The TPNW describes nuclear arms as inhumane and illegal. It bans the development, testing, production, possession and use of all forms of nuclear weapons and also prohibits the threatening to employ one.

The treaty was adopted in 2017 by the approval of 122 states. It took effect on Jan. 22, 2021, after it was ratified by 50 states.

The United States, China and other nuclear weapon powers, however, are opposed to the nuclear ban treaty. Japan, which relies on the “nuclear umbrella” of the United States, has yet to ratify it, and has not even signed it to show basic approval.

Germany, also under the nuclear umbrella, has said it will join the meeting of states parties in the capacity of an observer. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan, however, remains opposed to similarly participating.

“Japan is not a nuclear weapon state, but it is still a nuclear-dependent state,” said Kawasaki. “A nation that has suffered atomic bombings should not rely on U.S. nuclear arms for its security.”

Kawasaki continued, “We now have this treaty for eliminating nuclear weapons. What is still to be done is for us to push the central government. We should make ourselves heard to the government and to politicians.”

According to officials of the Japan Council against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs, 627 local assemblies had adopted written opinions, as of Jan. 12, calling on the central government to join, sign or ratify the TPNW.

Some of these were adopted based on petition efforts of local residents, the officials added.