Japan has experienced “three instances of exposure" to radiation: the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and fallout from a thermonuclear test.

Seventy years later, nuclear weapons are still being used as tools of intimidation in war, threatening the global environment. Despite the challenging path, we have every duty to strengthen solidarity with “hibakusha” victims of nuclear radiation wherever they may be and strive toward a world without nuclear weapons.

On March 1, 1954, during the Cold War, the United States conducted a hydrogen bomb test off Bikini Atoll, part of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean, causing catastrophic damage to the ring of small coral islands and the surrounding environment.

The explosion was 1,000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb that leveled the city of Hiroshima in August 1945. A massive mushroom cloud spread and white dust of small particles originating from pulverized and calcined corals rained down as radioactive fallout.

At that moment, a Japanese tuna fishing boat, the “Daigo Fukuryu Maru” (Lucky Dragon No. 5), was operating in the area. After returning to its home port in Yaizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, the 23 crew members were confirmed to have been exposed to radioactive “ash of death.” Six months later, the chief radio operator, Aikichi Kuboyama, died at the age of 40.

This incident sparked a national movement calling for the prohibition of nuclear and hydrogen bombs, drawing public attention to the survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The message of the movement spread to the international community over half a century, leading to the creation of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the first legally binding international agreement to comprehensively ban nuclear weapons.

Looking back, the Bikini incident can be considered the starting point of the anti-nuclear and non-nuclear movements.

On March 1, the 70th anniversary of the Castle Bravo test, a group of Japanese, including descendants of the victims, gathered in Majuro, the capital and largest city of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, for a memorial ceremony.

Islanders who were exposed to the radiation have suffered health issues, and many died as they grew old. The cleanup of the contaminated island chain has yet to be completed as radiation levels are still considered too high to allow resettlement.

It is hoped that younger generations from Japan and the Marshall Islands involved in the promotion of the cause will deepen their exchanges, preserving the memory of the hardships inflicted on the victims without letting it fade, and continue to convey the gloomy reality of endless health and environmental damage from nuclear radiation.

The most effective platform for spreading this message is the regularly held meetings of the parties to the nuclear weapons ban treaty. The treaty, which entered into force in 2021 after being ratified by many countries, including the Marshall Islands and others affected by nuclear testing, mandates international cooperation for the support of nuclear victims and environmental restoration.

Kazakhstan, which was seriously affected by an extensive series of nuclear tests conducted by the Soviet Union during the Cold War era, will chair next year’s conference. The event could expand and accelerate the move to protest against nuclear superpowers like the United States and Russia.

In Japan, there are still victims of the hydrogen bomb test who have not received any relief. At the time of the Bikini incident, the Daigo Fukuryu Maru was among nearly 1,000 fishing boats operating in the area.

However, the Japanese government sought a political settlement that resulted in the payment of condolence money from the United States. This course of action meant that no health surveys were carried out on the affected fishermen.

The nation’s courts are still hearing damages lawsuits filed by former crew members of fishing boats from Kochi Prefecture that were operating in the affected area. The plaintiffs are seeking compensation from the Japanese government.

As the only country to have experienced atomic bombings, Japan should take on the mission of opening up the way toward nuclear abolition by leading all nuclear victims.

Having adhered to the principles of not waging war and remaining non-nuclear for nearly 80 years during the postwar era, Japan’s call for global progress toward a nuclear-free future would resonate in the international community. We strongly urge the government to immediately change its stance of distancing itself from the nuclear ban treaty.

--The Asahi Shimbun, March 2