Opening Remarks
President of JPPNW, President of HICARE

Keiichi Hiramatsu

My name is Keiichi Hiramatsu, president of Hiroshima Prefectural Medical Association,and I also serve as president of HICARE and president of JPPNW.
I am very pleased to see so many of you participating in this the 9th IPPNW North Asia
Regional Conference and the HICARE International Symposium to mark the 70th anniversaryof the atomic bombings, and I express my sincere gratitude to all those who have worked so
hard to make this day possible.
This symposium is jointly staged by HICARE and JPPNW in Hiroshima, which was theﬁrst place to suﬀer the horror of atomic bombing. On the 70th anniversary of the bombing, I
think this is a highly signiﬁcant event that gives us the opportunity to conclude past activities
and open a new page looking to the future.
Since this symposium is being conducted jointly with the seminar for doctors indesignated medical institutions for treatment of the A-bomb survivors, I think it may be a long
two-day event for everybody concerned, but I expect that you stay attentive to the end.
Since we have many citizens in attendance today, I would like to take this opportunity tobrieﬂy introduce the activities of HICARE and IPPNW.
HICARE was established in Hiroshima in 1991 after the accident at Chernobyl nuclear
power plant with the objective of sharing Hiroshima's accumulated expertise in treating
A-bomb survivors and research on the eﬀects of A-bomb radiation for the medical care ofradiation-exposed people throughout the world.
Now, 25 years have passed and we have received 455 doctors and researchers from 20
countries and sent 201 specialists to 16 countries, utilizing Hiroshimaʼs expertise to contribute to
the health care of the radiation-exposed.
In 2014 HICARE was designated as a Collaborating Center of the International Atomic
Energy Agency（IAEA）, and we have been utilizing that network to contribute to even morecountries and regions.
Meanwhile, the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War（IPPNW）
was founded at the end of the 1970s while the Cold War was still in progress, thanks to theeﬀorts of Dr. Bernard Lown from the U.S. and Dr. Evgueni Chazov of the Soviet Union.
IPPNW was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985 in recognition for its achievementsin accumulating knowledge and raising public awareness about the devastating consequences ofnuclear warfare from the viewpoint of medical specialists.
The Japanese aﬃliate, JPPNW, was established in 1982 and currently has some 2,600
members belonging to 13 branches. While participating in world and regional conferences, it
continues to stress the inhumanity of nuclear weapons through conducting lectures on therealities of the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the long-term health eﬀects of45

radiation exposure, holding poster exhibitions and conducting other steady activities geared torealizing Japan's responsibility as a country to have suﬀered atomic bombings.
JPPNW has also formed the North Asia region together with the aﬃliates of China,
North Korea, South Korea and Mongolia, and the Mongolian aﬃliate sent a representative
mission to this regional conference.
I hope that today's symposium deepens your understanding of our activities throughout
the world, in order to pass on to the next generation the results of medical care for theradiation-exposed that have been built on numerous ultimate sacriﬁces, and promote the best
contribution that Hiroshima can make to the rest of the world.
In closing, I would like to express my hope that you all ﬁnd this symposium informative
and useful in your future endeavors.

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Greetings
IPPNW Regional Vice President - NORTH ASIA

Masao Tomonaga

Hello everyone. My name is Masao Tomonaga and I am the regional vice president of
IPPNW for North Asia.
I am very pleased to see the staging of the 9th IPPNW North Asia Regional Conference
here in Hiroshima. Actually, until yesterday I was in Geneva attending the Open-Ended
Working Group（OEWG）to discuss approaches to constructing the legal framework for theabolition of nuclear weapons that was adopted as a resolution at the U.N. General Assembly
held in December last year. I managed to attend the ﬁrst three days of the OEWG from
Monday. I visited Japan's Ministry of Foreign Aﬀairs two weeks ago to request the Governmentof Japan's attendance at the OEWG too, and it has also decided to take part in the ﬁnal phase.
With participation by approximately 100 countries, we are seeing extremely lively debate is
being conducted.
IPPNW has so far worked very hard to formulate a scenario for the abolition of nuclear
weapons with the focus on the inhumanity of such weapons as witnessed in the tragic
consequences of the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and I traveled to Geneva inthe hope of seeing this scenario come to fruition, however, we still seem to be only halfway
down the road to realizing this goal. The campaign to convey the inhumanity of nuclear
weapons is faced with great diﬃculties, as can be gathered from the fact that not even one
nuclear power participated in that meeting. However, there are moves to establish a consensus
for the abolition of nuclear weapons, and I was encouraged to witness multilateral negotiations
conducted with this end in mind.
The 1st IPPNW North Asia Regional Conference was staged in Nagasaki in 1997, largely
thanks to the immense eﬀorts of Dr. Kenjiro Yokoro, who was Secretary General at that time.
Participation at this time comprised Japan, South Korea and China, and aﬃliates were also
subsequently established in North Korea and Mongolia, however, following various twists andturns after about 20 years since that time, the aﬃliates in South Korea and China have become
dormant, and, unfortunately, we have also recently lost contact with the North Korean aﬃliate.
We thus face an uphill task in trying to consolidate the North Asian region.
On the other hand, our Mongolia aﬃliate, which had suspended activities for a time, wasre-established last year and now sends numerous missions that contain young representatives.
This is extremely pleasing and I would like to express my gratitude to all our friends from
Mongolia.
I believe that today's staging of the 9th North Asia Regional Conference is, therefore,
very signiﬁcant in this extremely transitional year in the movement for abolition of nuclear
weapons. Of course, this is also the year that marks the 70th anniversary of the atomic
bombings.

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I look forward to debating our next steps on our journey to abolishing nuclear weapons
together with all the guests and the local IPPNW members gathered here today. Thank you allfor your participation.
※This greeting was translated by the HICARE Secretariat.

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Greetings by Guests
President, Japan Medical Association

Yoshitake Yokokura

On behalf of the Japan Medical Association（JMA）I would like to say a few words at theoccasion of the HICARE international symposium which marks the 70th anniversary of the atomic
bombings.
The 1st IPPNW North Asia Regional Conference was hosted by the Japanese aﬃliate in1997, and this year marks the 9th of the regional conference. This international symposium by
HICARE - Hiroshima International Council for Health Care of the Radiation Exposed, I
understand, aims at further improving the contents and enhancing more international
contribution.
As the only country in the world to have suﬀered atomic bombings, Japan has appealed
the international communities about the tragedy, ultimate sacriﬁces caused by such weapons,devastating impact in various aspects as well as the suﬀering and hardships of victims who stillrequire treatment in 70 years after the event. I would like to express my deep respect for the
prolonged and devoted eﬀorts of the members of the Japanese aﬃliate of IPPNW（JPPNW）, the
HICARE and Hiroshima Prefecture who have been working at the forefront with these eﬀorts.
As Japan's representative professional group of physicians, the JMA has for a long time
actively appealed the basic policy on this issue mainly through the World Medical Association（WMA）. In 1995, the JMA earnestly encouraged the member associations of WMA to adopt a
WMA resolution calling for an immediate cessation of nuclear testing and the abolition of nuclear
weapons and this successfully lead to adoption. This action for a resolution originated from a
proposal made jointly by Hiroshima Prefectural Medical Association and Nagasaki ken Medical
Association in the JMA General Assembly 1995. Then in 1998, the JMA made protests to theambassadors of India and Pakistan in Japan against the nuclear tests conducted by those twocountries, and it also played a leading role for the WMA to adopt a WMA resolution opposing
nuclear weapons at the WMA General Assembly held in Canada in the same year. In the WMA
General Assembly in South Africa in 2006 that was held soon after an underground nuclear test
by North Korea, the JMA proposed a resolution denouncing the test and this again was
unanimously adopted. More recently, at last year's WMA General Assembly in Moscow, we
adopted a WMA statement calling for the national medical associations to enlighten the generalpublic and lobby their respective governments for the abolition of nuclear weapons in view of
their devastating impact on the global ecosystem and the massive human damage they may
cause.
The JMAs will continue to be strongly determined to make strong appeals via the WMA,
the Confederation of Medical Associations in Asia and Oceania（CMAAO）and other internationalorganizations to attain long held wishes of not only the A-bomb victims but all the people who areopposed to nuclear testing and nuclear weapons.

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In closing, I sincerely hope that this symposium will be a good opportunity to provide astrong support to achieve its objectives for the worldwide movement to oppose nuclear testingand nuclear weapons.

Member of the House of Representatives
Managing Director of Parliamentary Group for the Relief of A-bomb Survivors

Minoru Terada,MPP
Thank you for the introduction. I am Minoru Terada, elected member of the House ofRepresentatives in the Japanese Diet from Hiroshima prefecture district No. 5 constituency. I
am also a Managing Director of the All-party Parliamentary Group for the Relief of A-bomb
Survivors.
Let me ﬁrst of all oﬀer my hearty congratulations on the staging of today's international
symposium, coinciding with the IPPNW North Asia Regional Conference, with the support andbacking of HICARE, Hiroshima Prefectural Medical Association, Hiroshima City, Hiroshima
Prefecture and many others who contributed a lot to hold this marvelous symposium .
As you are all well aware, moves to stage such a symposium to mark the 70th
anniversary of the atomic bombings have been gathering big momentum since the beginning oflast year. As a Managing Director of the All-party Parliamentary Group for the Relief ofA-bomb Survivors, and also as a member of the second generation A-bomb victims andsurvivors, I am very pleased to witness the fruition of this event under the full support andcooperation including manpower and funding of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
I am reminded of the time in September 2008 when the G8 Summit of Lower House
Speakers was held in Hiroshima eight years ago. At this time, the then Speaker of the House ofRepresentatives, Honorable Yohei Kono, speaking as secretary of the Parliamentary Network
for Nuclear Disarmament, made an urgent appeal for, among other things, realization of a"nuclear-free world," promotion of relief for A-bomb survivors, and enhancement of A-bomb
victim medical care.
Also, on August 6 last year, the All-party Parliamentary Group for the Relief of A-bomb
Survivors made appeals to Prime Minister

Shinzo Abe, the Minister of Health, Labour andWelfare, Yasuhisa Shinozaki and the ranking members of LDP including Tomomi Inada,
the head of policymaking board, Sadakazu Tanigaki, MD of LDP to work for a nuclear-freeworld, to invite the G7 meeting so that the world's leaders can come to Hiroshima and see thereality of radiation exposure for themselves, and to adopt a resolution for the promotion of
medical care for the radiation exposed and staging of an international symposium.
It pleases me very much to see the realization of one of these elements as an important
step in light of the ruling party staging of today's symposium with participants assembled fromall around the world. Moreover, as you are well aware, the G7 Foreign Ministers' Summit

50Meeting will be held at the Grand Prince Hotel Hiroshima in April 10th and 11th.
I hope that we can use these occasions to convey to the rest of the world our strong andever-lasting feelings, the feelings of the victims of radiation exposure and second generation
A-bomb survivors, as well as our desire to see the realization of a nuclear-free peaceful world
and promotion of nuclear disarmament, and our commitment never to repeat the worst
disastrous horrors of our conceivable past in the human history.
The All-party Parliamentary Group for the Relief of A-bomb Survivors fully endorses
such opportunities as this.
Our group, together with well-conscious doctors and authorities is the main engine topromote such a epoch-making international symposium and has made strong impetus towarddisarmament and continuous dialogue between world signiﬁcant lawmakers.
Today is a valuable opportunity to see and hear presentations of the scientiﬁc know-how thathas so far been accumulated, as well as the stores of knowledges and experiences that havebeen assembled by IPPNW and HICARE.
With Professor Emeritus Mettler and other authorities from around the world gathered
here today, I look forward to a highly thought-provoking and future-openig symposium. Various
scientiﬁc knowledge has been accumulated in the 70 years since the atomic bombs were
dropped including Bikkinaew A-bomb testing and Three Mile Island incident, followed by
Cherunoabilay melt-down incident. As political parties of the ruling administration, we are
seeking full relief for persons who were exposed to radiation by entering an area within 3.5
kilometers of the epicenter and within 100 hours after detonation. Even today, almost 200,000
radiation exposure survivors live with health concerns, and many of them are suﬀering in theface of severe A-bomb diseases like MDS, cancer, and so forth and the serious fear of death.
I am convinced that today's symposium provides a major boost to our eﬀorts to provide
the earliest possible relief to as many radiation exposure survivors as possible.
In closing, I would like to extend my most sincere respect to all the other people whohave helped and prepared to make this international symposium possible today and tomorrow,and I hope that it is successful and becomes a milestone and a benchmark in our eﬀorts toachieve further progress.

Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare

Fusae Ota

Thank you for the introduction. I am Fusae Ota, Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Health,Labour and Welfare.
Let me oﬀer my hearty congratulations on today's international symposium to mark the70th anniversary of the atomic bombing in Hiroshima by Hiroshima International Council for
Health Care of the Radiation-Exposed（HICARE）and all those concerned.
Ever since its establishment in 1991, HICARE has worked tirelessly to make51

contributions and promote international cooperation in medical care for the radiation exposed allover the world.
In order to conduct technical guidance and oﬀer information for medical professionals
involved in medical treatment for persons exposed to radiation all over the world, HICARE has
so far accepted more than 1,300 trainees from abroad and dispatched more than 200 medical
professionals to 16 countries.
I wish to express my sincere respect and gratitude for these eﬀorts by all concernedover the years.
I also express my respect to the medical professionals gathered here today starting withmembers of Hiroshima Prefectural Medical Association, medical professionals from overseas
who treat persons exposed to radiation, and all others who are routinely involved in the medicalcare for the radiation exposed in their respective capacities.
On a personal note, as someone who was born in the city of Kure in Hiroshima
Prefecture and grew up surrounded by Hiroshima's natural scenic beauty, it grieves me tothink that the A-bomb was dropped on this city.
Let me reiterate the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's intention to solidly
support activities such as those we see today.
I intend to make the utmost eﬀort in my position as Parliamentary Vice-Minister of
Health, Labour and Welfare to promote comprehensive support measures for A-bomb survivors
in the ﬁelds of health, medical care and welfare.
It is now 70 years since the A-bomb was detonated and the average age of the A-bomb
survivors is more than 80 years. In view of this aging and requests received from various
quarters, we intend to implement the following measures in addition to conventional policies.
- We will accelerate the A-bomb disease review process so that recognition as a rule canbe granted within six months in all cases.
- Also, we will support the preservation of A-bomb-damaged buildings in Hiroshima andNagasaki with a view to conveying the horror of atomic bombs to future generations andmourning the victims of the bombings.
Against such a background, the staging of this symposium and exchange of opinions on
the theme of "Inheritance of the Experiences of Medical Care for the Radiation-Exposed andInternational Contribution" as an event to mark the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing inJapan, which is the only country in the world to be targeted by A-bombs, is both timely and ofgreat signiﬁcance.
I hope that today's symposium becomes an important event for HICARE to promoteinternational contribution and cooperation in the area of medical care for the radiation exposed,
and I sincerely look forward to even greater enhancement of its eﬀorts in future.
In closing, I extend my hope that the members of HICARE and all of you gathered here
today enjoy further success and activity in future.

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Mayor of Hiroshima City

Kazumi Matsui

I would like to oﬀer a few words on the staging of this international symposium in
Hiroshima, marking 70 years since detonation of the A-bomb.
I oﬀer my sincere gratitude to all those in attendance for their eﬀorts in promoting anddisseminating medical care for the radiation exposed and passing-on their experiences.
Established in 1991, HICARE has worked to internationally spread research ﬁndings andknow-how on medical care for the radiation exposed, accumulated thanks to the cooperation of
A-bomb survivors in Hiroshima. Towards this end, HICARE has accepted and dispatched
medical professionals, issued specialist publications on medical care for the radiation exposedand so on. Such eﬀorts are highly regarded on the international stage, as demonstrated in its
designation by the International Atomic Energy Agency（IAEA）Collaborating Centre in 2014.
The stream of medical professionals from around the world visiting Hiroshima in search ofadvanced technology in the medical care for the radiation exposed is unending, and HICARE
will continue to shoulder high expectations in future.
As an organization of medical professionals, IPPNW has strived to disseminate correctknowledge about the threat of nuclear war and to prevent such a war from ever happening. Its
activities parallel the eﬀorts of Hiroshima City to convey the inhumanity of nuclear weapons
and implement initiatives for the abolition of nuclear weapons and realization of permanent
worldwide peace.
At the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting to be held in Hiroshima in April, Hiroshima City
administration intends to let participants come into direct contact with the realities of atomic
bombing and to convey a powerful message calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
The average age of the A-bomb survivors is now more than 80 years, and the need for
medical care for the radiation exposed is becoming increasingly pressing. In the judiciary, we
have seen verdicts recognizing that persons outside of the oﬃcial A-bomb aﬀected areas canalso be aﬀected by radiation, and there is growing need for the impacts of radiation on thehuman body to be elucidated.
In these circumstances, I believe it is highly signiﬁcant for so many related persons togather in Hiroshima today with the aims of presenting the results of measures, holding
discussions, sharing information on how to pass on the latest medical care for the radiation
exposed and experiences, and conveying Hiroshima's message to Japan and the rest of theworld.
In closing, I would like to wish the greatest success for this symposium and express mysincere hope that it is enlightening and inspirational for all those in attendance.

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Governor of Hiroshima Prefecture

Hidehiko Yuzaki

As governor of a prefecture that suﬀered from detonation of the A-bomb, I would like tooﬀer a few words of respect and gratitude to all the members of HICARE and IPPNW and all of
those who are routinely involved in the medical care for the radiation exposed both in Japanand overseas.
70 years ago, Hiroshima became the ﬁrst ever target for detonation of an A-bomb,
destroying the city and taking the lives of a great many people. Even today there are many
persons in Japan and abroad who are suﬀering from the after-eﬀects of the A-bomb radiation.
From immediately after the bombing, support was received from persons all over theworld while the doctors of Hiroshima devoted themselves to providing medical treatment for
those injured by the A-bomb. As a result, abundant knowledge related to medical care for theradiation exposed has been accumulated here in Hiroshima.
This storehouse of knowledge would not have been possible without the understanding andcooperation of the A-bomb survivors.
Having being accumulated over many years, this storehouse of knowledge is being
utilized in the medical care for radiation-exposed individuals all over the world. As theimportance of international cooperation grows in the ﬁeld of medical care for the radiation
exposed, I believe that growing expectations are now being placed on HICARE and IPPNW.
Against this background, I think it is highly signiﬁcant for this symposium to be staged
with participation from related persons from Japan and abroad as well as the people ofHiroshima Prefecture on the theme of "Inheritance of the Experiences of Medical Care for the
Radiation-Exposed and International Contribution."
I hope that this symposium provides an opportunity to deepen understanding about
cooperation in the medical care for the radiation exposed throughout the world and to further
promote Hiroshima's unique eﬀorts to advance international contributions.
In April this year, the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting will be held in Hiroshima City, andHiroshima Prefecture will take this opportunity to bring the political leaders of the countries
that possess nuclear weapons into contact with the realities of radiation exposure, convey theinhumanity of nuclear weapons and take other steps geared to the abolition of nuclear weapons
and, recovery and building of peace.
By attending this symposium today, you are showing your understanding and hopes forthe stance of Hiroshima, and I would like to humbly request your cooperation and support forthe peacebuilding measures being taken by Hiroshima starting from the medical care for theradiation exposed.
Finally, I would like to extend my most sincere gratitude to all the other people whohave helped to realize this symposium today, and I hope you all ﬁnd it informative and useful.

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