This year’s G7 Summit was held in Hiroshima,
where the world’s first nuclear weapon was used. Theleaders visited the Peace Memorial Museum and left
their names and messages in the visitors’ book, thenvisited Peace Memorial Park to lay wreaths at theCenotaph for the Atomic Bomb Victims.

JAPAN’S LONGEFFORTS TO REALIZE
A WORLD WITHOUT NUCLEAR WEAPONSAs the only country to have suffered from atomic bombings during war, Japan has played a leading role in theinternational community’s efforts towards nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. At this time, whenthe world security environment is unstable, Japan has the responsibility to lead the international efforts fornuclear disarmament and continue to take concrete measures to realize a world without nuclear weapons.
For 78 years since the first nuclear weapon was used, theworld has sustained the record of the non-use of nuclear
weapons. Now, however, that history is more precarious
than ever. Surrounded by China, a nuclear-weapon State,
North Korea, persisting in its nuclear development, andRussia, threatening to use nuclear weapons in the invasionof Ukraine, East Asia’s security environment is becoming
particularly severe.
As the only country to have ever suffered atomic
bombing during wartime, Japan has actively beenleading international efforts for nuclear disarmamentand non-proliferation. It has leveraged both multilateralframeworks and bilateral diplomatic opportunities basedon the two-pronged recognition of the need for national
security and the inhumane nature of nuclear weapons.
In August last year, Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio
became the first prime minister to attend the Treaty
on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)

Review Conference held in New York. The NPT is aninternational framework on nuclear non-proliferation
with 191 countries and territories including both nuclearand non-nuclear-weapon States. In his general debatespeech, Prime Minister Kishida said that, as the guardianof the NPT, Japan would firmly defend it and that hewould work on the “Hiroshima Action Plan” as the firststep of a realistic road map to link the “reality” of a harsh
security environment to the ideal of a world without
nuclear weapons. As part of the plan, he also pointed outthat Japan would promote the sharing of the accurate
understanding of the realities of nuclear weapon use in theworld by encouraging visits to the atomic-bombed cities,
namely Hiroshima and Nagasaki, by leaders and othersfrom various countries.
True to his words, in May, the prime minister hosted theG7 Summit in Hiroshima, where the world’s first atomic
bomb was dropped. The leaders of the G7 and invited

Right: Prime Minister Kishida delivered a speech at the Hiroshima Peace
Memorial Ceremony on August 6, stating that “The starting point for making
firm progress towards the realization of a ‘world without nuclear weapons’ isaccurately understanding the tragic realities of the atomic bombings.”

Top: The First Preparatory Committee for the 2026 NPT Review Conference opened in July 2023 in Vienna. “There has
not been a time since the depths of the Cold War that the risk of a nuclear weapon being used has been so high…The NPT
has earned its status as the so-called ‘cornerstone of the disarmament and non-proliferation regime’ because it is key tomaintaining the hard-won norms against nuclear weapons,” said NAKAMITSU Izumi, UN Under-Secretary-General andHigh Representative for Disarmament Affairs. JIJI
Left: Professor AKIYAMA Nobumasa also attended the First Preparatory Committee for the 2026 NPT Review
Conference held in Vienna. “It is imperative to reduce the risk of using nuclear weapons and to build mutual trust betweennations. In the coming years, when emerging technologies such as AI in nuclear deterrence and arms control will become
major issues, Japan should be firmly involved in the rulemaking exercises in those fields,” he said. THE MAINICHI NEWSPAPERScountries and heads of international organizations visitedthe Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, which shows
the devastation caused by the bombing, and listened to
the voice of an atomic bombing survivor. The G7 leaders
issued the “G7 Leaders’ Hiroshima Vision on Nuclear
Disarmament,” the first-ever G7 Leaders’ document witha particular focus on nuclear disarmament.
“The fact that the Japanese government hosted theG7 meeting in Hiroshima and put forward a vision for
nuclear disarmament even amidst a difficult strategic
environment, demonstrates to the world Japan’s consistentcommitment through actions, not just words,” said
Professor AKIYAMA Nobumasa, Dean of Hitotsubashi
University’s School of International and Public
Policy. “Never before have so many heads of state andgovernment, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ofUkraine, and leaders of invited countries, come together
to be exposed to the realities of the atomic bombings. By
visiting Hiroshima and learning the (catastrophic andinhumane) impact, they reaffirmed the norm of standing
against the use of nuclear weapons. Japan’s role as a bridge
between nuclear- and non-nuclear-weapon States, andthe continuation of the history of non-use, will serve as
an important foundation for rendering nuclear weapons
unnecessary.”
Another effort by Japan was the International Group ofEminent Persons for a World Without Nuclear Weapons(IGEP) launched in 2022 under the initiative of Prime
Minister Kishida. The purpose of the IGEP is to serveas an opportunity for 15 experts from nuclear- and non-nuclear-weapon States to engage in candid discussions
beyond their respective national positions.
Following the second meeting of the IGEP in April thisyear, with the sense of urgency that the current crisis mustbe turned into an opportunity to strengthen the nuclear
non-proliferation regime, particularly by maintaining
and strengthening the NPT, the IGEP issued a message
to the Review Conference of the Parties to the NPT.
Professor Akiyama is also a member of the IGEP andsaid, “The challenges for the future involve how to createa mechanism to reduce nuclear risks, including avoidanceof inadvertent escalation and how to improve the NPT
Review Process to enable substantive discussions on issues
related to nuclear disarmament, such as transparency.”
The widening division within the international
community over approaches to nuclear disarmament,
Russia’s nuclear threat, and other concerns now makethe road to a world without nuclear weapons all themore difficult. In his address at the 78th Hiroshima
Peace Memorial Ceremony, Prime Minister Kishidaemphasized, “it is precisely because of these circumstancesthat it is imperative for us to reinvigorate international
momentum once more towards the realization of a world
without nuclear weapons.”
Japan will continue to lead candid dialogue between
nuclear- and non-nuclear-weapon States at various fora,including those of the United Nations (UN) and theNPT, and will continue its tireless efforts towards nuclear
disarmament in cooperation with the internationalcommunity.