The 9th General Conference of Mayors for Peace

Opening Ceremony
Keynote SpeechAugust 8 (Tue), 2017 9:45-11:00
Nakabe Hall, Nagasaki University Bunkyo Campus

Hand bell Performance:
Tachibana Junior High School Hand bell Club COSMOS
Messages and Addresses:
Kazumi Matsui
President of Mayors for Peace, Mayor of Hiroshima, Japan(Delivered by the Secretary General of Mayors for Peace)
Tomihisa Taue
Vice President of Mayors for Peace, Mayor of Nagasaki, Japan
Hodo Nakamura
Governor of Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan
Elayne Whyte Gómez
Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the UN Office at Geneva(Video Message)
Keynote Speech: “The Imperatives for Disarmament in the 21st Century”
Izumi Nakamitsu
United Nations Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for
Disarmament Affairs

MC
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for waiting. Hand bell Club COSMOS
from Tachibana Junior High School of Nagasaki is going to play the hand bell.

Hand bell Performance:
Tachibana Junior High School Hand bell Club COSMOSHello, we are from Tachibana Junior High School Hand bell Club. Our school is locatedon the east side of Nagasaki City. Our school is surrounded by nature. For example, we
can see the Bay of Tachibana and Mt. Fugen from our school. There are a total of 506
students, and we spend our school life enjoying various club activities. Our hand bellclub has 14 members and we practice hard every day.
We appreciate the chance to perform at this conference today. Today, we will perform
Pachelbel’s Canon, Shokichi Kina’s Hana—subete no hito no kokoro ni hanawo, andMasaharu Fukuyama’s Kusunoki. Masaharu Fukuyama is a musician from Nagasaki.
Kusunoki is a type of tree that is grown in Nagasaki’s Sanno Shrine. Sanno Shrine islocated 800 meters from the hypocenter. On August 9, 1945, when the atomic bomb
was dropped, the kusunoki tree lost a part of its trunk. However, over time, the tree
sprouted again. The tree’s recovery encouraged those who were injured by the atomic
bomb. Today, it is a beloved symbol of recovery and peace in Nagasaki. We will put
our heart and soul in this performance. We hope that our affection for peace will reachto your heart.
(Performance)MC
Thank you very much. Tachibana Junior High School, Nagasaki City, Hand bell ClubCOSMOS. Once again, would you please join me in giving the big hands to them?
Thank you very much.
Before the opening, I hope you enjoyed the hand bell performed by Hand bell ClubCOSMOS of Nagasaki City Tachibana Junior High School.

Video Messages:
MC
Here, we would like to show you the video of the mayors who were not able to attend
the conference.
(Video)Opening Video:MC
Now we would like to show a video film to look at the history of Mayors for Peace
activities and achievements.
(Opening Video)MC
I hope you enjoyed the history and the achievements of Mayors for Peace over the years.
Now, President, Vice Presidents and Executive Cities who are present here, would you
please come to the stage? Guests who were invited and President, Vice Presidents andExecutive Cities of Mayors for Peace, who are present today, would you come to thestage and sit down?

Opening CeremonyMC
Now we would like to open the 9th General Conference of Mayors for Peace. I will beserving as your MC. My name is Nishi. I would like to ask for your kind support. At the
opening of the 9th General Conference of Mayors for Peace, on behalf of the organizers,
the President of Mayors for Peace, Mayor of Hiroshima City, Kazumi Matsui should
address you. But because of the typhoon, Mayor Matsui cannot leave Hiroshima City inorder to lead countermeasures against disaster so he is not able to attend the opening
ceremony. So Mr. Komizo, Secretary General of Mayors for Peace is going to read
President Matsui’s message. Mr. Komizo, please.

Message from Mr. Kazumi Matsui, President of Mayors for Peace, Mayor of
Hiroshima, Japan (Delivered by the Secretary General of Mayors for Peace)
At the opening of the 9th General Conference, I would like to address you as Presidentof Mayors for Peace. I would like to offer my deepest welcome and appreciation to Ms.
Izumi Nakamitsu, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for
Disarmament Affairs, Governor Hodo Nakamura of Nagasaki Prefecture, and so many
participants from all over the world. It is a great honor and pleasure for me to open theconference in such a splendid manner.
The key theme of the general conference is “Toward a World without Nuclear Weapons– What We Can Do Toward 2020.” 2020 is a milestone year for our vision to achieve
nuclear-weapon-free world, the year when the next NPT Review Conference will beheld, and also the 75th anniversary of A-bombings. The theme represents our wish to
discuss with you what mayors can and should do together with citizens toward theimportant year of 2020.
There are two important points we need to consider as we deliberate what we should do.
The first is the conclusion of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons on July
7. The treaty, long awaited by hibakusha and many advocates of the citizens, wasadopted on the final day of negotiations held at UN Headquarters in New York,supported by 122 countries. This represents new progress toward the total elimination of
all nuclear weapons. Yet, the nuclear-armed states and their allies under the nuclear
umbrella did not participate in the negotiation. So the second point is that we should
now focus efforts on persuading nuclear-dependent states to accept the will of civilsociety, which is our path toward a world free of nuclear weapons. We need toencourage these states to change the directions early so that they are going to join the
new treaty. It is very imperative for the civil society to unite voices in order to move outof the status quo of the dependence of nuclear deterrence.
During the conference, we will have in-depth discussions on what we can do to realize
early acceptance of the new treaty by all countries including nuclear-weapon states, andto find solution to threats to peace in each region. We will formulate our concrete

actions till 2020 in our Mayors for Peace Action Plan, and we will also adopt theNagasaki Appeal.
I sincerely hope that we will have fruitful discussions over three days and enjoy ourlimited time together, for that, with this conference, we can renew our shared pledges.
With this I would like to conclude my opening remarks.
Welcome Address:
MC
Now, representing Nagasaki City, which is the host of this 9th General Conference,
Mayor of Nagasaki, Tomihisa Taue gives us a welcome address.
Mr. Tomihisa Taue, Vice President of Mayors for Peace, Mayor of Nagasaki, Japan
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I am Taue, Mayor of Nagasaki City, currently
serving as Vice President of Mayors for Peace. First and foremost, on behalf of 420,000
citizens, I would like to express our heartfelt welcome to all of the participants who
have come all the way to this 9th General Conference and I would like to extend myspecial thanks to Ms. Izumi Nakamitsu, United Nations Under-Secretary-General andHigh Representative for Disarmament Affairs and Mr. Hodo Nakamura, Governor of
Nagasaki Prefecture, for joining us in the midst of their busy schedule. Ms. Nakamitsu,
as we all know, is today’s keynote speaker.
Every four years, the general conference is held alternately in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
There are two important reasons to this. One of them is to get in touch with the starting
point of our earnest desire for realizing a world without nuclear weapons. The very firststep for having a firm conviction that we have to make such a world is to learn whatreally happened on that day in the atomic bombed cities, how it deprived humanity, andto learn that reality. We believe that it is a very good way for us to have such a general
conference either in Hiroshima or Nagasaki, and by getting in touch with this origin andstarting point of our feeling, we can reconfirm our desire to achieve a world without
nuclear weapons.
And in this conference, we have an opportunity to listen to one hibakusha, Ms. SachikoMatsuo. I’m sure that this is going to be one of the very precious moments that we areable to listen to them directly. Today, the average age of hibakusha is over 81 years old,
and we have seen the passing of those precious hibakusha over the years. So I really callupon you to listen to her talk attentively.
The second reason why we are having this general conference alternately in Hiroshima
and Nagasaki is that it’s the starting point for networking. Many participants fromaround the world come from cities that suffered from wars and battles and civil conflicts.
The Mayors and citizens of those states and cities would like to realize a peaceful world,
but their voices are very difficult to be heard when they act individually. However, by
having a network of all of those local authorities and citizens, their voices are going to
be stronger and they will be heard more in the world, and that will become a powerfulforce to change the world. That is the spirit of one leader had, and with that conviction,
this organization began 35 years ago. Over the years, Mayors for Peace has recruited
many new members, and here we are today.
On July 7, at the United Nations, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was
adopted and I believe that all the sources and starting point of this Treaty came from theaspiration of hibakusha. Their strong desires were joined in by other like-minded people
and together, have grown from a small stream to a big river, and it has reached in theform of a new norm, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. In order for us
to really grow this to a big stream, that is to realize a world free of nuclear weapons,
there are so many things we still need to do. However, I truly believe that Mayors for
Peace has done a tremendous work in helping these achievements of realizing the Treaty
on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Mayors for Peace has acted for petition driveand signature collections for realizing such a treaty, and we would like to continue
working with you until we achieve a world without nuclear weapons.
Yesterday, with my colleagues sitting on the stage, we met at the Executive Conference
for Mayors for Peace. All the attendees in the Executive Conference considered andvoiced their opinions what we have to do and what we can do at this moment in time. I
felt so proud of being a member of this great organization, Mayors for Peace, consistedof such a great team of representatives of local authorities from around the world. Ihope we will be able to continue to work with them hand in hand towards a world
without nuclear weapons.
Mayors for Peace has taken various challenges in the past. In this General Conference,
we have a new program called the “Role of Youth”. Young people are going to be
divided into six groups, and they are going discuss with the mayors and representativesof local authorities about what the youth can do for peace. I’m looking forward to thisparticular session to see what fruit they are going to bring about. Of course we havesessions on the role of cities and the role of NGOs and hibakusha in this year’s general
conference.
I hope that this general conference will become a place where we build up our energythat will drive us toward the future through this journey, and, at the same time, I
sincerely hope that this will be another occasion where we will strengthen or evenexpand our network. I once again would like to take this opportunity to express myheartfelt gratitude to all of those like-minded leaders to be here in Nagasaki, and I
would like to call upon all my friends and colleagues that we will work together torealize a peaceful world. Thank you very much.
Introduction of Distinguished Guests:
MC
Thank you very much. Now I would like to introduce to you the distinguished guests.
Ms. Izumi Nakamitsu, Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for
Disarmament Affairs of the United Nations. She is going to deliver a keynote speech.
Mr. Hodo Nakamura, Governor of Nagasaki Prefecture.
Mr. Yoshiaki Takaki, Member of the House of Representatives of Japan.
Mr. Tsutomu Tomioka, Member of the House of Representatives of Japan.
Ms. Tomoko Abe, Member of the House of Representatives of Japan.
The Chairman, the Vice Chairman and the members of Nagasaki City Assembly, andalso the great leaders of the foreign diplomatic core in Japan are here with us today.
Thank you very much for your kind attendance.

Introduction of Executive Cities:
MC
Now, I would like to introduce to you the Vice Presidents and Executives of Mayors for
Peace. When your name is called, please stand up, bow and sit down.
Mr. Tomihisa Taue, Mayor of Nagasaki.
Mr. Yasuyoshi Komizo, Representing Mayor of Hiroshima, Secretary General of
Mayors for Peace.
Ms. Jasminka Bajlo, Counselor of Biograd na Moru, Croatia.
Mr. Nkenfack, Mayor of Fongo-Tongo, Cameroon.
Mr. Josep Mayoral, Mayor of Granollers, Spain.
Mr. Khder Kareem, Mayor of Halabja, Iraq.
Mr. Thomas Hermann, Deputy Mayor of Hannover, Germany.
Mr. Michel Cibot, Honorary City Manager of Malakoff, France.
Mr. Eddy Newman, Lord Mayor of Manchester, UK.
Ms. Maria Fernanda Olvera Cabrera, Director of the Institute of Youths, Mexico City,
Mexico.
Mr. Jaime Fresnedi, Mayor of Muntinlupa, Philippines.
Mr. Jef Verschoore, Deputy Mayor of Ypres, Belgium.
Mr. Vallop Suwandee, Chairman of Advisors to the Governor of Bangkok, Thailand.
Mr. Adrian Glamorgan, Mayors for Peace Working Group, Fremantle, Australia.
Mr. Russell Copeman, Member of Executive Committee of Montreal, Canada.
Congratulatory Address:
MC
Now, may I call upon Mr. Hodo Nakamura, Governor of Nagasaki Prefecture, to say a
few words of greetings, please?
Mr. Hodo Nakamura, Governor of Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you very much for your kind introduction.
My name is Hodo Nakamura, Governor of Nagasaki Prefecture. I welcome you all to
the 9th General Conference of Mayors for Peace, which starts today for four days withthe presence of Ms. Nakamitsu, UN Under-Secretary- General and High Representative

for Disarmament Affairs. I would like to express my appreciation for all of you who aregathered here from home and abroad in distance. Also, I pay the deepest esteem to all
the members of Mayors for Peace who dedicate themselves in the path of the nuclear
weapon abolition and creating the lasting world peace and solidifying the coalition
amongst the cities.
August 9, tomorrow, marks 72 years after the A-bomb was dropped in Nagasaki. A
single atomic bomb blasted up in the sky of Nagasaki City, deprived us of 74,000
precious lives of people, destroyed and burned the city into ashes. Once turned into
ruins, however, the city resuscitated itself into the green city wishing for peace with the
dedication and efforts of the citizens. But, sorrow of the bereaved families will never be
consoled even after 72 years. For hibakusha, they are still suffering from indelible scars
and aftereffect of radiation. Those living in Nagasaki have the responsibility to pass onthese important experiences to the future and disseminate the spirit of peace, wishing
Nagasaki to be the last A-bombed site. We hope that we will be able to communicate thehorrors of A-bombs and humanitarian consequences of the nuclear weapons to realize
the abolition of the nuclear weapons as well as lasting world peace.
Last month, after all the dedication and efforts of hibakusha, the Treaty on theProhibition of Nuclear Weapons was adopted at the United Nations. However, it was notable to get the concurrence by the nuclear-weapon states. The pace of the internationalsociety is not fully consolidated yet. In such circumstances, we are gathered here in
Nagasaki in Mayors for Peace meeting to discuss thoroughly for the realization of thenuclear-free world as soon as possible. I believe this is quite significant and opportune
for us to do so. In a future, we are determined to put our hands together to send themessage of peace, and we would like to invite as many people as possible to Nagasaki
so that they will be able to see with their eyes and feel with their skins the reality ofA-bombing. Transcending the logics and rhetoric, we hope we will be able to have theparticipation of as many people as possible in our discussion for the creation of world
peace. I would like to ask for your assistance and cooperation to this effect.
Lastly, I would like to wish you many fruitful outcome of this conference, and hoping
for your prosperity in the future and good health for all of you. I would like to conclude

my remarks. Thank you very much for your invitation.
Video Message:MC
Thank you very much, Governor Nakamura. Now, the Chair of the Ban Treaty, Ms.
Elayne Whyte of Costa Rica has sent us a message.
Elayne Whyte Gómez, Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the UN Office at
Geneva (Video Message)
Distinguished Mayor of Nagasaki, Mr. Tomihisa Taue, mayors attending the 9th
Conference of Mayors for Peace in Nagasaki, your friends, participants. This year’s 9th
Conference takes place in a new historic moment. Only four weeks after the United
Nations adopted the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons on July 7. It is agreat historical milestone that by majority of the members of international community,
we were able to move on in a ban on nuclear weapons, seven decades after they werefirst used in 1945. It is also a great achievement for all individuals, their families andorganizations. They have worked so tirelessly to see nuclear weapons prohibited ininternational law.
We know that the adoption of this treaty is the first step in the right direction toward
nuclear disarmament and the world free of nuclear weapons. But we also know that westill have a long road to travel together toward nuclear disarmament and the eliminationof nuclear arsenals. We are starting a new phase with the adoption of this treaty. In two
actions our strategic, in this moment, is signing and later ratification of this treaty.
I would like to encourage you to engage with national governments to advocate for thesigning of the treaty. The signing ceremony is going to take place on September 20 in
New York, in the context of the High-Level Segment of the General Assembly. And
later on, to concentrate your efforts for a fast ratification process so that we can have assoon as possible the 50 ratifications that are necessary for these norms to enter into
force.
As you plan, you work ahead. I want to call to your attention, Article 12 of the treaty,which contains the provisions of the commitment to undertake actions toward theuniversalization of the treaty. I would like to encourage you and to invite you to takethis commitment as yours.
And to devote your future efforts, to the promotion of the principles, norms, andprovisions of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons are the center piece of
the work that you undertake toward nuclear disarmament.
We owe to the victims of the use and testing of nuclear weapons, but also to the future
generations. To work hard to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons, for that, wecount on you and your continued efforts toward nuclear disarmament and peace. I thankyou very much.
MC
Thank you very much, Ms. Elayne Whyte. In organizing the 9th General Conference,
we received many messages, but due to time constraints, we are not able to read themout, so please go to the message board in the foyer of this hall to read those messages.
Now we would like to move on to the keynote speech. Distinguished members on thestage, would you please step down and go back to your seats in the floor? Ladies andgentlemen, you are kindly requested to stay seated till we set the stage for the keynote
speech. Thank you.
Keynote Speech: “The Imperatives for Disarmament in 21st Century”
MC
Now we would like to proceed to the keynote lecture. The keynote speaker is Ms. Izumi
Nakamitsu, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for
Disarmament Affairs. Until May, when she assumed the current position, since 2014,
Ms. Nakamitsu served as United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Crisis
Response Unit Leader. She has many years of service both inside and outside of the UN
system, recently as Special Adviser Ad Interim on Follow up for the Summit on
Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants between 2016 to 2017, andalso as Director in the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Asia

and the Middle East Division between 2012 to 2014, and Director of Division of Policy,
Evaluation and Training between 2008 and 2012. She is going to talk about “TheImperatives for Disarmament in the 21st Century.” Now, Ms. Nakamitsu, please.
Ms. Izumi Nakamitsu, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and High
Representative for Disarmament Affairs
Mr. Tomihisa Taue, Mayor of Nagasaki, Mr. Yasuyoshi Komizo, Secretary General of
Mayors for Peace, ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for this opportunity toaddress you during this very important conference, the 9th General Conference of thisimportant organization. Before I start, I want to thank the student performers thismorning of the hand bells, the “peace bells,” who gave us the beautiful music to start
this important conference. I was really impressed by the combination of very complex
and different movements, which really put together to produce such beautiful music infull harmony. I was thinking that probably our movements toward the elimination of
nuclear weapons will be something similar. A combination of different methods anddifferent efforts put together will become such an important force of peace. So I wanted
to give a special thanks to the student performers.
I also wish to pay tribute to this organization that is making such an important efforts
towards realizing a world without nuclear weapons. Civic leaders are, by definition, arecore vanguard of civil society. I have witnessed in the places where I worked or visitedin the past - Sarajevo, Kabul, Kandahar, Mosul or Juba alike - it is cities and their
populations that bear the brunt of the suffering caused by armed conflict. I commend
your efforts to elevate the voices of cities and their citizens around the world, who are infact among the main stakeholders in the cause of disarmament as well.
The elimination of nuclear weapons has been and will continue to be one of the primaryobjectives of the United Nations in the field of disarmament. However, like theCovenant of the Mayors for Peace, the United Nations places this primary objective
within the broader context of the ultimate objective of the disarmament process.
By addressing the issue of nuclear weapons in a broader context, it is not my intention
to imply that we must first solve the problem of general disarmament before we canhope to finally eliminate nuclear weapons. Rather, my objective today is to speak about
the current imperatives for disarmament in light of the international situation we face
today and also in light of the challenges and threats we expect to face in the future.
This broader perspective is embedded in the Charter of the United Nations and has
underpinned the past seventy-plus years of efforts. Article 11 of the Charter explicitly
gives the General Assembly the authority to consider the principles governing
disarmament and the regulation of arms.
Ever since the first resolution adopted by the General Assembly, these twin
objectives—disarmament and the regulation of arms—have respectively represented thegoals of eliminating weapons of mass destruction on the one hand, and the regulation of
conventional arms on the other hand.
Furthermore, the plan of action adopted at the first special session of the General
Assembly in 1978 devoted to disarmament issues recognized the elimination of nuclear
weapons as the highest priority for disarmament negotiations.
The track record in implementing this plan of action that was adopted in 1978 was
positive for about two decades after 1978. During that time, the United Nations
achieved conventions on certain conventional weapons and on the elimination of
biological and chemical weapons. It also established mechanisms to increasetransparency in arms transfers and in military expenditures. Successive rounds ofbilateral and unilateral strategic arms reductions substantially reduced the global
stockpiles of nuclear weapons from their Cold War high of about 70,000. Today, they
are about 15,000.
Yet, there is a widespread perception that in recent decades, progress toward nuclear
disarmament has stalled. The pace of nuclear arms reductions has slowed. Nuclear
weapon systems remain on high alert, available for launch within minutes.
Nuclear-armed countries are modernizing and upgrading their arsenals. Several of thosestates are also continuing to build up the overall size and diversity of their warheads andalso delivery systems.
There are many self-described so-called realists in the world today of the annual global
military expenditure of about $1.7 trillion who call disarmament a utopian dream, which
can only be realized in ideal circumstances of complete world peace. But this cynicalworldview turns our present situation on its head. To paraphrase Dag Hammarskjöld,
the goal of disarmament is not to bring us to heaven, but rather it is to spare humanityfrom ever again suffering from horrors like those experienced by the Hibakushas inHiroshima and Nagasaki.
To overcome these challenges, we need to consider the basic motivations fordisarmament and to understand its role and potential in maintenance of international
peace and security today.
Let me today focus on three key issues: 1) the imperatives for disarmament, and why
we need to make progress in today’s international security environment, 2) new
challenges we are facing or we expect to face, and 3) possible ways forward.
One of the most important imperatives for disarmament is and has been international
security. The United Nations was created, as you know, to maintain international peaceand security, and as such, security is central to the purposes and principles of the UN
Charter. The UN Charter prohibits the use of force against the political independence or
territorial integrity of states. The UN Charter also established a framework for collective
security, where states would only be allowed to use force in self-defense and in thecollective action authorized by the United Nations Security Council.
In this connection, the logic of disarmament is to promote the security for all,individually and collectively. For decades, the security imperative has been the driving
force behind measures for nuclear disarmament.

The nuclear-armed states bear the largest responsibility for making progress on nuclear
disarmament. This has been politically and legally accepted by the entire international
community, both by nuclear-weapon states and others, since the dawn of the nuclear era,and is central to the so-called "grand bargain" reflected in the NPT treaty.
But it is equally important to emphasize that these nuclear-armed states would also be
the primary beneficiaries of disarmament. Steps to reduce arsenals, lower alert levels
and mitigate risks of incidents can build confidence. Measures to curtail thedevelopment of advanced new types of nuclear weapons can prevent an expensive newarms race. The elimination of various arms intended for first strikes can promotestability in times of crisis. Disarmament measures can also play a positive role inresponding to breaches of the peace and in preventing armed conflict from subsequently
re-emerging.
Taken together, these measures can create the conditions for ending regional disputes,
for resolving conflicts and also facilitating the elimination of nuclear weapons
worldwide.
Due to constant advances in military capabilities and in the nature of armed conflict,inaction on nuclear disarmament cannot be equated with maintaining or maintenance ofthe status quo that we have today. We believe that inaction on disarmament will lead toa world that is more insecure and less stable. Because we have situations such as the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or tensions in the Middle East, we need serious
disarmament discussions and serious steps for disarmament. We must make every effort
to find political solutions to disputes, to prevent further proliferation of nuclear weapons
and to find ways to reduce and eliminate what already exists.
It should also be emphasized that the nuclear-weapon states do not bear the
responsibility for achieving disarmament alone. In fact, the preamble of the new
Prohibition Treaty rightfully recognizes that the risks posed by nuclear weapons

concern the security of all humanity, and that all states share the responsibility toprevent their use.
The universal acceptance of this goal led the International Court of Justice to determinethat the disarmament obligation transcends any treaty and is a requirement undercustomary international law.
While the objectives of disarmament continue to be most strongly associated withsecurity, the humanitarian imperative is in fact the oldest driver for arms control anddisarmament in the modern era.
Since the mid-19th century, the international community has sought to progressively
develop the law of armed conflict in parallel with rules to prohibit or restrict specificweapons that cannot be used in conformity with humanitarian principles.
Since the end of the Second World War, the humanitarian imperative has also been
linked very strongly to the objective of protecting civilians from the effects of armed
conflict. It is also the frame from which civil society has had the greatest and largest
leverage and influence in the process of making new laws and establishing such newnorms as we just saw last month.
In this connection, more recent humanitarian disarmament initiatives have banned or
restricted weapons that produce undetectable fragments, mines, booby-traps, blinding
laser weapons, anti-personnel landmines, cluster munitions and so on.
And, of course, the humanitarian movement has been, as I mentioned, the strongest
driving force behind the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
I also want to touch on the development and environmental imperatives fordisarmament a little bit.
In recent decades, disarmament has largely slipped off the development agenda,
unfortunately. This is despite overwhelming evidence that the over-accumulation ofweapons fuels conflict, drives the illicit trade, enables violent extremism and facilitatesgross violations of human rights and humanitarian principles. Therefore, the failure to
put in place an effective system for the regulation of arms has had a devastating toll onsocio-economic development, sustainable growth, gender equality and humanwell-being in general.
Environmental imperatives for disarmament have been largely dormant in recent years,
but may have considerable potential for the future. Environmentalism has proven to be apotent but understated force for arms control. The United Nations recently completed an
important study on the environmental impact of armed conflict. But, the problem ofaddressing concerns resulting from particular types or categories of weapon systems
remains very much an open question for disarmament bodies.
Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals, adopted in 2015, is a universal
and integrated framework which brings together development, peace and security andenvironmental objectives comprehensively. We must redouble our efforts to ensure thatdisarmament actions, which can make enormous contributions to establishing peacefulsocieties, are fully anchored within the implementation of the Sustainable Development
Goals.
Ladies and gentlemen, I spoke enough on "why disarmament today," but understanding
the various roles for disarmament helps to inform our collective response to thechallenges and threats that have emerged since the start of this century. These newchallenges and threats, which are of course exacerbated by the existence of terroristgroups with regional and global influence, can be described as falling into one of two
categories, probably.
The first challenge relates to the unacceptable harm to civilians resulting fromarms-related abuses. This challenge takes many forms, ranging from the indiscriminate
use of weapons, to the illicit trade in weapons and even the re-emergence of prohibited
weapons whose use has been deemed not to be in line with the conscience of humanity.

We have seen in recent conflicts the devastating effects caused by the use of explosive
weapons, for example, in populated areas. Data collected by non-governmentalorganizations has shown that when such weapons are used in populated areas, civilians
account for 90 per cent of casualties. Many governments have recognized this problem.
They have pledged to support the collection of data on the harm to civilians caused bysuch use of explosive weapons and on good practices and lessons learned to minimize
the impacts. A group of states also remains committed to developing a politicalcommitment for governments to refrain from such use.
Excessive accumulation and the illicit trade in arms and ammunition, especially smallarms and light weapons, continue to pose a significant threat to the maintenance ofpeaceful and sustainable societies. This illicit trade impedes socio-economic
development, facilitates transnational organized crime and exacerbates the lethality andduration of armed conflict. The full implementation of the United Nations program ofaction remains essential in combatting the illicit trade, including through the adoption ofnecessary national legislation. There is also a need for more action to facilitate
international assistance for capacity-building, including to improve physical security
and stockpile management at different countries.
Finally, we have all witnessed with shock and horror the re-emergence of chemical
weapons in the context of the armed conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic. Despite theextraordinary efforts of the international community leading to the destruction of thatcountry’s declared program, we continue to receive allegations of the use of chemical
weapons with disturbing regularity. The United Nations remains determined toinvestigate all credible allegations and to identify the perpetrators of these acts. Those
responsible for the use of chemical weapons must be held accountable, and we consider
this as critical agenda of preventing further erosion of the existing norms against
chemical weapons, which goes much beyond Syria.
The second challenge relates to emerging military capabilities and means of warfare.
These also include what the Secretary-General has termed “frontier issues.” Given therapid pace of technological innovation driving many of these developments, their full
implications are not yet known. But it is already clear that many emerging militarycapabilities pose grave and overlapping risks, including to international stability and to
upholding humanitarian and human rights principles. In some cases, they are alsostraining the ability of our normative and regulatory frameworks to keep peace and to
mitigate any harmful impacts.
Examples of problematic emerging capabilities include long-range conventional
missiles, anti-missile and anti-satellite systems and also cyber weapons. These
capabilities all involve risks to international and regional stability. In some situations,
there is also concern over the potential of these new strategic weapons to contribute to
new arms races, diminish stability and jeopardize existing arms control frameworks.
There are serious concerns about the ability of lethal autonomous weapon systems toeffectively comply with international humanitarian law. This is especially concerning if
these systems are developed for use in complex environments or in situations where
their use may result in civilian casualties.
Looking farther into the future, advances in artificial intelligence, additive
manufacturing and bio-synthetic engineering have also tremendous potential to improve
human life, productivity and well-being. However, if poorly managed, theirdevelopment may have grave consequences for the future of mankind.
Let me try to conclude. Efforts to control arms have been increasingly recognized asintersecting with achieving priorities in the fields of sustainable development,
humanitarian principles, human rights, and peace and security. These broader objectives
have throughout the last century motivated landmark achievements in the field of
disarmament and arms control. We must now have the renewed, redoubled commitment,
and also a new vision and concrete actions for disarmament in the 21st century. I
believe that our ability to respond effectively to the current and emerging security

challenges of this century will require us to embrace each of these imperatives fordisarmament.
As we start our considerations for such a new vision at the United Nations under the
new Secretary-General, let me suggest today only three key issues.
First, I believe that we must reposition disarmament as a key and integral part ofinternational peace and security agenda.
I think the situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is a case inpoint. Ending the DPRK’s illicit and destabilizing activities and achieving the peacefuldenuclearization of the Korean Peninsula will be inconceivable unless it is pursued
within a broader context of regional peace and security. Likewise, no sustainable
political solution is possible unless serious disarmament plans in DPRK can be
negotiated and agreed upon. The on-going international actions on chemical weaponsand other issues related to Syria are a similar example.
My second point relates to the importance of norm development in disarmament. Thishas been a constant theme dating back to the 19th century.
The prohibition treaty on nuclear weapons will now start to put nuclear weapons on thesame level as chemical and biological weapons, which were deemed in 1925 asincompatible with the principles of humanity. The promotion of these norms, or thesekinds of norms, was essential in laying the ground work for both preventing theproliferation of these weapons and also for their eventual complete elimination. I think
the case of chemical and biological weapons also demonstrates how the pursuit andelaboration of humanitarian norms can bring real security benefits as well.
I would therefore like to emphasize that the effective implementation of various norms
and instruments is equally important. We must have a renewed action particularly in theareas where we can make a concrete, visible progress to save lives, such as conventional
weapons and use of certain weapons in populated areas.

My third and final point today is about the need to have a new cooperation among states,building new coalitions, as well as new partnerships between states and civil society fordisarmament. This is relevant for all diverse disarmament areas. But today, let me refer
specifically to nuclear disarmament in the context with the newly adopted Nuclear
Weapons Prohibition Treaty.
I appeal to governments to stop looking at the nuclear disarmament agenda in adichotomy of the NPT versus the ban treaty, but rather from a perspective of the entire
framework of treaties, which are all politically and mutually reinforcing of each other.
Long before the ban treaty, the nuclear disarmament and non- proliferation regime wasalready an intricate web of multilateral, plurilateral, regional, bilateral and sometimes
even unilateral treaties, agreements, instruments, regimes and commitments anddeclarations. These are various legally binding, politically binding or purely voluntary
instruments.
What’s important therefore is not that we agree on the merit of every existing or new
possible measure, but rather that they all lead to the same end, namely the complete
elimination of nuclear weapons.
There are many possible paths leading to nuclear zero. It should not matter which path
is taken, as long as it can be demonstrated that concrete progress is being made.
So we cannot rest having completed the first multilateral nuclear disarmament treaty,
the ban treaty, in more than 20 years. We must now focus on the hard work ahead of us,of transforming our shared norms and objectives into practical actions for theelimination of nuclear arsenals and of encouraging states to re-engage in the dialogue
necessary to bridge the political divide that we see today.
In order to achieve this, we need new cooperation, a new vision and new understandingof what benefits disarmament can bring to us.

As civic-focused advocates, I am sure you will agree on the power of building
multi-stakeholder communities. And, as much as the future of humanity resides in cities,
your work and your outreach will play a critical role in contributing to the complete
elimination of nuclear weapons, to the future actions in disarmament in general and to
our ultimate objective of general and complete disarmament. Let us work together
towards this important and noble objective. Thank you very much.

MC
Thank you very much. Now we would like to receive some questions. Those of you
with question, please raise your hand. The representatives from the member cities, if
you have any question, please raise your hand. Anybody with question, please raise
your hand. Then, we would like to offer a big applause to Ms. Nakamitsu. Thank youvery much for the very precious presentation. Thank you very much.

The 9th General Conference of Mayors for Peace

Atomic Bomb Survivor Testimony
August 8 (Tue), 2017 11:00-12:00
Nakabe Hall, Nagasaki University Bunkyo Campus

Sachiko Matsuo

Atomic Bomb Survivor Testimony
MC
Now, we are going to start the session. We have invited an A-bomb survivor to share her
testimony. She is Sachiko Matsuo, and Ms. Matsuo was 11 years old when she was
exposed to the atomic bomb at a location of 1.3 kilometers from the hypocenter.
Currently, she serves as a Councilor of Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors Council, andis an active member of the Succession Division of Nagasaki Foundation for the
Promotion of Peace. Now, Ms. Matsuo, please.
Ms. Sachiko Matsuo
I would like to extend my warmest welcome to the delegations of Mayors for Peace
who have traveled a long distance from abroad. Welcome to Nagasaki, the second
A-bombed city. Today, originally, Mr. Sumiteru Taniguchi, the President of Nagasaki
Atomic Bomb Survivors Council, was going to address you, but he became ill and is
hospitalized, so on his behalf, I would like to share with you my experience. My nameis Sachiko Matsuo.
Seventy-two years ago, on August 9, I was 11 years old in the fifth year of elementary
school. My house was located 700 meters from the hypocenter. It was in Ohashi-machi
of Nagasaki City. In my family, there was my grandmother, my parents, nine sisters andbrothers including myself, two of my aunts, and another five relatives. This was afamily of 20 people living together. Air raid was becoming intense. I was so scared that
I was only able to go to school until June of that year.
My father was offering delivery services using a horse cart. My father saw a flyer which
said that on August 8 Nagasaki will be ruined to ashes, so he built a cabin in our field on
the hillside of Mt. Iwaya. Two days earlier, we started a new routine, leaving home at
8:00 and coming back at 5:00 in the evening. However, on August 8, there was no air
raid. On the morning of August 9, my mother told father “We no longer want to go to
the cabin on the hill because it’s already August 9.” Then father said, “There is a timedifference of one day, so today, you still need to go to the cabin during the daytime.” So,grandmother, mother, my younger sisters and brothers, and me, a total of 10 of us
decided to go to the cabin on the hill. My older sister made lunchboxes for us with riceballs and cooked potato.
This is what I was wearing when I went to the cabin with my family members. The
baggy pants were called monpe, and this is the anti-air raid hood, and this is a bag forfirst aid and the adults used it to keep valuables. I also brought this bag, and I was
wearing a long sleeved blouse. So, wearing these and carrying a bag, we went up thehill to go to the cabin.
When we arrived at the cabin, I was so hot that I took off the hood, and all the clothes
except for my underwear. Then I looked into the bag I carried to the cabin. I wasstanding. We were at 1.3 kilometers from the hypocenter. We were taking a rest andrelaxing, then there was “pika,” a penetrating whitish and yellowish flash, which started
fire on the tin-plate roof of the cabin. I was wondering what that light was. We were justastounded. Then “dooon,” a shuttering roar came, and I was in a total confusion.
Suddenly, I found myself in blackness, the cabin was gone, I was barefooted, standingon earth. “Where is everybody? Are you hurt? Are you OK?” I could hear my mom
shouting, searching for us. When the blackness left, I saw my mom standing right infront of me. She had an injury on her forehead, which started swelling and covered oneof her eyes. My second youngest brother had a cut on the back of his neck. The wound
was so big and open. The boy and the girl who were with our family, had severe burns.
Our cabin had been blown down to the valley by the blast. The sweet potato fields next
to the cabin had no leaves, no stalks, nor green. In a moment, the atomic bomb turned
the green field into an earthen ground. US military aircrafts were flying low. I was able
to see the cockpit which was very frightening.
After a while, we became worried about our house, so I walked to a place from where I
would be able to see the house, but there was something like a big cloud covering thewhole city, and the cloud was growing and climbing up toward us. I could see nothing
below. My grandmother started to cry, “Everybody is dead. This is the end of the world.”
My mother carried the youngest brother on her back, and together with another brother
who was injured, the three of them decided to go down the hill, but me and myimmediate younger brother could not go with them because we were too scared.
However, soon afterward they came back. Down below, they met a mother and herchildren who were seriously burned. Because their burns were so serious, my mom
could not recognize them until they stated their names. They asked for water, so my
mom gave them water. After that, she gave up going down to the city and returned to thecabin.
It was around 3:00 in the afternoon, when I heard footsteps. Someone was walking up
the hill. Approaching him, I found it was our father. His head, hands and legs werewrapped in triangular bandages. He was covered with dirt and was injured. He waswalking with a cane. I was so glad to see him that I cried with joy. I was really happy
then. As a member of a civil defense unit, he was at the unit station in Ohashi when the
A-bomb was detonated. He was rescued from under the debris. When he was pulled outof the debris, he found everything burned down. He was really stunned. Everythinghouses and factories- were flattened, and they were all burned down.
He was rescued out of debris, but was feeling sick. This is my father. He was stationed
in a civil defense unit in front of the arms factory, and was exposed to the atomic bombat this place. This is the gas tank. In order for the factory to use the gas, there was one
single gas tank. When he saw the tank, he thought that he was feeling sick because heinhaled the gas which leaked out from the gas tank. He didn’t know that he was exposedto the radiation. But up on the hill, he was very happy to see us all alive.
In the evening, two cousins came to see us. They told us that our sister who madelunchboxes for us that morning was burnt to death in our house. This is my sister-in-law.
She went to a relative’s house and she died there, burned to death with the member ofthat relative’s family.
That afternoon, the first relief train arrived, and one of our aunts who had serious burns
was transferred to a hospital by this train. The cousins also told us that my second-eldest
sister who was a student, was injured in Ohashi Factory and fled to an air-raid shelter.
This is the aunt who got burned and was transferred to the hospital on the train. The
people were in such horrible conditions.

We spent that night on the hill. Aircrafts flew over and dropped flare bombs whichlighten up the darkness like daylight. Boom, boom. I was trembling with fear as I saw
the city being swallowed in bright fires. It looked like daytime, not night.
On the morning of the following day, August 10, I walked down the hill with myyounger brothers. Trees had fallen and blocked our way. We saw corpses here and there.
There was no house left standing, and there was a disgusting smell. Fires were stillburning in some places, and in those places, there were white ashes with enormous heat.
I saw many fragments of bones. It really scared me in the beginning. We walked on the
hot ashes and reached to an air-raid shelter. It was full of people who had taken refugein there. Some had injuries and some had burns. Others looked intact. We heard
unbearable groans and cries.
People who had been within the radius of 1 kilometer from ground zero all died inagony. One person had a rotten mouth and a high fever, but he couldn’t drink water. He
was so hungry, but couldn’t eat. Earlier, he was glad to be rescued, but now he wascrying, saying why he had to suffer in such an agony. I cannot forget this awful sight.
He was weeping and crying.
We brought rice balls as lunch from the cabin on the hill, but they were covered withdirt and we couldn’t eat them. We were so hungry that our feet were unstable as we
went down the hill. Our house was burned down. There was no food left. Among thewhite ashes, I found white bones of my elder sister.
We found our neighbor, an elder girl, dead near the place. A pregnant woman was alsodead in the nearby ditch. Her body was rotten. A few days later, her body wasincinerated, and I found a big skull and a tiny bone at the same place.
My eldest brother was with my father in the civil defense unit. I was told that somebody
saw him on the rooftop of Yamazato Elementary School to sound the alarm of thearrival of enemy planes. Somebody went to look for him. He was blown by the blast,
and was found dead on the rooftop. But at that time, we were not able to bring his

corpse down to the ground. The next time when we went there, his corpse was gone.
My aunt who was brought to the hospital by a relief train died on August 11, in the Cityof Isahaya. We received her bones and buried them in the graveyard.
Another elder brother and another aunt never came back. Even today, we still don’tknow their whereabouts. Their names were inscribed on the grave, which says, “Diedon August 9, 1945.”
We stayed inside the air-raid shelter. My father said to me, “There are remaining gas
inside the gas tank. It’s better to leave this place.” On August 15, I was told the war has
ended, and we went to Togitsu village where our relatives were evacuated.
In Nagasaki, hospitals were also totally destroyed by the A-bomb. There were many
people suffering from severe injuries and burns, but they were not able to get treatment.
They were lying on the floor, moaning in pain and suffering. Surrounding them were thepeople waiting only to die. Corpses were cremated near the shelter, and smelled terrible.
A week later, my injured father came to Togitsu. In Togitsu, there was a hospital and thedoctor gave him a shot every day. However, he lost his hair and suffered from fever anddiarrhea. He died on August 28. I was saddened by his death, but thinking about those
who died without getting any treatment, my father was fortunate enough because hedied after receiving treatment to some extent.
I lost seven of my family members. These are the seven family members that I lost. The
whereabouts of these two are unknown. This is my brother who died on the elementary
rooftop. When the atomic bomb was dropped, we were around here. This was taken
after the A-bombing. It’s turned to ashes, but this place used to be surrounded by thegreenery. We were around here, 1.3 kilometers away from the hypocenter.
A total number of 1,581 students were in my school, among them 1,300 students died.
Almost all of the friends I used to play with died. I don’t want other people to go
through the same experience. When I was small, I clearly remember the adults wererejoicing to the news from the radio of the outbreak of the Great East Asian War.

Children waved small flags as the soldiers went off to the battlefield. I just wonder how
those young soldiers felt at that time. Once a war is started, there is no way you canescape. We should never wage a war.
Nuclear weapons are evil weapons. There are so many people who are still sufferingfrom the aftereffects of radiation. I myself have thyroid disease, and just recently, I
received surgical operation of cancer. Seventy-two years have passed, but nuclear
weapons still exists. I cannot allow them to exist. With the strong call of hibakusha, welaunched the Hibakusha Appeal, and in Nagasaki Prefecture, an association to promote
signature collection for the appeal was established. Governor Nakamura and Mayor
Taue also came to the street to ask for signatures for the nuclear weapon abolition. Lastmonth, at the United Nations, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was
adopted by a majority. I am so happy with this. Let’s get rid of the nuclear weapons
from the world. Make Nagasaki the last A-bombed site. Thank you very much for yourattention.
MC
Thank you very much, Ms. Matsuo. Now we would like to invite comments orquestions from the participants. If you have any questions or comments, please raise
your hand. Any questions or comments? Now, we would like to express our deep thanks
to Ms. Matsuo. Please give her a big applause. Thank you very much. This was thetestimony of the atomic bombing given by Ms. Sachiko Matsuo.

The 9th General Conference of Mayors for Peace

Session I
August 8 (Tue), 2017 13:30-15:30
Nakabe Hall, Nagasaki University Bunkyo Campus

Chairperson:
Kazumi Matsui
President of Mayors for Peace, Mayor of Hiroshima, Japan
Agenda Explanation:
Yasuyoshi Komizo
Secretary General of Mayors for Peace, Japan

Session I
MCThank you very much for waiting. We are going to start Session I. According to theCovenant, Mayor of Hiroshima, Kazumi Matsui, is going to serve as Chairperson.
Chairperson: Mr. Kazumi Matsui, President of Mayors for Peace, Mayor of
Hiroshima, Japan
Good afternoon. I would like to ask for your kind support for the smooth conduct of themeeting. Let us start Session I. We have three agenda items, and all of them wereapproved by the Executive Conference yesterday. Now the three agenda are here fordiscussion and adoption.
Agenda Item 1 is only for the member cities, but non-members are also invited to behere so that you can understand what we are doing. You are here as observers. Now letme move on to agenda Item 1 “Election of Executive Officials.” There is an explanation
form the secretariat.
Secretariat: Mr. Yasuyoshi Komizo, Secretary General of Mayors for Peace, Japan
Thank you very much. Agenda Item 1 is “Election of Executive Officials.” I think you
can find these in your handout. Concerning the election of the Executive Officials,
please look at page 1. On page 1, you can see the proposal. This is the list of candidates
for the Executive Officials for President, Vice Presidents and Executives. According to
the Article 4 of the Covenant, the President and the Vice President shall be elected bymutual vote. According to the long years of practice, concerning incumbent President
and Vice Presidents, in principle, are requested to remain in those positions if they agree.
So the current President and Vice Presidents were asked if they are going to remain or
not, and most of them said that they wish to continue in their positions.
The one with yellow highlight is the mayor of Des Moines, a new candidate for Vice
President. To give you the explanation, the Vice President city, mayor of Akron, USA is
now succeeded by another mayor, and although the previous mayor and the city served
as Vice President for a long time, the newly elected mayor declined reappointment. On
the other hand, the mayor of Des Moines has been quite active. Also the mayor of Des

Moines clearly expressed his intension to accept the position. On July 7, a negotiation
was held at the UN Headquarters, and in its first meeting in March, there were no
representatives from the US government, but representing more than 200 mayors ofMayors for Peace in the US, Mayor Cownie attended the UN negotiation. And you saw
his video message this morning. So, the mayor of Des Moines is now recommended asa candidate for Vice President, representing the US. This is the intension of the
President, and the Executive Conference already approved this proposal. Now theagenda is here for the general conference to deliberate and decide about the adoption.
Among the existing Vice President cities, concerning Brussels in Belgium, there has
been changes in the administration, and the current intention of the city is not clear. So
it’s not decided whether Brussels is going to continue as Vice President. If Brussels isgoing to express the intension to accept the reappointment, then Mayors for Peace isgoing to ask the new mayor to remain as Vice President. If the suggestion is declined,
then it will be followed that way.
As for the Executives, you can see the names of the candidates, starting with Governorof Bangkok. According to the Article 4 of the Covenant, the Executive members shallbe appointed by the President. So, this item is an item for reporting, not for the
resolution. And, we would like to introduce the newly elected Executive City, mayor of
Grigny of France. Mayor of Grigny is now serving as the President of French Chapter.
Therefore, it’s quite natural for us to recommend this city as Executive. Other membersof the Executive Conference seconded this proposal, and the President is very happy toinvite this city as a new member of Executive. This is an item for reporting. That’s allfrom the Secretariat.
Chairperson
You just heard the explanation from the secretariat. Are there any questions orcomments about this agenda item? No questions? Then, we would like to vote. Those
who are for adopting the proposal as is presented, please give us your applause. Thankyou very much. So, Vice President Cities and Executive Cities, we would like to ask
you to offer your efforts until the next general conference to be held in 2020.

Now we are going to invite the mayor of Grigny, Mr. Philippe Rio. We are going to
invite him onto the stage as a new member of the Executive Officials. Thank you verymuch.
Now, we would like to proceed to Agenda Item 2 “Membership Fees: Seeking increase
in revenue and utilization to regional activities.” Explanation from the secretariat,
please.
Secretariat
Please look at page 3 of the handout. Before talking about the proposal itself, please go
to the next page. On page 4, you can find the reference material showing you the current
revenues and expenditures of the membership fees. Just one comment about thisreference material. We now have more than 7,400 member cities, but as you can see,fees have been provided by 1,116 cities. So, I would like to ask lead cities to makeefforts to contact other member cities in your country or region to support the activities
of Mayors for Peace by making contribution as membership fees. This is quite
important.
Now the Agenda Item 2 itself. In order to make efforts for the abolition of nuclear
weapons, we need financial resources. Four years ago at the previous general
conference, we decided the annual membership fee should be 2,000 JPY, which is lessthan 20 EUR, per year. The amount may not be large, so I do hope that many moremembers would pay the membership fee. So membership fee collection is quite
important to support the activities. I would like to ask the lead cities to increase theirefforts to contact other member cities for this purpose.
In the next agenda, we are going to discuss the Action Plan. The nuclear prohibition
treaty has been adopted. Prohibition is declared in the treaty, but in order to make morecountries to join, additional articles will be required. The nuclear-weapon states andthose under the nuclear umbrella are required to accept the objectives of the treaty sothat the treaty will become effective which can really reduce and eliminate nuclear
weapons. So, we need to focus our efforts on those activities. In order to do those
activities, in addition to the existing activities, we now propose to have another sets ofactivities called “realization of safe and resilient cities,” including environment, poverty
and refugees. There are specific issues to each region, so Mayors for Peace, centering
on lead cities, is determined to take actions for those issues. This will expand our own
activities, and it will also expand those who would like to take proactive actions for ourcauses. To make it happen, we would like to propose to add a new category of activities,“realization of safe and resilient cities,” but those activities require financial resources.
In order to initiate those new types of activities, if lead cities and the cities in the same
region agree, then an option will be given to them to increase the membership fee from
2,000 JPY to 6,000 JPY. The difference is 4,000 JPY, and that difference will be utilized
for the new sets of activities.
The collection of the membership fee remains voluntary, and those who are not making
payments of membership fee does not mean that they will no longer be members ofMayors for Peace, but now we propose a new scheme, in order to strengthen thefinancial basis.
Of course, we need to seek other ways to bring in financial resources from outside, but
at this point, we have the two proposals. The first is to improve the collection rate,
mainly through the efforts by lead cities. The second is a membership fee increase to
secure budget for activities targeting “realization of safe and resilient cities.” Theproposal is to increase the fee from 2,000 JPY to 6,000 JPY. If there is a reason to do so
and if it’s accepted by that particular region. This is our proposal.
Chairperson
Thank you very much. Membership fee revenue increase and utilization to regional
activities. Are there any questions to this explanation? Any questions from member
cities? No questions? If you are for this proposal, please give us your applause. Thankyou very much for your support. We have decided on the membership fee revenue
increase and utilization to regional activities. We hope that all the member cities will
strive toward achieving those financial resource expansions.
We would like to move on to Agenda Item 3 “Mayors for Peace Action Plan
(2017-2020).” Secretariat, please.

Secretariat
Thank you very much. Regarding this matter, we have revised the draft action plan
we’ve just given to you today. It isfrom page 5 to page 12. On page 5, you can see aschematic drawing. From page 6 onward, you can read the details of the proposed
action plan. Due to the time limitation, I am not able to take you through the whole
details of this draft document, so I would like to use this scheme shown on Page 5.
In the previous agenda item I touched upon this draft action plan to some extent. So far
our primary activity has been activities related to the realization of a world without
nuclear weapons, and that had been laid down in the previous action plans. The Treaty
on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was adopted, but there is a serious divide
between the nuclear-armed states and those who do not have nuclear weapons. So webelieve that Mayors for Peace, which goes beyond any ideological differences, needs towork as a good mediator between the two worlds so that we will be able to move fast toa world without nuclear weapons. There are diverse people and diverse organizations,and it’s important for Mayors for Peace to mobilize those diverse people and groups anddiverse ideas into our drive for a world without nuclear weapons. In order to have morecities involved in the realization of a world without nuclear weapons, we believe that weneed to pay attention to other regional issues such as terrorism, refugees, and poverty.
These issues should be discussed and lead by lead cities in each region, and that will
enhance the level of interest of many cities. And their interest, I hope, will eventuallylead to their involvements in our effort to realize a world without nuclear weapons.
Beside this important point, I would like to add one more point why we are adding thisnew piece of activities “realization of safe and resilient cities.” In our past discussion
with various member cities, we received many calls to add those issues such as
terrorism, refugees and what not in Mayors for Peace Action Plan. By including thosepieces of other activities, terrorism and refugees, we will be able to mobilize moremember cities toward a world without nuclear weapons. That has been the discussion
we have had with many member cities, and actually, in yesterday’s Executive
Conference. This idea was approved and supported by Executive Cities.

I would like to explain this scheme. Right on top you see our ultimate goal, “realizationof lasting world peace.” We are doing this work so that other people, other thanhibakusha of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, would not go through the same suffering. We
would like to make a change in the world for the better, and we would like to realize alasting world peace, a world without nuclear weapons where people of different notions
and different ideas are able to live happily with each other. In order to realize this goal,“lasting world peace,” we decided to have two sub-goals. One is “realization of a world
without nuclear weapons” which has been our goal so far, and the second is “realizationof safe and resilient cities.” Cities need to create peace among their citizens, especially
focusing on youth. Specifically, cities need to tackle issues such as terrorism, refugees
and what not. By pushing for safe and resilient cities, this will eventually move us
toward a world without nuclear weapons.
I would like to explain the sub-goals. Regarding the realization of a world without
nuclear weapons, Mayors for Peace will call upon the UN and national governments.
The content of the requests are, first, to act with a mindset of understanding hibakusha’s
wishes. In order to do so, we would like the leaders of the world to come and visit
Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Secondly, we will promote the early conclusion of the Treaty
on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. So far, in the Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision, we
have been calling it a nuclear weapons convention. We have been calling that way
because we were not just considering about the prohibition, but the verification systemor how to deal with the weapon’s impact on environment. Of course it takes a long way
to achieve such a ban. Many states decided to clearly have a treaty on banning nuclear
weapons and in order to allow nuclear-armed states to come and join this treaty, theydecided to have a certain flexibility in the treaty. We believe that the civil society andcities need to work upon national governments so that they will join the treaty in thenear future. This treaty is not complete, but it has such a very grave significance so weneed to support it. We need to call upon national governments to join the treaty as soon
as possible.
Thirdly, create a security framework that moves away from nuclear deterrence. Nuclear
deterrence is the big reason why nuclear weapons still exists. Nuclear deterrence means
mutual distrust, and because of this, with the threat of massacre and mass-killing,nuclear deterrence has been used as a rationale. For instance, terrorism and refugee
crisis we see today are the result of mutual distrust, and exclusiveness. Nuclear
deterrence will not be able to solve such issues. Furthermore, nuclear deterrence has
negative impact: it is a waste of resource and there is a risk of nuclear proliferation, as
we have seen in North Korea. We the cities need to not just criticize national
governments, but advise them so that they can work toward a more appropriate road.
The second bullet point is efforts to be made by a wide range of citizens to call on
nuclear-armed states and their allies to act. Nuclear-armed states and those under their
nuclear umbrella who are not part of the treaty have to move toward a world without
nuclear weapons. Of course, they have their own security concerns, but on behalf of our
citizens, we, the mayors and cities, need to call upon our national leaders to make achange in the course of their actions.
On the right, creation of peace culture and the specific activities are to be conducted at
the same time. In order to move such activities, we need to foster and grow international
public opinions. Mayors for Peace and cities are close to citizens, therefore this is a very
important role for us to play.
If you look at the left box, we need to create something long lasting, and we can see that
big changes have been brought about by the young people. Their passion and their will
can make a change in the world. So, young people need to really understand the valueof peace and also the earnest wishes of hibakusha. They need to become citizens thatwill create a better world in the future, and we, Mayors for Peace, need to support them.
That is the first point. For peace education, we will use animation films and takeinventive approach, and the secretariat will create educational materials with you toraise awareness of young people. We will enhance the scheme to have many more
students come to Hiroshima and Nagasaki to study. We will continue with theHiroshima-Nagasaki Peace Study Course in higher education.
The second point is to raise awareness for peace among a wide range of citizens. Point 1
is the petition drive signature campaign that also creates an opportunity to have a
dialogue with many people. We can exchange opinions with a diverse range of people,

and that will inspire us toward new ideas, and out of this, we will be able to create
further awareness of peace. Through petition drive and signature collection started bymothers stopped the nuclear testing by the US and the USSR in 1950s. So, signaturecollection or petition drive are indeed important and significant. Another is appointing
Campaign Ambassadors. Unfortunately, inhumanity of nuclear weapons is not wellunderstood throughout the world. So, in collaboration with researchers, scholars,
citizens and hibakusha, we need to conduct outreach activities on the inhumanity andrisks.
The third point is promoting and disseminating Hiroshima and Nagasaki’s messages tomember cities. For instance, the use of A-bombed trees’ seeds, and receive foreign
diplomats in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Actually, the US Consul-General listened to thestory about the A-bombed trees, and through this, he planted an A-bombed tree’ssapling on the ground of his residence. An A-bombed trees’ sapling, which is very
difficult to grow, was planted together by Mayor Matsui and the Consul-General of theUnited States, and this is a symbol of creating peace together. Hannover and Manchester,
those cities are also joining, and also French cities are joining this.
The fourth point is the collaboration with other organizations of cities and also ICRC.
On the right-hand side column, similar activities are shown. The first is the next
generation, young people’s education, and also various activities to solve
region-specific issues. In yesterday’s Executive Conference, one thing was considered
important. That is SDGs, the UN Sustainable Development Goal, which was also
discussed by Ms. Nakamitsu in her keynote speech. On our part, we noticed that there
are some SDGs goals which are important for citizens and cities. It was discussed
yesterday in the Executive Conference that we are going to also encourage achieving
such SDGs.
Regarding the collaboration with other organizations of local authorities, there are two
examples. For instance, the mayor of Granollers from Spain mentioned that the United
Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) is an organization where he serves as the vicepresident, and he has been working to link Mayors for Peace and UCLG. So, we would
like to join that kind of effort. And the mayor of Des Moines and his predecessor have

been working in the biggest mayors’ organization in the United States, which is the US
Conference of Mayors, and they have been organizing efforts on the nuclear
disarmament resolution for 13 years. Lead cities are expected to make a creative effort
so that they will be able to further link Mayors for Peace with other organizations oflocal authorities.
In order to carry out those activities, we need to have management and financial
foundation. What we discussed just a few minutes ago is going to be very important.
Membership fee is not a major financial resource, but with funding from foundations
from outside, we might be able to collect additional fees and donations. We hope that
we will be able to consolidate our activities by making the best use of those funds. So,
those are the proposals I want you to ask your understanding.
Chairperson
Thank you very much. Secretary General has given us the ideas and point of view ofMayors for Peace Action Plan. Now that you listened to this overview, what we’ve been
doing in the past: focusing on the nuclear weapon prohibition, thus creating lastingworld peace. But with additional suggestions, in order to create lasting world peace, weneed to focus on what’s happening in the regions; terrorism, refugees, issues embraced
by different cities. Those have to be rectified in order to create lasting world peace. So
we have increased one pillar and made the two pillars to support the lasting world peace.
And, as one of the major points, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
Nuclear weapon convention was the word we used to use in English, but we haveintroduced a new idea, which is to first establish a treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons,
and change this treaty that will lead up to a total nuclear weapon convention. So this isgoing to be the basis of our activities. In order to do that, we need to have our sights set
on SDGs by the United Nations. In order to do that, we have to have a goodorganization and strengthen our source of the funds. The new idea and proposal wereincorporated in this concept. Now, any questions? There being no questions, if you
agree to this idea as is proposed, may I assume that we have the agreement? Please.
Mr. David Lucas Parron, Mayor of Mostoles, Spain
I am from Mostoles City. Allow me to make a comment. For us, attending here atMayors for Peace on behalf of Spain for many years, we made a lot of efforts and 30
cities joined in this association last year. The basic theme is collaboration andcooperation among local cities. There is a special committee in order to realize ourobjective both from inside and outside of the country. It is necessary to have goodcollaborations between Mayors for Peace and local authorities. And there is the idea of
the UN-Habitat and a conference was held in Quito. In that meeting, strategic actions
were put on the table. As one of the cities of Spain, not only the Spanish cities, but also
the other local authorities, for example, are able to put a lot of efforts in the regional
committee. I believe it is necessary to develop our regional initiative in order toestablish the lasting world peace. Now those organizational activities would be more
effective in order to realize our objectives. In Spain, we have a gathering of mayors, andwe demonstrate our ideas and the statement to give the support.
Chairperson
We need to put our hands together with other cities, not just limiting our activities to
Mayors for Peace but work on wide range of issues, not just regional urban issues. I
believe Spanish cities are quite active in promoting peace activities in order to realize
our objective, the lasting world peace. We have to have a good collaboration andcommunication among different organizations. Thank you very much for your input.
Any other questions or comments? If not, this Mayors for Peace Action Plan, as was puton the table, may I take it that you have the concurrence in agreement? If so, please givea clap of your hands. Thank you very much.
In relation to this, there is one more thing. There is a proposal for a special resolution.
Secretary General, would you like to explain?
Secretariat
In order to further promote the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, what weneed to do is the early entry into force of this Treaty. Yesterday in the Executive
Conference, Mayor Taue of Nagasaki proposed a special resolution to call for the early
entry into force of the Treaty, in addition to the Nagasaki Appeal. This was endorsed by
100% of the members of the Executive Conference. As for the actual wording, we will

discuss this at the Nagasaki Appeal Drafting Committee on the evening of August 9.
After the discussion, we are going to bring that to the meeting. Therefore, in thismeeting today, we would like to ask if you will agree on this idea.
Chairperson
Thank you for your explanation. In this general conference in Nagasaki, we areproposing the special resolution to make this as a basis for furtherance of our activities.
As for the actual wording, this will be discussed in the committee meeting, and this willbe also sounded out in the coming day. Is this agreeable? If it’s agreeable, please show
your “yes” with the clapping of hands. Thank you very much. We shall act accordingly
based on this Mayors for Peace Action Plan until 2020, and of course, special resolution
should be put on the table. We have been discussing our action plan until 2020.
Eventually, since we are discussing the lasting world peace, we have to think about it ina longer perspective, what’s going to happen beyond 2020. What is going to be thefuture vision in Mayors for Peace? Is there something we need to dwell upon now?
Among the Executive member cities we hope that we will be able to start to have thediscussion beyond 2020. And if there is something comes up, we shall report to you.
Now, some reports and housekeeping announcement from the secretariat, please.
Secretariat
Thank you very much. I have one point to report. It is about the timing of the next
Mayors for Peace general conference. The target year of Mayors for Peace is 2020 so it
is a common sense judgement to hold the conference that year. Therefore, we hope tohold the quadrennial general conference in the year 2020 in the City of Hiroshima, three
years from now. We only have three years, and we will be witnessing a lot of challenges
and changes.
Usually, regular meetings are held every two years for the Executive members, but inleading up to 2020, we are planning to hold the Executive Conference in 2018 and 2019.
In the next year, 2018, NPT preparatory conference is going to be held in Geneva. By
using this as a very good opportunity, those who are able to get together, we hope tohave the meeting there. If you wish, you will be able to have the communication by a

way of Skype in the meeting in 2018. And in 2019, immediately before the general
conference and the target year, we need to have a meeting. As for the venue, while wewere discussing, there was an icebreaking proposal. Hannover City is ready to host themeeting. In addition, as the condition in proviso, Halabja, if a certain condition is met,
they said they are prepared to host this meeting. So as to the actual venue, in the year2018 when we have the Executive Conference at that time, probably we will be able todecide the venue for 2019. There will be the general conference in 2020, and Executive
Conference will be held twice: in 2018, at the timing of the NPT prep conference, andin 2019 either in Hannover or Halabja, or any other location. This is going to be theflow of our meetings.
Chairperson
Thank you very much. The year 2020 marks exactly 75 years after the A-bombing. It isgoing to be the last year of 75 years which was said that no grass or tree would growafter the atomic bombing. We will look into the current status on the abolition of nuclear
weapons and will be a critical year for us. An Executive Conference is usually held
every two years, but we shall have the Executive Conference twice in 2018 and 2019,leading up to 2020. In 2018, we are going to have the Executive Conference in Geneva,
and there are two candidates for the meeting in 2019. Either would be decided by wayof the decision making process at the Executive Conference.
We hope we will be able to lead the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons up to
the nuclear weapon convention so that we will be able to have the recognition of as
many nuclear-weapon states as possible to make this treaty into a convention. We hopethat we will be able to put our hands together to realize this. With your cooperation, we
hope we will be able to realize this. Thank you very much for your cooperation. With
your cooperation, I think we were able to have a very smooth progressing of themeeting, and I think we finished the meeting very effectively. I would like to thank you
all for your cooperation.

The 9th General Conference of Mayors for Peace

Session II

Roles of Local Governments
August 8 (Tue), 2017 16:00-18:00
Nakabe Hall, Nagasaki University Bunkyo Campus

Moderator:
Tatsujiro Suzuki
Director, Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition (RECNA),
Nagasaki University, Japan
Introduction of Peace Activities:
Thomas Hermann
Deputy Mayor of Hannover, Germany
Jaime Fresnedi
Mayor of Muntinlupa, Philippines
Michel Cibot
Honorary City Manager, Malakoff, France
Mr. Philippe Rio
Mayor of Grigny, France
Zenya Yamazaki
Mayor of Ayabe, Japan
Summary:
Yasuyoshi Komizo
Secretary General of Mayors for Peace, JapanMC
Ladies and gentlemen, now Session II begins. Director of the Research Center for
Nuclear Weapons Abolition (RECNA), Nagasaki University, Professor Suzuki, please.
Moderator: Prof. Tatsujiro Suzuki, Director, Research Center for Nuclear
Weapons Abolition (RECNA), Nagasaki University, Japan
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Tatsujiro Suzuki, Director of theNagasaki University Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition, called RECNA.
We are here to begin Session II. The theme of this session is “Roles of Local
Governments.” What kind of image do you have when you hear such a phrase like“roles of local governments”? Nuclear issues are one of the policy agenda often
discussed on national level, but indeed local governments have a role to play, and weare going to listen to the cities which are actually playing such a role in the field of
nuclear issues. I’m looking forward to listening to their presentations.
First, we are going to start with the City of Hannover in Germany, and the City of
Muntinlupa of the Philippines, and from France, the City of Malakoff and the City of
Grigny, and from Japan, the City of Ayabe. Each of them is going to share with us theirinitiatives. And then, after that, we are going to open the floor for opinions. Toward theend, Mr. Komizo, Secretary General of Mayor for Peace is going to give us thesummary.
Now, representing Vice President City, Hannover, we are going to invite Mr. Thomas
Hermann, Deputy Mayor of Hannover for the presentation. Please welcome him with a
big applause.
Introduction of Peace Activities 1:
Mr. Thomas Hermann, Deputy Mayor of Hannover, Germany
Mr. Chairman, Mr. Secretary General, ladies and gentlemen, I’m attending the General
Conference of Mayors for Peace for the very first time, deputizing for Hannover’s Lord
Mayor Stefan Schostok. He has asked me to pass on his best wishes to all of you. As
you mentioned in Session I, Mr. Secretary General, it would be a great honor for us tobe the host city for the Executive Conference in 2019. I welcome the opportunity wehave during today’s session to share our experience of working for Mayors for Peace, tolisten to each other and to exchange new ideas. Hannover has been the Lead City for
Germany within our movements since 2015. Being invited to perform this role is a greathonor for us. We want to deliver on this responsibility. And I would like to briefly
outline what this means for us in practice.
Since 1983, during a time in which the Iron Curtain divided Europe into a western andan eastern sphere of influence, Hannover has been a member of Mayors for Peace, andboth a Vice President City and an Executive City. And we also have ties of deepfriendship with Hiroshima, with which we are twinned since 1983. Right from the start,
the unit that coordinates the cooperative work with the Mayors for Peace Secretariat inHiroshima was assigned to the Lord Mayor’s Office. Currently, it has a staff of two,
who carry out the wide range of functions involved. These include modernizing theinternet presence. We use this website to report on our activities, and those of various
NGOs, to make background materials available, and to provide information on current
developments such as the recent treaty banning nuclear weapons, and also, of course,
this general conference. Public relations activities are extremely important aspect of ourwork as we seek to recruit new members.
Our commitment to Mayors for Peace is based on the appreciation that working forpeace is an integral part of our local politics. Social justice, peaceful coexistence
between people and democratic participation are foundational principles that create aharmonious environment for the people of our city. Maintaining and preserving this is
one of our prime concerns. This includes raising awareness of the importance of
safeguarding these values. Peace is something that must be secured afresh, time andagain. It cannot be taken for granted. And that’s why it’s right to talk about the threat
posed by nuclear weapons, to invite people to actively support the abolition of these
terrible weapons, and to help pave the way toward a peaceful world without them. This
also characterizes the motivation of many new members we have succeeded in enlistingfor the work of Mayors for Peace. There are now more than 500 towns and cities
throughout Germany that belong to our alliance.
Some words about how we collect the membership fees. In early January, member

towns and cities are requested to make a contribution by bank transfer. Alternatively for
100 EUR, they can purchase a flag for Flag Day. Hannover then forwards the feescollected to the secretariat in Hiroshima in the form of a collective bank transfer. Thismeans international bank transfer charges are not incurred—charges that all the member
towns and cities, even the smallest ones, would otherwise have to pay. This is a service
we are very happy to provide and one that goes down well with our members.
As I have already mentioned, members can buy a flag for the Mayors for Peace Flag
Day that we hold every year on June 8 with various NGOs. These flags are a highly
visible way to draw attention to our cause. Some 240 towns and cities now take part inthis campaign, and as before, still others have already expressed their interest in
participating from next year. This special day raises the profile of our work, and bypress releases we communicate to the public our conception of a peaceful world andencourage others to follow suit.
Another cornerstone of our member support activities is the German Mayors for Peace
Conference which takes place every two years. Here we discuss topical issues with therepresentatives of Germany’s Federal Foreign Office and various NGOs. This enables
us to adopt multiple-perspective approach and to give our members the opportunity toform their own opinions on the matters addressed. The present event, too, is a lively
platform for sharing ideas on projects. Also, however, and above all, it is one that allows
us to experience our movement as a community—a very large community—committed
to the goal of a world without nuclear weapons.
One of these ventures is our gingko tree project. In cooperation with a Germany city of
Erfurt, school pupils are nurturing gingko plants with a view to planting them atGermany’s National Garden Show in 2021. These plants are grown from seeds derived
from blast-damaged trees regarded as living monuments to peace. They are a starting
point for the pupils to explore the issue of the nuclear threat. We very much hope thatthese seeds of peace which have been sown will grow, and that in this way many young
ambassadors of peace will join our cause.
Activities with young people are a very high priority for us. For example, we helpyoungsters from Hannover take part in the Peace Programs offered by the Hiroshima
Secretariat, and we always have more applicants than places. One reason this exchange
scheme is so important is that the participants still have chances to meet survivors. The
eyewitness accounts of the hibakusha have a profound impact on those who hear them.
One participant was moved to get involved in a school project with contemporary
witnesses. It is good that the young people tell their peers about their impressions here
in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They can often achieve far more within their peer groupthan we adults can, which is why we also continue to support the participation ofyoungsters from our city to the international Youth Conference. After the event, they
will share their experiences on our website.
There are two other aspects of our work I would like to introduce. We have, since 2015,
hosted discussion events on current political issues under the broader heading of “warand peace.” Our topics have been “flirting with the bomb,” or “focus on the Middle
East—the legacy of Sykes-Picots Agreement.” And this coming September, on theInternational Day of Peace, an event whose focal point will be survivor testimony in theform of Skype interview. These events will generate public interest in our work,
enabling us to add information disseminators and supporters to our number.
However, one of our main priorities in the years to come will be an art exhibition called“50 Cities – 50 Traces.” It will open in the next year 2018, the 50th anniversary of thesigning of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and we intend it to close in 2020, the year of thenext Review Conference in New York. We want this artistic take on the issue toencourage debate on the prohibition of nuclear weapons. All of us want to make ourmark and leave behind something, a part of ourselves that endures. This is thephilosophy behind this project. These works of art featuring traces from 50 international
Mayors for Peace cities show how even tire marks on asphalt can have an aesthetic
appeal that reflects the world’s beauty. What, however, if the deployment of atomic
weapons were to destroy this beauty, leaving traceless oblivion?
To accompany this exhibition, which will travel to some 20 towns and cities inGermany and Europe, we have put together an educational worksheet. This will enable
school children to explore the exhibits for themselves. In this way, we will raiseawareness among the coming generations about the vital issue. And we believe we will
succeed in this because we have recently seen a surge of interest in what we do, partly
prompted by the latest missile tests and the modernization of nuclear weapons. This
gives me confidence, despite our awareness that there is still a long road ahead of us.
Germany’s former Chancellor and Nobel Prize Winner Willy Brandt elegantly put intowords just how worthwhile these efforts are. He said, “Peace isn’t everything, but
without peace everything comes to nothing.” Thank you very much for your attention.
Moderator
Thank you very much Mr. Hermann. Thank you very much for a very rich presentation
and also finishing in time. I should have mentioned earlier, each person is going to have
10 minutes for the presentation.
Let’s move on. One of the Vice President cities, Muntinlupa of the Philippines. We havehere with us Mayor Jaime R. Fresnedi, please.
Introduction of Peace Activities 2:
Mr. Jaime Fresnedi, Mayor of Muntinlupa, Philippines(Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EZjLyqljps)
Mayor Kazumi Matsui, President of Mayors for Peace, Mr. Secretary General, ladies
and gentlemen, good afternoon.
The use of youth by ISIS to become extremists in the Philippines has been going on foryears. From poverty, this young people are being lured to join the terrorists with pay,sometimes even under the guise of the Philippine army. The youngest recruit in Marawi,
based on the documentary, is just 7 years old. These people, at their young age, arebeing radicalized with twisted ideologies.
Recent US intelligence reports say that ISIS has attempts to acquire nuclear arms inPakistan. Furthermore, experts say that Islamic terrorists from Iraq and Syria are now
migrating to Southeast Asia, especially in the Philippines. With this starting in
Mindanao, one can just wonder how peace will be more elusive in the future.

Intelligence reports and experts say that the cities in the Philippines are now being
targeted as caliphates by ISIS. The turnover in terrorism is high and that’s the reason
why the recruitment of the youth is massive. The video that was just shown is just atestimony that the reports are true.
This, all the more, give us the reason to strengthen our social fabric in Muntinlupa, as
the saying goes, “think globally, act locally.” Other than establishing the first Muslim
Affairs Office in Metro Manila that addresses the particular needs of the Muslim
community in the city, we had the initiative to partner with the Department of Education
to integrate Peace Education Program in the social studies subjects of the junior andsenior high school students in the city and organize events that complement the
program.
The Philippines is a pioneering signatory of the Treaty of Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons since July 1968. As a ratifier to the Biological Weapons Convention, the statebans all production and import of biological weapons in the country. It also signed theSoutheast

Asian

Nuclear-Weapon-Free

Zone

Treaty,thus

promotinganuclear-weapons-free Southeast Asia. Our present Constitution, also known as the“Freedom Constitution,” is a pacifist constitution. The Article 2 of the 1987
Constitution of the Philippines in its State Policies under Section 8 states that, “ThePhilippines, consistent with the national interest, adopts and pursues a policy of freedom
from nuclear weapons in its territory.”
The role of the local government, as an enabler, is to help mold the people and shape apeace-loving society. The city government of Muntinlupa initiated the partnership
between the city and the Department of Education to integrate Peace Education
Program in the social studies subject of the present 29,354 junior and senior high school
students of the city and organize events that complement the program. This will beoverseen by the following offices; 1) International Relations Office of the city
government of Muntinlupa, and 2) the Social Studies Division, Department of
Education. The partnership will have the following objectives; 1) to integrate the Peace
Education Program in the social studies subject of the junior and senior high school
students, 2) to foster the stake in the students to become promoters of peace and justice,and 3) to organize peace advocates among the junior and high school students thatwould organize events on promoting peace.
The initial programs and activities of the partnership, the Social Study Division
designed a module for the program that will be integrated in the social studies subject of
the senior high school students. Muntinlupa Student Peace Advocates, overseen by theSocial Studies Division, it is an organization of all the students of Peace Education
Program that plan and manage activities of the program. The organization will beconnected with the Student Peace Advocates of Hiroshima for discussions andorganization of international events.
The initial activities are following; 1) forums and round table discussions on peace,organized by the Araling Panlipunan Division, the Student Peace Advocates with otheryouths will participate in periodic forums and round table discussions with invited panelof experts, 2) exhibits, overseen by the division, the schools that offer the program will
periodically host exhibits on the atomic bombing aftermath in Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
and art exhibits on the possible nuclear holocaust, and 3) film showing, organized by
the Student Peace Advocates, documentaries on the weapons of mass destruction and its
repercussions, including the documentaries of the atomic bombing in Hiroshima andNagasaki will be shown periodically.
To determine the interest of the students and the viability of the peace education in
Muntinlupa, a survey was recently randomly administered to 500 student-respondents
from the five major schools that offer senior high school in Muntinlupa on the following
items; 1) on the awareness of the importance of promoting peace, 2) on the belief in theimportance of peace education as a medium to promote peace, 3) on the necessity of thepeace education to be integrated in the social studies subject in school, and 4) on theinterest of the students to engage in the extracurricular activities of the Peace Education
Program.
And the results; 1) 9 out of 10 students are either highly or somewhat agreeable with theimportance of promoting peace, 2) the same ratio of students believe that peaceeducation is an effective means to promote peace, 3) an overwhelming 100% of thestudents are either highly or somewhat agreeable to integrate peace education in theirsocial studies subject, and 4) all the students will engage in the extracurricular activitiesof the program.
Analysis. The result on the items 1 and 2 indicate that the students are basicallybelievers of peace and that peace education is an effective means to promote this. And,
100% students would actively participate in the class discussions in the Peace Education
Program and get engaged in the activities of the program. The results show that all
students want the idea of integrating peace education in their subjects. And what isremarkable is that all these students would actively participate in the class discussions
and engage themselves in the extracurricular activities and organize events of the Peace
Education Program.
Conclusion. The Peace Education Program will be pioneered to the current 29,354
junior and senior high school students of the city. These students will be equipped withknowledge about the value of peace. Under the program, they will also plan andorganize events—play a leadership role to include the rest of the youth of the city—toraise the stake on promoting peace. With the current junior and senior high school
students of the city and an expected 3% increase in student population every year, we
expect to propagate the advocacy of peace in the city starting with our youth.
With the current advancement of technology and globalization, peace seems to be moreelusive to many. But if we can start to act locally, we can see the ripples of our impact
eventually. Thank you very much.
Moderator
Thank you very much, Mayor Fresnedi. The first part was the serious issue of protecting
young people from terrorists, and the last half was about the important of peaceeducation. Thank you very much for giving us your presentation.
Now, from Malakoff, and also from Grigny, President City of the French Chapter ofMayors for Peace. Mr. Michel Cibot, Honorary City Manager from Malakoff, and Mr.
Philippe Rio, Mayor of Grigny. Please welcome them.

Introduction of Peace Activities 3:
Mr. Michel Cibot, Honorary City Manager, Malakoff, France
Chairman, mayor of Hiroshima City, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, thankyou very much for giving me this precious opportunity. Under the name of the City ofMalakoff, and as the Vice President City of Mayors for Peace, and a pilot city, allow me
to make a comment. For the newcomers, Malakoff is located nearby Paris, a small town.
Mayor Jacqueline Belhomme sent best regards to all of you. I have been leading theadministration department for 30 years. I attended the general conference in the past
eight times, so it is rather legitimate for me to make comments. But it also means thattime has passed. Therefore, with the help of my young friend, Philippe Rio, Mayor of
Grigny and the head of AFCDRP (Association Française des Communes, Départementet Régions pour la Paix), Mayors for Peace French Chapter, I would like to make thepresentation.
Before we start our presentation about the activities for culture of peace and nuclear
abolition in France, I would like to say one thing. There were many debates about theTreaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons which was adopted on July 7. France
does not have any intention to proceed with the negotiation. In such circumstance, it is
not an easy job to promote disarmament in France. They are tenacious when it comes tothe deterrence, but they don’t even know the difference between the nature of the
A-bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Another reason is, in France, they think
it is not very much relevant to their day-to-day life because nuclear weapons are not
located in front of your eyes. Radiation does not have a smell, nor color, and are notvisible as you know, but there is a high level of the risk of radiation. There is a deep
concern especially after the Fukushima accident. In France, social psychiatry has beenutilized to seek peace so that the citizens can live happily.
In order to reinforce the measures for peace, we need to raise awareness that the nuclear
weapons is a threat to all the human beings, and their well-being. In this very limited
time, I would like to touch upon some of the measures we are taking, and I would liketo give you three appeals for the future. We hope that we will be able to haveparticipation of more citizens then build up the pace and collaborate towards nuclear

disarmament.
First, I would like to talk about the nuclear disarmament activities and measures for
culture for peace taken in cities and local authorities. AFCDRP was created in 1997 toenhance our efforts. It’s been 20 years since we created this French Chapter. We areparticipating in various activities. For example, we are participating in the activity of anorganization called ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons), thatis working for the ban treaty. However, our main activity is drawing up an action plancalled the LPACP program, which the local governments in this network collaborate
with other groups, schools, and companies to build up a culture of peace. Through ourinternational network, we hold many exhibitions and also movies such as In This
Corner of the World, which was mentioned earlier today. Those are utilized as teachingmaterials for peace for the young people.
Secondly, to give you a specific example, in Malakoff where I live, we have an action
plan. For many years, there are various cultural events, and the Artists for Peace
Exhibition is initiated by a local group. This is a gathering of artists. We only have a
population of 30,000, but out of them there are 70 artists. Representatives from media,
film, theater groups, unions, schools, music schools and the city hall are contributing tothis event every year.
Together with other cities, we welcomed Hiroshima Junior Marimba Ensemble. Thankyou very much, Ms. Mieko Asada, for your cooperation. Together with the artists inFrance and Hiroshima, we are collaborating on an event. In the town of Grigny,
unprecedented sports event is going to be experimented this year. A race for peace andthree month of educational cultural program for peace will be carried out.
Now, I would like to ask Mayor Philippe Rio of Grigny to present what they are doingin Grigny.
Introduction of Peace Activities 4:
Mr. Philippe Rio, Mayor of Grigny, France
President, Vice Presidents, mayor of Hiroshima and delegates. Grigny is one of theyoungest cities in France. Many of the inhabitants are from different regions andcountries. The budget of the city is limited. Exclusion and social urban violence arerather prevalent in our city. However, our common humanity is shown in our creative
intelligence and sociality that creates the spirit of collaboration and solidarity which isessential for harmonious coexistence. Immigrants escaped the misery, poverty, wars,
and climate changes. In the developed cities, there are so many people who are
excluded from the unfair global economy. We are receiving those people. The world is
not able to accomplish MDGs and SDGs targets because of poverty, exclusion of others,
wars, violence, and nowadays, terrorism. But we do have the obligation. We need tocreate inclusive cities which are safe and resilient. In order to do that, culture of peace isgoing to be our means to once again regain our humanity. Ecology and goodenvironment is another means.
A US Film director, Oliver Stone, knows Hiroshima and Nagasaki very well. He said,“Nuclear weapons and climate change are the twin scars of the world we live in.” With
this in our mind, we have to think about the local action plan for the culture of peace.
Memories, education, sports and culture have to be connected. Concerts, Grigny songs,
exhibitions, symbolic tree planting, debates and discussions are held with theparticipation of the local inhabitants. Retail shop owners, retirees and corporations are
participating in those events to create a positive atmosphere. By sharing such precious
time, we try to question ourselves about our actions, our relationships with others, andwith the world.
Dunkirk experienced two world wars. They are trying to make recollection of thememories, and last year, there was a symposium of the memory cities. And the second
meeting was held in Volgograd, sister city of Hiroshima. I’m sure that the representativefrom Dunkirk will talk about this later.
La Rochelle has also been hosting a peace event every year. Exchanges between thehigh school students in La Rochelle and Hiroshima has deepened relationship between
the high school students and host families. Such exchanges and trainings, artistic
encounters are important factors of our peace activities.

Vitry-sur-Seine has been participating in this general conference since 1989. Especiallyin African countries, they are promoting a distributive collaboration policy, and this year,
five young people are visiting Hiroshima and Nagasaki. La Courneuve, located in thesuburb of Paris, introduced culture of peace in their administration. I believe it is a good
method to infiltrate culture of peace. Thank you very much. Mr. Cibot, I would like togive the microphone back to you. I’m sure Mr. Cibot is going to raise some issues
before wrapping up our presentation.
Mr. Michel Cibot
I have already given you some of the examples of actions in France. From now, let’stalk about the future. I have three questions to ask you, just simple questions: We needto consider issues from a new perspective. First is about the nuclear weapons, whichhave destructive power. How are they affecting our lives and global violence such as
terrorism?
My second question is, in regards to the violence with a global impact, especiallyterrorism, what kind of impact does nuclear weapons have on these violence?
My third question is about the culture of peace. Will it become the driving force for thecollaborative, participatory and inclusive city development?
Sometimes, we are very much threatened by nuclear weapons because nuclear weapons
are casting shadows over our lives. But not much studies or researches are done on therelative connection. If we are able to elucidate the cause and effect, I am pretty surethere would be more people participating in the action of the elimination of nuclear
weapons. I would like universities, NGOs and organizations to start studies andresearches to get the full understanding of the threats by nuclear weapons. And
resistance against nuclear war needs to be the base for prevention. That needs to be fully
understood. This new prospective can be possible on education. Geopolitically,
economically, and environmentally, the world is changing so rapidly. Culture of peace isthe only means by which we will be able to respond to the new challenges and save ourhumanity and our earth. Please cooperate with us in the search and the studies of cultureof peace, and please join us in asking further questions. Please start your regional action
plan. This is going to be my last words. Let’s build peace together. Thank you verymuch.

Moderator
Thank you very much for sharing with us the three important questions. I know thatthese are very challenging questions.
Next speaker is from Japan, representing the City of Ayabe, Mayor Zenya Yamazaki isgoing to address you.
Introduction of Peace Activities 5:
Mr. Zenya Yamazaki, Mayor of Ayabe, Japan
Thank you for the kind introduction. I am Mayor of Ayabe, a city in Kyoto Prefecture. I
am Yamazaki. It’s a great honor to be given this opportunity. I’m from Kyoto. I wanted
to come here yesterday but because of the typhoon, I had to wait and now I’m finallyhere in Nagasaki. As you can see here, the City of Ayabe is the first city in Japan which
made the World Federation Declaration, and also a member city of Mayors for Peace.
Hiroshima also made a World Federation Declaration.
I would like to talk about the activities of the City of Ayabe. The World Federation aims
to realize objectives which are common to the objectives for Mayors for Peace. Ayabe isa small city and what we are doing for the world peace may be small, but I hope you
will enjoy my presentation.
The City of Ayabe is located in the center of Japan, and also in the center of Kyoto
Prefecture. We are right now here in Nagasaki City on Kyushu Island, the western partof Kyushu. The population is about 35,000. This is the view from a hill in Ayabe City.
The city is located on a basin surrounded by mountains and this is Yura River running
through the city. From the hill, you can see a white tower, which is named the “Peace
Tower.” Next to the tower, we have trees that were planted by the children from Israel
and Palestine. You may wonder why Ayabe has trees planted by children from Palestineand Israel. This is because we are conducting a Middle East Peace Project in Ayabe. On
the left you can see the fireworks in summer festival, and youngsters from Israel andPalestine enjoyed the summer festival with their Japanese peers in yukata. They also
enjoyed the performance of Japanese drums. On the right, a youth who participated 10
years ago came back as an instructor and I enjoyed seeing him again. These young

students are not ordinary children, they are the children who were orphaned because of
the war. They are victims of war, and since they are from Israel and Palestine, they have
hatred toward each other because that was how they were educated. But they wereinvited to Ayabe, Japan, and two groups of children stayed together for a week. I knew
this was a challenging project. At the beginning, the Foreign Ministry of Japan opposedto the program, but the Foreign Ministry supports us now. In 2003, the project started in
Ayabe, and the project has been held 10 times in the past 15 years. Not only Ayabe, but
Tokushima City, Shizuoka City, Kanazawa City, and last year, Koya Town in Wakayama
Prefecture hosted this event. So the project has been held 10 times. Ayabe City serves as
the secretariat. The children from Israel and Palestine stayed in Japan for one week,
enjoying their homestay.
Why was it started in Ayabe City? This is because Ayabe is the first city in Japan tomake the World Federation Declaration. We believe that this can be one of the small
steps toward a World Federation. Our declaration was made in 1950. This kind of
project requires funding because we invite 12 children, and we need to cover theiraccommodation and travel expenses. So the issue is the funding. One dollar donation by
local public servants who belong to World Federation Declaration Council is the source.
One dollar or 100 yen donation collected from local public servants sum up to 6 to 7
million yen. This becomes the fund to cover their travel fee. After the project is over, wedonate any residual amount money to UNHCR or UNICEF each year.
So, this project has been held 10 times, and there are some unforgettable words from thechildren who participated in this project. After a week in Japan, one boy said, “I thoughtthat he was from a totally different world, but I realized that we are the same generationand share the same sense of value.” This kind of concept may be something taken for
granted by Japanese children, but these are children who have hatred against each otherand received such education.
Japanese host families are not good at using English, so the children need to find a way
to communicate themselves. This is their first visit to Japan and first visit to Asia. On
holidays, families often go to a rotating sushi shop, and the host family took them there.
They really enjoyed and were surprised to see that you can take their favorite dishes bythemselves. There is a special type of noodle called somen, and there is a special device
to flow the noodle down in bamboo pipes, and you pick up the noodle while it’s flowing
down, but the children couldn’t understand what they were told to eat. So the childrenof Israel and Palestine started to cooperate together because otherwise, they did notunderstand what was being fed to them.
A boy said, “Before coming to Japan, I thought that realization of peace was impossible,
but even though it may be difficult in my parent’s generation, I thought it may bepossible in my generation.” These word made me grateful for continuing this project.
There is another incident I would like to share. They were on the same airplane when
they went back. At Tel Aviv, children from Israel went through the custom smoothly,
and their parents were waiting for their children’s return. Children from Palestineneeded more time, sometimes they had to wait three hours for the custom, but children
from Israel were waiting for their peers from Palestine. When they cleared the custom,they were hugging among themselves. This was communicated to us after they wenthome.
You may be wondering what the World Federation is. This is an internationalorganization dealing with issues that cannot be solved in one country such as conflicts
between nations and environmental problems. This is the World Federation. Conflicts
can take place in any regions or in any cities. If there is a conflict between Ayabe City
and a neighboring city, it will be mediated by the Governor of Kyoto. If there is a
conflict between Kyoto Prefecture and other prefecture, the national government will
mediate, but what about conflicts between nations? You may think about the United
Nations, but there are some countries with vetoes. In that sense, there are limits to what
United Nations can do in terms of finding solutions to the conflicts between nations. So
the World Federation wishes to develop a mechanism that can govern all states. The
World Federation believes that there should be only one mechanism, and the military
should be controlled by only one person, although each state can maintain its
sovereignty. As for the management of nuclear weapons, the World Federation
advocates believe that the states cannot effectively manage them. Therefore, asupranational organization is needed in order to have effective management of nuclear

weapons.
Physicists who developed nuclear weapons understood the necessity most deeply, and
the World Federation Movement has been promoted by physicists who developed
nuclear weapons. Einstein said that “preventing ruin on mankind must be given priority
over anything. That is why I insist on the construction of the World Federation.” In tears,
Einstein said, “because of my theory, the atomic bomb was dropped onto your country. I
feel quite sorry for that,” and after that, Einstein started to work hard for the World
Federation. Dr. Yukawa, the first Nobel laureate in Japan said that “the World
Federation is dreaming of yesterday and it is the reality of tomorrow. Today is the firststep to tomorrow.”
Japanese government made a commitment to World Federation in 2005. The twochambers of the Diet in Japan adopted a resolution to make a contribution to the World
Federation. Former Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu led this initiative. Ayabe is the firstcity which made the declaration. From above you can see that the park represents the
symbol of World Federation. There are city-wide efforts for the World Federation.
Why is it that Ayabe took the initiative of starting the Middle East Peace Project? It isbecause Jerusalem is our sister city. This is Ambassador Kahanoff of Israel, and she
often visits Ayabe. Representatives of Palestine also visits Ayabe.
There are municipalities promoting peace activities. For example, Mayors for Peacewith Mayor Matsui as President, and National Council of Japan Nuclear Free Local
Authorities, whose President is Mayor Taue of Nagasaki. I am the President of JapaneseCouncil of Local Authorities for World Federation. All of these organizations are aiming
to achieve the lasting world peace and elimination of nuclear weapons. The Treaty on
the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which was adopted on July 7, needs to be acceptedby the Japanese government, and this is what these organizations are trying to achieve.
We have the statue of Anne Frank and roses of Anne. There are many monuments in thecity. GUNZE, a famous textile company, manufacturing quality underwear, originally
started in Ayabe. They use silk from cocoon and cocoon is a symbol for Ayabe. This isthe character representing Ayabe City named Mayu-Pea. “Mayu” means cocoon and“Pea” here means peace. You can find the character on the slide.
There are things that are quite difficult for a national government, but may be easier for
local authorities. Raising voices by local governments, for example, for the participation
to the nuclear weapon prohibition treaty is one of them. Ayabe is now happy that bothchambers of the Diet of Japan made a resolution to support the World Federation
Movement. Diet members are elected from their electoral district and resolution takenby their electoral district would have a big impact on the elected officials and they willraise this at the Diet. Each politician has his/her personal views but they need torepresent the voices of their local voters. I believe, through the activities of World
Federation, the voices of local citizens can move the direction of the national
government. The participation, or at least, the direction toward the Treaty on theProhibition of Nuclear Weapons should be promoted. Each individual city may be asmall one, but if we get together, we can form a big river. We may be small, but we are
not powerless. A big river starts with one drop of water. With this in mind, let us work
together. Thank you very much for your kind attention.
Moderator
Mayor Yamazaki, thank you very much for your presentation. He has given us a very
impressive presentation on the Middle East Peace Project and the World Federation and“Mayu-Pea.” Did you mention “Funassyi”? I would like to see a nice and fairy battle
between Funassyi and Mayu-Pea, two interesting characters.
Now I’d like to open the floor for questions or comments to those four presentations.
We can accept one or two questions or comments. Please state the name of your city,
your name and title.
Question/Comment from the Floor 1:
Ms. Keiko Kiyohara, Mayor of Mitaka, Japan
Thank you very much. My name is Kiyohara, Mayor of Mitaka City of Tokyo. I would
like to thank Mr. President, Mr. Vice President and Mr. Chairman. Today, I was able tolisten to the efforts by local authorities, and I see some commonalities among them.

That is the memory of peace, memory of atomic bombing, that are conveyed to theyoung generation and through peace education, they are trying to develop role of cities
for the future. It’s been 72 years since A-bombing in Japan and its memories aregradually fading away, and that’s our concern. But it seems that there were many
examples from the four cities and how young people are trying to receive thoseimportant lessons. Especially the mayor of Ayabe mentioned that they are doing a very
important program to link the children of Israel and Palestine. Now I have a question to
the mayor of Hannover. Earlier, at the NGO booth, I saw the “50 Cities – 50 Traces”
exhibition. For peace education, young people from Hannover and Hiroshima areinteracting, and based upon these examples, “50 Cities – 50 Traces” was organized. You
are trying to use art as a way to convey the lessons for the future. So, could you tell us
more about this art exhibition, the purpose of this? I think we will be able to also use art
to transmit our message for peace to young generation.
Moderator
I saw one more hand in the audience. This is the last one. Please.
Question/Comment from the Floor 2:
Mr. Laurent Wehrli, Mayor of Montreux, Switzerland
Thank you very much. My name is Laurent Wehrli, Mayor of Montreux in Switzerland.
I’m also a member of the City Assembly. First, I would like to thank all the mayors andrepresentatives of the local authorities for their wonderful presentations. Through thisconference, we have been engaged in the work of memories, but also prevention. There
was an interesting talk from the Philippines, children being recruited into terroristgroups. Terrible incident. That was an experience in the Philippines. There were somany things we have yet to do. Our work is not complete. I have a question not only tothose mayors but also a question to the whole conference. This is also a politicalquestion. Not just memories but prevention. We are members of the assembly and weare politicians, and a mayor talked about the World Federation. Switzerland andGermany are federated states so we have some experience, but as Mayors for Peaceorganization, what can we do through our national governments? Cities need to work
upon their national governments so that they can do the right job in international
negotiations, for instance, adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

But how can we approach and influence the foreign ministers or national governmentsin the process of international negotiations? How can we really approach and pressurenational governments or diplomats?
One more question is about Mayors for Peace. We are here as leaders of local
governments. This morning, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ms.
Nakamitsu gave a speech. I should have asked this question earlier, but what I want to
ask is, why don’t we, Mayors for Peace, propose to the United Nations to work together
with the United Nations for a city project? More horizontal urban project, I hope, will
be launched for disarmament and for involvement of cities. This is something I would
like to propose; inter-city solidarity project, for instance, urban projects. I hope that
Mayors for Peace is able to propose such a project to the United Nations, and possibly
some funding sources.
Comment from Local Authorities 1:
Ms. Maria Fernanda Olvera Cabrera, Director of the Institute of Youths, Mexico
City, Mexico
Good afternoon. Thank you for this opportunity. I would like to thank all the presenters
for their wonderful presentations. I am from Mexico City. For a local government, what
can we do? I believe local governments can make an important contribution. I have twopoints to make. First important thing for all the projects is that the projects are directed
for young people and young generation. In order to promote the culture of peace, weneed to understand the importance of peace education. And we are focusing on not only
the current situation but also on the future. We are responsible for the future, so we haveto make decision right now to fulfill our responsibility toward the future. Nurturing of
the peace culture for the world can be done not only at local level but also at national
level and global level.
In Mexico City, we have a big issue. Nuclear weapon issue is not so well understoodbecause Mexico is not a nuclear-weapon state. On the other hand, conventional
weapons are posing serious issues because people have conventional weapons at home
and are handed over from parents to the next generation in an illegal manner. This is a
big issue for Mexico. Conventional weapons and illegal possession of conventional

weapons must be criticized because conventional weapons can kill people. Accidental
use of conventional weapons in your house can kill a person. We have to change thissituation. There are 26,000 guns in families in Mexico, so we are trying to collect theseguns and weapons from homes. I believe that the city must make a proactive
contribution. Anonymously, citizens of our city can submit these weapons to thegovernment without any worries about legal prosecution. This is a project done inanonymity. Anonymity is quite important to build a confidence and trust. This is the
Mexico City’s project. Engaging citizens is quite important for the young people.
Moderator
Thank you very much. We have received comments, and also, earlier, we have received
two questions. I would like to ask the five representatives here to respond shortly, one
minute each, starting with Hannover City, please.
Mr. Thomas Hermann
About the project “50 Cities – 50 Traces,” you will get some more information at theexhibition in the library, and we will present this project on Thursday in Session IV indetails. So I won’t say anything more about this. I think what you mentioned is that weneed to get young people involved in peace education. We certainly need a peacefulsociety in our cities and create such society together. If we don’t have peace, the world
will be in external fears without peace. So I think this is the work we can do to bringpeace to our cities and create good conditions to live together in a peacefully. Thankyou.
Mr. Jaime Fresnedi
Based on the documentary as presented, as young as 7 years old are recruited to become
Islamic extremists. This is the way now going on, especially in Mindanao. Mindanao isin the southern part of the Philippines. The President of the Republic of the Philippines
declared martial law. Because of the problem of extremists, in fact, Marawi City, for the
past almost 70 days, fighting between the military and extremists is going on. Based on
the explanation given by the authority, the reason why these children as young as 7
years old are being recruited is poverty. Also discrimination against those in Mindanao
area. So, local governments are concerned, including the Metro Manila, the heart of thePhilippines. We are the first local government to establish the Muslim Affairs Office.
Also, traders from Mindanao are now going or spreading to other parts of the country,
especially in Metro Manila. We want to let these Mindanao or Marawi traders feel thatthey are also being protected by the city government through the office that weestablished. In fact, the first local government outside of Mindanao who donated money
to Marawi is Muntinlupa. We donated 2 million pesos to start, at least to uplift thesufferings, and also, lighten the burden. Probably outside of Mindanao, the city council
is discussing about the possibility of adopting 1,000 students. We will give financial
assistance to 1,000 students so that they could go back to school and return to education.
We believe, local governments in other areas needs to be involved as this is an issue of
our country. Based on the discussion that we just had, inviting experts about Mindanao
issues to come out with a solution. We are also helping through peace education. Now
we are coordinating with the Department of Education on peace education for juniorand senior high school students in the City of Muntinlupa. Thank you.
Moderator
Thank you very much. Mayor Cibot, please.
Mr. Michel Cibot
I think there is one thing which is very clear. I think it was a very valid question. For
instance, a mayor from Switzerland asked what political role cities can play. In the caseof French government, we are a nuclear-armed state and the national government has
been supporting nuclear policies, and they have influenced public opinion. I think theissues of violence need to be systematically analyzed. Violence are all connected, andthe starting point of violence is poverty. In France, 3 billion euros have been spent on
nuclear weapons, and the new government is planning to double the expenditures. Thatamount of budget could be used for eradicating poverty. So we need a systematic
comprehensive approach. Violence is related to nuclear violence. Radiation will kill our
future. We have to thoroughly look at all those issues systematically.
Mr. Philippe Rio
Mayor Cibot already expressed what I wanted to talk about, so it’s difficult but still, I
would like to say a few words. We are here on this stage and we all are connected byour wishes for peace. Memories and prevention should not be separated. In order toinherit the memories you need peace education, and a systematic approach. The
representative from Mexico City mentioned that there are violence in yourneighborhood. Weapons in Mexican families or the cases in the Philippines. These cases
are related to nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons are the most destructive weapon, butbiological weapons and chemical weapons are also very devastating. We have seen thecases of the use of chemical weapons in Syria. We need to exchange ideas as to what
can be the best practices, and we have to apply pressures on our national governments.
Education for peace must become part of the national curriculum of education. In the
French Chapter, this is what we are trying to achieve. Although the national curriculum
is not responding to our request yet, we are going to take all the opportunities topromote education for peace. There are series of war happening in the world. There are
new types of warfare, including terrorism, and terrorism can happen or is happening inmany places in the world. Our weapon is intellect and this can be used only througheducation.
Moderator
Ayabe City, please.
Mr. Zenya Yamazaki
I don’t think I have the capability to cover the whole world, so I will talk about Japan. I
am a politician, and for politicians, elections are quite important. We need to secure
votes to be elected. That means it’s quite important to bring budget from the national
government to your local cities, attract industries or get road construction project. They
may not be directly related to peace-related activities. However, I feel changes arecoming. Especially, I see a few changes are happening among young people. The
material affluence alone no longer their aspiration. They ask for psychological andspiritual richness. I see that there are more and more young people who would like toachieve spiritual richness, especially after the big earthquake in Japan with the nuclear
power plant accident. They now realized that their urban life is quite vulnerable. So,
they would like to go back to rural areas. They feel that there is a need to go back to therural way of life. So this is the change we are seeing among young people. When we
think about world peace and lasting world peace, the change of attitude among young

people makes us optimistic because we believe thatyounger generation can dosomething, but we need gradual efforts. As the mayor of Grigny mentioned, education isquite important. And it’s important for each local government to raise their voices sothose voices will be heard and communicated by mass media. We need steady andcontinuous efforts to shape the conceptof the future generations. In that sense, I

believe that Mayors for Peace is making a great contribution. In Japan, I think there wasan effect to some extent in the changes of the values among young people, at least inJapan. This is what I believe to be true. Thank you very much.
Moderator
We are gradually running out of time. Already, we received many requests forcomments from the floor, many from local authorities. The time is of course limited, but
as you can see, we have four speakers. First is Mr. Michel Tomasek, Dunkirk Urban
Community of France.
Comment from Local Authorities 2:
Mr. Michel Tomasek, Dunkirk Urban Community, France
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Twice in the 20th century, there were terrible
recollection and memories in the inhabitants in Dunkirk. In 1940, 1944 and 1945, ourtown was destructed. We stood back up on our feet with resilience and solidarity. There
has been a rise in nationalism, and we have to come up with a solution. One of thesolutions I can think of is try to focus on the memories, try to recover the memories.
Our memories are fading. For us, because we have experienced destruction, our Mayorof Dunkirk Urban Community, Mr. Patrice Vergriete has issued a statement to create theMemory Cities Network in 2016 in May. Hiroshima, Ypres, Rostock, Gdansk, SaintPetersburg, Volgograd, Guernica, Caen, and Oradour-sur-Glane participated. In
Volgograd, there was a meeting held on Memory Cities. Indeed the objective is a quite
common with Mayors for Peace. The towns, which were once destructed, to beresuscitated. How are we going to reconstruct towns once ruined into ashes? If there areculture and heritages we need to regain, how are we going to do so? And how can wehave the balance between memories and remembrance? In the rise of nationalism, we
have to have a solid understanding and approach. Once again, we have to regain ourmemories. That’s for our future. Based on the foundational memories, we have to standup on our feet. Christopher Nolan, a director, shot the film Dunkirk. Last month, it madea box office record. I believe this movie will attract visitors to our city. It may offer an
opportunity to think about the memories of the war. We need to fight against wars. We
have to communicate the message for peace. It is not a simple thing, but for us living inthis world, we have to look at what’s happening in reality, and we have to have aclear-cut analysis. Young people have the responsibility for the future. Where are they
from? Where are their parents from? Where were their ancestors from? What were theirexperiences? That has to be known to the young people. That is going to be theircommitment for the future.
Moderator
Thank you very much. From India, Mr. Thomas Mathew, please.
Comment from Local Authorities 3:
Mr. Thomas Mathew, Mallapuzhasserry, India
Good afternoon, respected mayors, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. There
are many definitions and suggestions about peace. But the horror of wars, civil unrest,
authoritarian rules, poverty, political agendas, etc. are mainly behind the difficulty ofpeaceful coexistence of humanity. At the same time, using science and technology fordeveloping more sophisticated weapons, nuclear bombs, missiles, submarines, etc.
taking away the efforts to make more advanced life of common people. We need toovercome it by common citizen’s awareness; they are the force behind the success of
democracy and for a more peaceful world through electing their leaderships. Peace
education through grass root level movements and educational institutions are very
important to spread the importance of world peace and the methodology to achieve it.
Ordinary citizens have been accessing to only limited information about the world
peace problems or nuclear threats which may destroy the planet once and forever. Peace
education is the tool for common people to fight against the thirst of the war or war
mania. We have successfully organized more than 400 Hiroshima-Nagasaki Peace
Education exhibitions and seminars across India and few in Nepal and Sri Lanka since1990. My city Mallapuzhasserry, Kochi Metro City and YMCA India were fortunate towelcome Peace Boat Global Voyage for a Nuclear Free World in 2015 and 2016 in India,
and participated in “I was at her age” project. Our NGO SEEDS-India inMallapuzhasserry, a small city in India, also organized Hibakusha Peace Tour in India in
1990, 1995, 1996, 1998 and 2012. Our city and 2020 Vision Campaign collected 10,000
peace signatures from India and handed over to the Honorable Mayor of Hiroshima City,
Mr. Kazumi Matsui on August 5. 2015 at Mayor’s Chamber, Hiroshima. Today, I am
proudly handing over another 10,000 signatures collected from different cities of India
by last one year to enhance our efforts for a nuclear free world. I admire all the efforts
and guidance of Mayors for Peace for a better, peaceful and just world. Now may I
invite the honorable mayor to receive the peace signatures from India?
Moderator
Please give a big applause. Thank you very much Mr. Mathew and Mayor Matsui. Now,
going back to Japan, Mr. Kenji Kitahashi, Mayor of Kitakyushu City, please.
Comments from Local Authorities 4:
Mr. Kenji Kitahashi, Mayor of Kitakyushu, Japan
Mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, first I would like to express my heartfelt respect toall of you for your dedication to our work. Kitakyushu City is an industrial city, 200
kilometers to the east of Nagasaki. Seventy-two years ago, B-29 bomber aircraft flew
not to Nagasaki, but to Kitakyushu. Because of the poor visibility with clouds, they
couldn’t drop the bomb on our city, but they dropped it on Nagasaki. So we, the citizensof Kitakyushu feel equally deeply pained by the sorrow of Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
Kitakyushu City declared itself a peace and non-nuclear city, and every year on August
9, in the central park of our city, in front of the Nagasaki Peace Bell, we have been
holding the Peace Memorial Ceremony for many years now. Also on August 9, we send
150 pairs of parent andchild as peace ambassadors to Nagasaki.

There is a girl named Kayoko Hayashi who died at the age of 15. In Shiroyama
Elementary School, there is a cherry tree dedicated to her. Memories are graduallyfading away, but we have a sincere desire to pass on the memory to the next generation.
So our city decided to plant saplings, derived from this particular cherry tree, in allelementary schools and junior high schools with the involvement of citizens. We
finished planting in all of these schools. In public spaces, such as parks, we are going toplant the saplings together with the citizens so that we can pass over our memories tothe next generation.
We have decided to construct a peace museum. It may take several years, but learningfrom the examples of the museums in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we are going toconstruct a peace museum to pass on the experience to the next generation. My motheris a hibakusha, so I am the second generation. Nuclear weapon abolition has been an
issue which has been always close to my heart. Sometimes I feel difficulties, but byattending this Mayors for Peace General Conference, I am encouraged every time I’mhere. Going beyond national boundaries, cities need to be united, and as we do so I’msure that the ideal situation will come closer to us. Thank you very much.
Moderator
Thank you very much. The last speaker is from Iraq. From the City of Rawanduz, MP.
Serwan Abdullah Ismail, former mayor, please.
Comments from Local Authorities 5:
Mr. MP. Serwan Abdullah Ismail, Former Mayor of Rawanduz, Iraq
Mr. Chairman, conference members, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. First ofall, I would like to pass a warmest greeting from Peshmergas of Kurdistan to
distinguished hibakusha and to soul of samurai, as well to the conference members. As
an ex-mayor of Rawanduz City of Kurdistan, it’s a great honor to be here today to sharewith you the tragedies of the attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. During the 8th General
Conference of Mayors for Peace, we provided a brief description of Kurdistan and ournation’s struggle and suffering from chemical attacks and genocide. Since then, we havesuffered several tragedies. Many countries and cities have been destroyed, and we havelost so many loved ones, some Kurds, Arabs, Yazidis, Christians, and particularly
among our samurai, the Peshmerga, Kurdistan’s international freedom fighters because
they fought against ISIS for the last three years on behalf of the international
community.
On the morning of June 9, 2014, we woke and realized that a new neighboring terrorist
country on the border of Kurdistan with 1,050 kilometers was born. Meanwhile, Iraqi
government put logistic and economic sanctions on Kurdistan. However, the braveKurdish Peshmerga, under the leadership of His Excellency President Masoud Barzani,fought ISIS, the most horrific and vicious international terrorist organization dangerous
as atomic bombs. Eventually, Peshmerga defeated ISIS and extended extra guard to
Kobane City in Kurdistan, and created great history as a symbol of international
liberation.
After 13 years of bombardment, the City of Halabja was exposed to chemical weapons,
and ISIS used chemical weapons against Kurdish Peshmerga and the Iraqi military.
ISIS’s brutal actions against Yazidis and Sinjar City are considered as the 21st century
genocide against humanity and Yazidis minority and Kurdistan. The Kurdistan region
demonstrated a magnificent example of democracy and tolerance by welcoming 1.8
million displaced Iraqi people and 300,000 Syrians who fled from ISIS and gave themrefuge in Kurdistan.
The war led hundreds of thousands of children out of schools. ISIS and some othermilitias, religious and sectarian’s groups were misusing young children, and put them inmilitary bases and trained them how to use and to make weapons, including chemical
weapons. Some of these children were involved in criminal and terrorist activities, andkids who survived from ISIS, needs psychology treatment. This is an extremely criticalissue and we shall take it seriously, otherwise the entire humanity and the world will be
at great risk. As Chairman of Education Committee, Iraqi House of Representatives, westrongly believe that the United Nations and International Committee should be more
dedicated to support our tragedy. As mayors, we must all be involved and commit to ourgoal to convince our governments to invest on education sector. In this globalized era,
education is the key solution for building nations and countries, and also for building ahealthy society or raise our generations properly.
From the past century, Iraqi regimes persecuted brutally and after 14 years oftheliberation of Iraq in 2003, the new centralized government of Iraq left no other choices
for Kurds except for a referendum on independence, which is in accordance with theUnited Nations General Assembly resolution 1514 of December 14, 1960. Article 4
states, “All armed action or repressive measures of all kinds directed against dependent
peoples shall cease in order to enable them to exercise peacefully and freely their rightto complete independence, and the integrity of their national territory shall be respected.”
In this regard, the Kurdistan Region Presidency decided to conduct and independence
referendum on September 25, 2017. We ask for your support to influence yourgovernments and politicians to respect our recognized result of Kurdistan’s referendum
to exercise their simple right of self-determination.
We may have some irregular voices in our region that stands against Kurdistan’sreferendum. However, whoever stands against the referendum, they should realize thatthey are against the principles of democracy that is contrary to international laws
because they are seizing and violating the simple right of our nation.
Finally, the Kurdistan Regional Government and Iraqi government are fully supporting
the aims of Mayors for Peace conference, and in order to execute these goals as mayors
and world leaders, we should take more responsibility and put more pressure on world
leaders to convince them to go toward banning nuclear and chemical weapons to savethe world and civilization. The mayor and delegates of Kurdistan are standing with youin these efforts. Together we have a bright future ahead of us, and we look forward to
the continued cooperation between our nation to prevent tyranny and to ensure global
progress on the values that unite all of us to comply with the conference’s vision which
is banning the nuclear weapons by the year of 2020. I wish you all the best and thankyou for this opportunity.
Moderator
Thank you very much, Former Mayor Ismail. It has been extremely impressive speechwhich really weighs heavy on our hearts. Thank you very much. Please give him a big
hand of applause once again.
Time to close the session is approaching near, but is there someone who has a burning
wish to speak comment or quick question? We have five minutes. I see one person.
Would you state the organization’s name and your name?
Comment from the Floor:
Ms. Mihoko Hamawaki, JapanThank you very much for giving me the floor. I do not belong to any organization. I’m ajust a citizen. I live in Nagasaki and I was born and grew up in this city. As a citizen, I
would like to say a few words, and that is the reason why I took the floor. My
grandmother was born in Shanghai and she was exposed to the A-bomb in Hiroshima
and she came to Nagasaki. That was how our family started to live in Nagasaki. I
finished my school education in Nagasaki until high school. So, I am one of those who
received peace education you discussed about. I listened to the testimonies of hibakusha,
and on August 9, we go to school and we assemble in the school gym, and for years andyears, we continued to listen to testimonies of hibakusha in school. After finishing myhigh school education, I went to Nagasaki University for two years, and then went to auniversity in Tokyo. I’m really delighted that people highlighted and spoke very muchabout Nagasaki, but in Japan, there seems to be a big gap concerning peace educationand how people think of peace education in Japan. For instance, Hiroshima andNagasaki, and also A-bomb, those words are part of our daily life, but that is not thecase for people in Tokyo. For people in Tokyo, A-bomb is such a distant thing. It’s
something they have nothing to do about. I studied law in university, and I have one
experience at the University of Tokyo. Professor Michael Sandel came to Tokyo for alecture, regarding the A-bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He asked whether wedemand apology from the United States. I took the floor and I said, I am the third
generation hibakusha and looking back on the education I received, I have some kind of
hatred toward nuclear weapons but I couldn’t answer to the question. After I went tolaw school, I continued to try to find an answer to this difficult question, and one
answer I came up within myself is that our country is under the rule of law. Eachcountry has their own laws and rules, and we have conventions.
I think it is very important that we learn peace education with the importance on
decision making in accordance with the laws and conventions. I recently watched adocumentary film on Tokyo Tribunal, and there was a question dealt with that whether
an individual is held accountable for what happened during a war. So what I want to ask
you is to think about peace education not just about transmission of memories. For
instance, knowledge about the laws, regulations and conventions, we need to understandhow a certain convention is made, and also, peace education is about development atlarge. So for the future generations, I hope that they will learn what they can learn andwhat they can use for productive discussions.
Moderator
Thank you very much. Would you please state your name if you do not mind?
Ms. Mihoko Hamawaki
Mihoko Hamawaki.
Moderator
Thank you. I think it’s now time to close our meeting, but before that, I would like to
ask Mr. Komizo, Secretary General to give a wrap up.
Summary:
Mr. Yasuyoshi Komizo, Secretary General of Mayors for Peace, Japan
It’s an impossible job for me to give the summary. We listened to the presentations fromfive speakers. Hannover, indeed, starting from the membership fees with a lot of ideas
started to have the succession and continuity of the memories including the youth
education. They were all included in our action plan, indeed.
Muntinlupa is on the verge of difficulties. The city is close to Manila in Luzon Island,
but you talked about Mindanao, where there are a lot of Islamic people who are facedwith challenges and difficulties, and you also talked about the need of peace education.
It is totally apart from the ideological importance of peace education.
And also Michel, our senior boss, maybe much younger than myself, but when it comesto your experiences in Mayors for Peace, and activities you are engaging, you know thepower of nuclear weapons, much more than any representatives from any othercountries because of your country. And you have been engaging yourself in the nuclear
weapon abolition, as a super partisan representative of civil society. Be it terrorism,
nuclear weapons, and peace education, seemingly, they might be separated out, but they
are all interconnected. I believe that was the appeal you made. Through the activities in
the past, we have discussed with representatives from different countries, in the past
several years, about how we can create a nuclear-free world. Be it terrorism, immigrantsand refugees and environment, these have to be incorporated and embraced in our
activities. Only we have the strong interest in these issues. We can understand the real
threat of the nuclear weapons as well as the implications of the nuclear weapons.
From Grigny, Mayor, although you said you are young, or somebody said you areyoung, but still, you recognized the importance of the challenge, not only for the City of
Grigny, but also you have given us the quick rundown of what’s happening in the other
cities of France. Including the youth activities and also as well as exemplified by thestatement by the lady from Nagasaki, it is not just keeping memories. What is a strong
message and who are the receivers of these messages? It’s not just giving a message
from one to the other.
Youths have to understand themselves through different ways: art, economy and laws.
They would be able to create their model very close to them. There is a need for peaceeducation. Otherwise, why do hibakusha keep sending their message? For them, they
still have series of flashbacks and terrible memories which cannot be spoken of. But
what is the messages they are sending? And what is the future of young people? Weshould never have to live in an era of war. Your hope, your wishes and children’s
dreams and mothers’ dreams, how can we realize their dreams for the future? We haveto have a good education so that young people would be embraced with such strength.
I’m not a descendent of hibakusha, but I interview and listen to their stories every week.
The message of hibakusha is for the young people to have a bright future. That is the
only wishes of hibakusha. In order to do so, we have to know what happened in the past.
How atrocious, how miserable things one can do against the other. Terrible, atrocious
acts can be imposed by a human against another human. That can happen in this humansociety. How can young people build up our future society? Only you can understandthese things. You can understand why hibakusha share their experiences. They do havethe feelings of retaliation. They do have hatred, but they know that the hatred and evil
mind alone will not create a bright future. Unless you understand the feelings ofhibakusha, you will not be able to put your hands together to create the future. These are
the feelings which are kept in the minds of hibakusha. They are saying, “Do not letother people, young people go through the same suffering.”

We have 7,400 membership in Mayors for Peace. It was 4,500 five years ago, but it has
increased to 7,400. It is expected to increase more. Why? Because the mayors are
responsible for protecting their citizens for peace, for their well-beings, and create
vibrant cities with the sense of responsibility. They have to listen to the strong voices ofhibakusha so that they can put their hands together to build a peaceful future. That is thereason why we are gathered here. There may be some objection in cities regarding
attending this conference. Some even failed in the election because they were not in
town. But in this kind of meeting, you will be able to listen to the voices of the others,
they are standing on their feet right now, they are appealing to us all the way.
Mr. Mathew of India was once arrested. Majority of the people in India are happy,
saying that, “We now have nuclear weapons.” But Mr. Mathew is a fair person. There
was a person from Pakistan, and Japan was accused that they might resort to possess thenuclear weapons. This Pakistanis, after coming to the Peace Museum, said, “Nuclear
weapons will not benefit anybody. Together, we have to create a world without nuclear
weapons.” This is a person who is giving advice to the Pakistani government. Indeed,this is the spirit and wishes of hibakusha.
We have to have the understanding of young people and they need to think about with
their intelligence and wisdom about the future. There is no guarantee, but in Hiroshima,
Nagasaki and Dunkirk, there are many people who are trying to stand up on their feetand build a future. We can count on them. We have the confidence. We have the mayors
gathered here, and some mayors who are not here share the same perception. If wecooperate together, have strong feelings to the people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I
think we will be able to do something. We have to create a peace model around us.
Mayor of Ayabe said that Palestine is a far country, and we might not have close
feelings as much as the examples of the children of Palestine and Israel, but it’s possible
to invite those children to our place. That’s one good model. How can we create amodel? Anybody can do this, and probably we would be able to achieve the objectivesof Mayors for Peace.
In the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons which was adopted, there were a
lot of proposals made from Mayors for Peace. We were able to encourage and move theleaders of states, and some additional provisions were added because of the proposals
and suggestions made by Mayors for Peace. So the treaty is based upon the spirit ofrespecting diversity and to work toward the same goal of achieving nuclear weaponsabolition from various pathways and perspectives. These are the spirits of Mayors for
Peace, and that is why some of the draft wording of the treaty was amended in theprocess of negotiation. To each mayors here and to each one of you, I would like tosincerely thank for your dedication to this important cause. In order to realize a world
where our wishes are realized and to celebrate our wonderful friendship, I hope all of us
will continue to work together, and we will take care of ourselves. Thank you verymuch. I have spoken too long.
Moderator
Thank you very much Mr. Komizo, Secretary General. Thank you very much for thevery passionate words. It’s really time, and according the scenario, I am to give the lastcomment, but I will not do that. Just one sentence. As I listened to the discussion, I saw
a photograph of Dr. Einstein. Pugwash Conference was created based upon the
Russell-Einstein Manifesto and I would like to quote one phrase from that. Let’s say
this together. I think you all know this. “Remember your humanity and forget the rest.”
These are the last words we would like to say together. Are you ready? Let’s say this
together. “Remember your humanity and forget the rest.” Thank you very much. Thisconcludes Session II. Thank you very much.
MC
Thank you very much, everyone. This conclude Session II. I would like to thank all of
you for your cooperation for the smooth conduct of the discussion and meeting.

The 9th General Conference of Mayors for Peace

Session III
The Role of Youth

August 9 (Wed), 2017 13:45-16:15
Nakabe Hall, Nagasaki University Bunkyo Campus

Moderator:
Keiko Nakamura
Associate Professor, Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition(RECNA), Nagasaki University, Japan
Greeting:
Taro Kono
Minister for Foreign Affairs, Japan
Introduction of Peace Activities:
Sean Morris
Principal Policy Officer, Manchester, UK
Josep Mayoral
Mayor of Granollers, Spain
Representatives of Hiroshima Commercial High School and Nagasaki
Commercial High School, Japan
Case Report:
Nagasaki Youth Delegation
Hiroshima Nagasaki Peace Messengers
NET-GTAS, Kyoto University of Foreign Studies

Moderator: Ms. Keiko Nakamura, Associate Professor, Research Center for
Nuclear Weapons Abolition (RECNA), Nagasaki University, JapanWe are going to start Session III “The Role of Youth.” I am acting as the moderator. I
am with Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition (RECNA) in Nagasaki
University, My name is Keiko Nakamura. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
This Session III is a new trial for Mayors for Peace. Of course in the past, in Mayors for
Peace, we were giving strong support for the activities by youths in the world, but wewould like to take one step further for the future. With the mayors from different cities,
we hope we will be able to have a collaboration and cooperation with the young people,
and make a plan, and get the fruits out of the discussion between the mayors and youths
toady. This is our plan. I hope we will be able to listen to very enterprising and creativeideas which can only come out from the minds of youths. Today is indeed the day forthe anniversary of 72 years after A-bombing in Nagasaki. Let’s hear the voices of theyoung people as well as the voices of the representatives of mayors.
Let’s move on to the program. Mr. Taro Kono, Minister for Foreign Affairs is going toaddress to you as one of the guests. Please.
Greeting: Mr. Taro Kono, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Japan
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Mr. Matsui, President of Mayors for Peace,
distinguished guests, and ladies and gentlemen. Following the suit of the former Foreign
Minister, Mr. Kishida who is from Hiroshima, I have taken the position of the Ministerfor Foreign Affairs. This is the seventh day since I took this position. I am very muchstrongly determined to do my job. Thank you very much for your invitation to the 9thGeneral Conference of Mayors for Peace.
After the Hiroshima meeting in 2013, following the previous meeting, in this very placeof Nagasaki which was hit by A-bomb, participated by many people from all over theworld, this meeting is now being held. I am very much grateful with your presence to all
the people who are gathered here. Today, I would like to pay my strong esteem to all of
you who are devoting yourselves in search for nuclear weapon abolition, and creating
the lasting world peace. Thank you indeed very much.

When I was a grade school child, my father, then a young member of the House ofRepresentatives, went to Washington and Moscow with the film of Hiroshima andNagasaki. My father has shown this film in the two countries and came back. It was in
the midst of the Cold War. Showing this film of A-bombing in the two countries wasquite controversial. There were a lot of affirmative opinions as well as the negative
opinions. My father came back to Japan and told me about the reactions of the people
there. I still remember this clearly. Because of those experiences, for me, when I waselected for the first time as a member of the parliament, I was assigned as a member ofParliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (PNND), aninternational Parliamentarian Association for the nuclear weapons abolition, and I was
assigned as the representative on behalf of Japan. Needless to say, Japan is the only
A-bombed state in the world. When it comes to the atrocity of the use of nuclear
weapons and preciousness of the peace, Japan should know. Japanese people should
know. And people in Nagasaki and Hiroshima know better than any other people.
To have a precise recognition on the reality of A-bombing, which would create afoundation from which international community can accord with and take an action, by
putting their hands together towards the great aspiration of realizing a “world without
nuclear weapons.” If there was another use of A-bomb, what would happen? That has to
be clearly communicated to the others. I believe this is the foundation from whichinternational community can take action. Atrocity of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, fromgeneration to generation and from border to border of the country has to becommunicated. That is the mission given to us.
The theme of the session, I believe, is “The Role of Youth.” As the driving force for the
future, it is quite important for young people to recognize the threats of nuclear weaponsand enhance their awareness to understand that disarmament is indispensable for therealization of world peace. In that sense, you have gathered here today in Nagasaki on
this day, at this A-bombed place, to report your day-to-day activities as well as to haveexchange opinions on peace education and peace activities. This alone presents a verysignificant experience for the government of Japan. We would like to push forward yourwishes to create a nuclear-free world. Because of this, we launched the YouthCommunicator for a World without Nuclear Weapons. We are determined to expand
such measure further.
As to the means how disarmament should be progressed, unfortunately, there is a
confrontation between nuclear-weapon nations and non-nuclear-weapon nations, andthat confrontation is serious. We, in Japan, as the only A-bombed country in the world,
are determined to steadfastly maintain the three non-nuclear principles, to act as abridge between nuclear-weapon nations and non-nuclear-weapon nations, and to take an
initiative to rebuild confidence between the two confronting parties. We also hope tocreate an international momentum in leading up to the success of the 2020 NPT Review
Conference. For that matter, we shall continue to take positive actions to invite many
world political leaders and young people to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Kishida had a strong leadership. The CTBT
Regional Meeting was held under his initiative. Last year, Myanmar participated in the
CTBT, and the last remaining country in the Southeast Asia, Thailand, is about to join inthis CTBT deal. Of course, the goal is not too near, but we have to move forward
steadfastly. Russia, UK, France; nuclear-weapon nations are members of the CTBT, butthere are nations that have not yet joined the CTBT. In such circumstances, for example,
somewhere on the globe, if a nuclear testing is held, we have to have the mechanism
through which we are able to monitor them. We are now building up such system withthe cooperation of many people and countries. Japan should take an initiative to lead theway to realize the CTBT. In order to realize a nuclear-free world, not only thegovernment but also each one of the citizens should give his thoughts from all different
perspectives to the path forward. By accumulating such activities, I’m sure we will
increase momentum towards nuclear disarmament. Your activities in Mayors for Peace,indeed, are for that purpose. I am wishing for the further development and prosperity ofyour association.
Lastly, I in marking the 9th General Conference, people have gathered not only fromJapan, but also from all over the world. Once again, my thanks to you all, and I would
like to state my own determination to move forward together with you to realize anuclear-free world. With this, I would like to conclude my remarks. For the young

people, the driving force for the future, I hope you will be able to feel the wishes ofNagasaki and Hiroshima, and move forward. Thank you very much.
Moderator
Thank you very much, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Kono, for giving us very
encouraging message, especially to young people.
Next, we are going to have presentations by Mayors for Peace city mayors, talking
about their own peace activities. Each presentation will be given in seven minutes. First
presentation is from the City of Manchester in UK. Mr. Sean Morris, Principal Policy
Officer is going to give the presentation.
Introduction of Peace Activities 1:
Mr. Sean Morris, Principal Policy Officer, Manchester, UK
Hello, my name is Sean Morris. I’m a policy officer in Manchester City Council. I am
the secretary of UK & Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA), and secretary of
UK & Ireland Mayors for Peace Chapter. I’ve been asked to speak to you today about
Manchester’s work in promoting a nuclear-weapons-free world, and how we are trying
to educate children for some of these issues. What I will briefly talk about in my sevenminutes is what Manchester’s role has been in promoting a nuclear-weapons-free worldin the UK and Ireland and the wider world. The work of my organization, NFLA andwhat we do with Mayors for Peace, our role as a Lead City of Mayors for Peace, andprincipally what I’m going to talk about is the development of Project G, an innovative
project where we are trying to support the work of hibakusha and the work ofHiroshima and Nagasaki. I will talk about some key milestones for that project, and ourpeace education and our plans for the future.
Many of you at the back of the audience, weren’t born in 1980 when our organization
was formed. At that time, the world was, a bit like today, it was recognized as adangerous place. We had the United States, so we had to stop the Union, we had a Cold
War, and in the UK, we had nuclear weapons being brought to bases around the country.
In Manchester, we were very worried about what that may lead, that maybe an attack on
our city and an attack of nuclear weapons. And our council concerned about that

decided to go and declared itself a “nuclear weapon free” zone. The first in the world to
do so, and many hundreds more decided to do the same. The little plague you see on theslide, it’s on the front door of Manchester Town Hall. Even after 37 years, we are very
proud to still say that we are a nuclear-weapons-free city. For that as well, it is an early
form of peace education, and what we did in the early years was peace education. We
developed Peace Gardens, we try to understand how nuclear weapon attack would affectour people, and we lobbied again at international level. We started two years before
Mayors for Peace began. The previous mayor of Hiroshima said to me that the NFLA
was bit of a template to declaration of Mayors for Peace organization, so we are very
proud of that and our role in that. We joined Mayors for Peace in 1984, and we werevery honored to be asked from mayor of Hiroshima to become a Vice President in 2001.
The rest of my slides are lots of pictures because I think a picture says much more thanlots of words. These pictures are some of what we do with Nuclear Free Local
Authorities. We have gone to every Mayors for Peace conference since we joined
Mayors for Peace, and we are very keen to work with children. That was me, eight years
ago in Hiroshima, on the far left, with my Chairman seeing lots of children talking
about peace with them as well. On the bottom left I’ve gone to Hiroshima and Nagasaki
exhibition about what happened there which we hope to send out all over the UK. We
see ministers here. We’ve just seen the minister here. That was the UK Foreign Minister
we met. We go to the UN with Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and that’s my Chairman
meeting Ban Ki-moon of the UN as well.
And we work very much with Mayors for Peace organization. We go to all the meetings,
we talk with all our fellow Vice Presidents. In 2011 we were very proud to have themayor of Nagasaki to Manchester, and we have held the exhibition in one of ourmuseums, and he spoke out, and that is our Lord Mayor with the mayors of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki, and the previous Lord Mayor on the bottom left again, at the lastconference in Hiroshima. We also go to all places Mayors for Peace goes to, we worked
very close with all the cities in the executive conference. That was our Manchester
Councilor speaking at the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate of Ypres. And we feelthat peace education is well promoting the work of what happens in Ypres every day at
the same time. And on the bottom left there, you have the start of the world bike ride forpeace, and the Norwegian group we work with. You also have the Norwegian Prime
Minister there as well, and our Load Mayor in our beautiful Town Hall. A great example
for promoting sports as a part of promoting peace in the world.
We have set Mayors for Peace Chapter open, and one of things we’ve done with the
Mayors for Peace Chapter is the one with Japanese group Peace Boat. We had an event
in London, at the House of Parliament, with the Peace Boat group, where they talked
about the history and the work of Hiroshima and Nagasaki hibakusha. There you see on
the bottom, on the middle photograph, we also have some art from an art teacher whominherited drawings by children who were in school in 1950s in Hiroshima. That art went
to the United States, UNESCO Conference, and then got back to this teacher. He
donated that to the council, and last year, that’s the artwork that’s gone back to school in
Hiroshima where, if you see on the bottom left there or bottom right there, it’s now withthe teachers and children of that school. Just another form of peace education in its own
way as well.
What I’m going to talk about for the rest of the presentation is what we call Project G.
What you see there are seeds that we received from Hiroshima three years ago, thatcame from a tree that was damaged in the bomb on August 6, but sprouted in thefollowing year and these seeds originate from that tree. In Manchester when we got
these seeds we thought what work to do with it. What is the good project to do? We felt
it was really important, and we brought children into the debate around this issue andsome other issues. So what we developed was a learning project where six schools in
Manchester to do some arts, to do some poetry, to learn about what happened in
Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And also about the importance of the nature, in rebuilding
land devastated by the atomic bomb.
So these are the two of the paintings, to win the entries from our project. We put themforward and they all receive certificate, and on the 70th anniversary of the Hiroshima
and Nagasaki attacks, we held an exhibition of them at the Manchester Museum, andthe children came to that event and learned a bit more about what also happened in thetwo cities. Hiroshima was very excited by our project, and we were honored that the
mayor of Hiroshima then came to Manchester, and the children involved in developingthe painting and poetry, presented their work and talked about what peace meant tothem to the two mayors, and received books from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The
building they are in is the Rutherford Institute, and that was where the atoms were split
in Manchester University. So that’s like the beginning of what was a nuclear age. It
seemed very important tool to talk about the nuclear in very direct way andManchester’s role in it, but it was very important for children to talk to the mayors
about what they understood about what Hiroshima and Nagasaki means to them really.
And it was a beautiful day and a lovely event.
We will continue the event in the future, and a few months ago, we had two hibakushafrom Hiroshima. They came for a week around the UK. They met with politicians inWestminster and at Scottish Parliament, but in Manchester, we wanted them to meet thechildren. So they came to our Town Hall, and they talked about their experience as
young children affected by the bomb, two children who were hurt by the bomb. There
were lots of questions and lots of discussion with the children, and lots of debate about
what they could do in their school when they returned. The children also met them in astately home where the seeds are being grown. At the picture there, it’s the hibakusha
meeting with some of the children, and seeing the seeds being grown in Manchester.
To just to finish with this as well, this year, you would probably have seen on May 22 inManchester Arena, at Ariana Grande pop concert, there was a bomb in our city.
Twenty-two people were killed, most of them were children of your age. That was atremendous shock for our city, and really hurt our city very much. You’ll see all theflowers from that incident. Those flowers are now being dried and they will all be given
to the families of those who died. But in Manchester we have a very strong spirit. We
are a very proud city, we are very community-oriented city and we are an international
city of many people from many parts of the world. So when this incident happened, we
said, “No, this is not what our city is about. We are a city that wants to believe in a morepeaceful world.” And from the very beginning of the incident, we promoted peace. On
the top, right there, it’s all of our community leaders from different religious faiths, thepolice, politicians and young people coming together to sign a pledge, “We stand
together for a more peaceful world.”

That’s a very short presentation about what we are doing in Manchester. And this is a
short part of what we do in peace education. What we also do in peace education is wedeveloped a City Centre Peace Trail, with six of European cities which look our historyof our city as a city of peace. I have copies of this afterwards, anyone would like to have,
I’m very happy to hand one. I only have a few, but I can give you more if you give me
your business card. Thank you very much.
Moderator
Thank you very much. Now, the City of Granollers from Spain, Mayor Mayoral is goingto give us the speech. I’m so sorry that the time is very limited. You are given just sevenminutes. Thank you.
Introduction of Peace Activities 2:
Mr. Josep Mayoral, Mayor of Granollers, Spain
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. First and foremost, I would like to express mysincere gratitude to be given this opportunity to speak in front of you. Also, Mayor Tauegave a wonderful speech today. It was extremely impressive and we were so moved.
Thank you very much, Mayor Taue, for such a moving speech. There is one moregratitude I would like to express, that we are given this chance to have discussion withyoung people. Young people have many years to lead the world.
The City of Granollers is to the east of Barcelona, with the population of about 70,000.
Granollers has a strong sense of responsibility for peace because of its history. We hadvery sad and serious tragedy in the civil war in Spain. The incident took place on May
31, 1938. Over 200 people died within just one minute, and the population at that time
was only 12,000. As you can see in those photographs, the whole town was devastated.
Mussolini was the Prime Minister of Italy, and looking at this destruction, actually he
was one of the culprits who did this to our city. So our city was turned to ashes in justone minute. The city has shed blood and many people died, and there were many
casualties at the same time. Because of tragic this atrocity, we have a sincere desire topass on the value of peace to the future, we have a sincere desire to pass down thetragedies of what war can do, and that is something we have to really speak with ourwords to the next generation.

Those are the four major principles of action. Number 1 is historical memory to recover,to conserve the historical memory for four decades. Spain was ruled by an authoritarianregime and we were not able to talk about this memory,a tragic memory. Over theyears, it had been more or less buried underneath the ground, as we were not able to talkabout it. So we have to recover such tragic history, and as citizens of Nagasaki andHiroshima continue to do so, we need to recollect and continue to transmit this tragic
history that took place in 1938.
Many people gather at the grave and we dedicate flowers at the memorial ceremony.
Also, we are considering to construct a peace memorial museum, and through theexhibition there, we need to pass on the tragedy of our city. We had to protect ourselveswith air-raid shelter and we are going to make a replica of the air-raid shelter, and we
still conserve the air-raid shelters. We identified areas which were heavily bombarded,
and the people of the Red Cross discussed about the children, how the city was
bombarded, and how people died in agony. There are storytellers who give account ofwhat happened to many children including young people and they continue to tell their
testimonies.
We also believe in other work of city diplomacy as a very important and valuable
activity. The city may have a small power, but by connecting cities in diplomacy, we areable to become an influential force that can move the world. So, through networking,we are dedicated to raise the voices of cities.
Also, as one program, we have a sense of responsibility for peacemaking, and we needto place it in all activities we do. In doing so, as members of the local authorities andcitizens, we are going to unite those who are responsible and execute the responsibility
for peace through program such as education for peace.
The fourth point is the importance of education,

which is education for peace.

Needless to say, education is very important. Only through education, we can change
the attitudes of citizens. There are seven activities or seven actions which are themissions we need to execute. Those seven conducts are behaviors we promote in oureducation for peace. Number 1 is the education for peace for children. What happened
in our city, the tragic air-raid history has to be passed on to other people and generations.
And also, how the bombardment took place, and how people fled and took refuge in
air-raid shelters. How they were killed. We will continue to tell these stories to the next
generation.
Also, we consider generational activities very important. Like hibakusha in Hiroshima
and Nagasaki, we have survivors of the air raid. Those witnesses, old women and men,from grandparents to parents to children, we need to pass on such stories andtestimonies. We would like to become

a city toward peace.

Next important point is the international cooperation or exchange through cultural
exchange. We interact with people around the world, and through this, we would like tocontinue to build a network among citizens, especially youths from around the world.
Every year on May 31, in school education setting, we go through activities so as not toforget the bombing. For instance, like this slide shows, we were air raided and our city
was turned to ashes. With our history, we have to bear in mind the importance of peace,
and we have to move on toward the future. And that is something we convey to ourchildren. The youths, children, adults and also elderly people, all of them are engaged in
the inter-generational activities to create a new culture of peace. Dramas and musicalconcerts, those cultural activities work as medium for us to transmit the joy to be alive.
And through such activities, we educate children and young people about our thoughts
and history of citizens and the city through various media, including cultural activities.
This is the central part of our activities.
There are so many small activities we do. What I would like to stress is that we need tofight to win peace. And as social culture, we need to get the peace culture and we needto win our identity through struggle like that. The world peace is essential andfundamental part of our education. And a culture of peace is the central piece of all
education programs. That is the essential key for constructing a peaceful world. Thankyou very much.
Moderator

Lastly, we would like to invite the representatives of Hiroshima Commercial HighSchool and Nagasaki Commercial High School to present. Those are the representativesof students of commercial high schools.
Introduction of Peace Activities 3:
Representatives of Hiroshima Commercial High School and Nagasaki Commercial
High School, JapanWe are from Nagasaki Commercial High School and Hiroshima Commercial HighSchool. Because we are both located in A-bombing sites, and are commercial schools
established by the city, we started our exchanges in 2007, and in 2009 we became sisterschools. On August 6 and 9 of every year, we visit each other and we exchanged theBells of Peace from Nagasaki and Hiroshima to deepen our relationship. And, we havecreated the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Joint Peace Declaration. We would like to introduce
you the activities which are carried out in each of the schools to create peace.
Starting from Hiroshima Commercial High School, we have four cases to present. This
marks the 11th event of Hiroshima Commercial High School Peace Department Store.
There are many schools holding such event as commercial activity, but ours held under
the theme of peace, which is quite rare among those department stores, run bycommercial high schools. And we are contributing to peace through our commercial
activities and donating part of the proceeds to peace activities in the two cities.
Number 2 is the Peace Learning in which students act as teachers, as the next generationtellers. One of the features are, in the second year of high school, we learn about oursister school, Nagasaki Commercial High School’s history as well as what had
happened in Nagasaki, and to try to understand peace from the Nagasaki perspective.
The third event is donation and contribution of Peace Bell. We decided to have the same
donation project. The Hiroshima Peace Bellis rung in the Peace Memorial Ceremonyon August 6. We created replicas of this bell, and donated them to our peers. We havealso engraved a calligraphy of the word “hope,” which was written by Mayor Matsui.
Those replicas of Peace Bell were donated, not only to Nagasaki Commercial HighSchool, but also to the Girls Commercial High School in Ishinomaki City where peoplesuffered and died in tsunami and earthquake.
Number 4 is Barefoot Gen Wheat Project for peace activities which we work with the“Ichinen-hokki,” a NPO group. This started five years ago. Through this project,
Hiroshima City Yanominami Elementary School students joined the Hiroshima
Commercial High School Peace Department Store. We are also working with the HPSInternational Volunteer, a NPO group in creating peace-teaching materials anddiploma papers using recycled papers of paper cranes.
Now, on behalf of Nagasaki Commercial High School, let me talk about what we’vebeen doing. Two years ago, when we celebrated 130th anniversary of school
establishment, the Inheritance of Tradition Ceremony was held. Since established in
1885, a film clip of the school history was created with narration, including how weovercame the atrocity of A-bombing. We have also shown the lantern towers with 130
different lanterns, representing 130 years of history. The narration of the film and thelantern towers were both performed by the students. In front of 1,500 audience, then thepresident of the student council made a pledge, to inherit the spirit of peace and freedom
from our predecessors.
Number 2 is the Drama Club activities. This is an article from the Nagasaki Newspaper,
immediately after the end of the war. It says, “Nagasaki Commercial School students
and parents: the class will restart from September 20.” The class restarted only 42 days
after the A-bombing. Learning this fact, the drama club interviewed former students
during that time and created an original scenario of a drama called: “Starting of theClass- a Ray of Light.” The main character was tormented by guilt because he survived,
and was moved to hear the restart of the class. His mother encouraged him that “As longas you’re alive, you have to live to the utmost.” This drama won a prize in theprefectural contest and was performed in front of all the students.
Number 3 is the School Festival. The gigantic shadow performance began three years
ago, under the title “A Beam of Hope.” An 8 × 4 meter screen was created to show thestory of a couple who survived the war. What we wanted to communicate to theaudience is the passion of the students during the war. The classroom as a place of hopefor the future and happiness to be alive. We are going to perform the same drama withsome changes in staging at this year’s school festival. Taking the opportunity of school
events, we would like to look back at what happened in the war as well as imagine afuture with hope.
Lastly, on August 9, we a hold the Peace Assembly. In the assembly, we renew our spirit
for peace. There is a musical performance and the “Hiroshima Nagasaki Commercial
High School Joint Declaration” is read out.
Of course there is a limit to what we can do as the high school students, but as the highschool students in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we are going to continue to appeal ourwishes for peace. In closing, we would like to read out our Joint Peace Declaration.
First, we will learn from the experiences hibakusha who witnessed the horrors of atomic
bombings and share them with others. Secondly, we will pass on our mutual experiences
to the next generation. Thirdly, we will send out the message of Hiroshima andNagasaki to abolish nuclear weapons. Thank you very much.
Moderator
Thank you very much. Now, we are going to have case reports by some of the groups
who are going to participate in the group work that follows. First is by Nagasaki Youth
Delegation.
Case Report 1:
Nagasaki Youth Delegation, Japan
Good afternoon, I am Yuri Yamada, member of Nagasaki Youth Delegation. I’mhonored to be here to introduce our group and our activities. Nagasaki Youth Delegation
is a part of the human resource development project initiated by the PCU-NC, which
stands for Prefecture and City, University, Nagasaki, and Council.

PCU-NC iscomposed of Nagasaki Prefecture, Nagasaki City and Nagasaki University.
The project is aimed at having the youth of Nagasaki attend international conferences
related to nuclear issues. The best part of this project is the opportunity to learn about
current international affairs, and to get to know people who are active in the nuclear
field, and learn how we transform the acquired knowledge into action. The Nagasaki

Youth Delegation was started in 2013, so this is the fifth year.
There are four major characteristics. First, the delegation is composed of distinctive
members with different backgrounds. The members come from different backgrounds,
and this allows us to see a problem from different perspectives and come up with new
ideas. Second is being able to go to the places where the latest nuclear-related event isgoing on. Participating in conferences and talking to government officials and people
who are famous in the nuclear field and related areas helps us deepen our understanding
on relevant issues. And third is being able to obtain international perspective. By
understanding different views and standpoint of countries on nuclear issues, we canbuild wider point of view on world affairs. And finally, above all, being able to make aplan and take actions from that. All the members have a strong desire to take actions byourselves to eliminate and abolish nuclear weapons. So the more actions we take as
members of Nagasaki Youth Delegation, the more opportunities we will be able to have.
This May, after doing lots of studies and preparations, we went to Vienna to participate
in the 1st preparatory committee of the 2020 NPT Review Conference. Delegates from
more than 190 countries gathered for the conference and discussed issues such as
nuclear disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation, and peaceful use of nuclear energy andso on. During the conference, we were siting close to the delegates and listen to themwhile they made their statements. We felt very much immersed. During our stay, we
also had the opportunity to exchange opinions with government officials and NGOs. We
also visited international organizations. We went to a Japanese school in Vienna to give
lessons about nuclear weapons. We also booked a room in the UN where we held aworkshop together with students from Korean universities. These experiences made us
rethink seriously our roles and involvement so that the nuclear weapons will never beused again.
Currently, as part of our activities, we are giving lectures about nuclear issues tostudents in and out of Nagasaki Prefecture, which we call “Peace Caravan.” By using
various methods, we’ll keep aiming a world free of nuclear weapons. Thank you verymuch.

Moderator
Thank you very much. Next, Hiroshima Nagasaki Peace Messengers, please.
Case Report 2:
Hiroshima Nagasaki Peace Messengers, Japan
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. We are Hiroshima Nagasaki Peace Messengers
working to realize a world without nuclear weapons and peace in the world.
Hiroshima Nagasaki Peace Messengers was started in the wake of Indian and Pakistan’s
nuclear testing in 1998, which were not parties to NPT Treaty, and this is the 21st year.
We are Imari Yasuno and Moe Sekiguchi. In August last year, we visited the UN Head
Office in Geneva, Switzerland as the 19th Peace Messengers. We made speeches at thedisarmament conference, and visited Disarmament Affairs Office and, we made aspeech for a world free of nuclear weapons to Mary Soriman, Director of the agency. I
used a photo of the corpse of the burned body during my speech, which symbolizes the
A-bombing in Nagasaki, to stress the importance of peace.
We are also members of the 10,000 High School Students Signature Campaign. In
Nagasaki, we have petition campaign for two hours on the street every Sunday. Peace
Messengers have the role to deliver the signatures collected to the United Nations. Last
year alone, we collected 125,314, and the total number of the signatures we collected
has reached 1,462,912. They are now kept at the permanent part of the archive at theUnited Nations.
After we visited the UN, we went to various places in Japan to report our activities. And
also, we had an exchange with students who came to Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Under
the slogan, “our efforts are humble, but not powerless,” we will continue to spread ouractivities in Japan and the rest of the world. Thank you very much for your kindattention.
Moderator
Thank you very much. Lastly, from Kyoto University of Foreign Studies, NET-GTAS isgoing to make the presentation. Please.

Case Report 3:
NET-GTAS, Kyoto University of Foreign Studies, Japan
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. We are from Kyoto. My name is Abiru. We
belong to NET-GTAS. The formal name in English is the Network of Translators for the
Globalization of the Testimonies of Atomic Bomb Survivors. In order to know thereality of A-bombing, it is a must to listen to the voices of hibakusha survivors. They
left with us a lot of testimonies, but most of them were spoken in Japanese. Therefore, it
is difficult for those living in foreign countries to fully understand the testimonies ofhibakusha. They know the fact that A-bombings were dropped on Hiroshima andNagasaki, but when it comes to actually knowing what had happened, only a few people
know. We have to go over the language barriers. Therefore, what we are doing is try totranslate the testimonies of hibakusha of Hiroshima and Nagasaki into multilingual
languages and disseminate the reality of the atomic bombing. Voices of hibakusha
should be communicated correctly.
We have translated, so far, 88 video clips of the testimonies: eighteen hibakusha inthirteen different languages. We live in Kyoto. Do you know where it is? It’s not justfrom Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We are also sending out a message and are engaged in
activities in Kyoto. I believe this is also important.
We have collaboration with overseas universities, for example, in Germany, we have acollaboration with the University of Bonn. They are translating the testimonies ofhibakusha in their classes and made a presentation in their university. Not only in Japan,
but also in many places of the world, we are hoping that such activities will bedisseminated. If the testimonies can be translated into their local language, probably you
don’t need our existence, NET-GTAS, which is very good.
Mayors for Peace is different from the United Nations. They are not divided by theconcept of nation. They are able to make best use of their local language, which will
make it come closer more to peace. I believe this is the most advanced community. I
have one proposal to make. Why don’t you join us in translating the testimony ofhibakusha from Japanese to your local language? Would you like to join us? By yourlocal language, depending on the situation, if you can disseminate and communicate thereality of the atomic bombing, we will be able to spread peace. I believe this is thestrength of Mayors for Peace. We will be able to change the world that is our strong
desire. “Through translation,” may not be a very gorgeous job, but we hope we will beable to sow the peace to have the flowers in your local place. Why not join us? Thankyou.
Moderator
Thank you very much. Now we would like to proceed to the group work and we aregoing to rearrange the stage, so please wait.
I’m going to explain what you are going to do during the group work. I think you willfind the list of the participants for each group. There are six groups, A to F. There areuniversity students, high school students and overseas students, and they have alreadybeen working on this project. I’m going to introduce the members of each group lateron.
For Group A, from Musashino, Japan, Mayor Morimasa Murakami is going to join thediscussion.
For Group B, from Vitry-sur-Seine, France, Mayor Jean-Claude Kennedy is going tojoin.
For Group C, from Ypres, Belgium, Mr. Filip Deheegher, Director of the Department of
Peace is going to join.
For Group D, From Mexico City, Mexico, Ms. Maria Fernanda Olvera Cabrera,
Director of the Institute of Youths is going to join us.
For Group E, from Fongo-Tongo, Cameroon, Mayor Nkenfack is going to join.
For Group F, from Biograd na Moru, Croatia, Ms. Jasminka Bajlo, Councilor of the City
is going to join.
For the past three weeks, these young people have conducted research on the city whichis represented by either the mayor or the representative, and they have alreadydeveloped their draft plan. These young people may or may not be from Nagasaki. They
used email, LINE or Skype and they have already communicated a lot among
themselves. Also, they posted questions to the participating overseas and Japanese citiesand mayors. Based on the past three-weeks efforts, now each group is ready to present
the plan to the city representative. And based on the advice coming from therepresenting city, they are going to finalize the plan. There will be two discussions. One
is about long-term and the other is short-term. The short-term plan is an activity thatshould be implemented by the next Mayors for Peace General Conference. And the final
proposal will be presented later, at the end of the group discussion. Is everybody readyto start?
Yesterday or two days earlier, we already met with the representatives or mayors forsome group, but for other groups, it may be your first time to see the mayors. We may
have different backgrounds, different languages, but still, we hope to have effective
group discussions. We don’t know what is going to happen, and that’s what makes thegroup discussion exciting. We have 50 minutes for the group discussion, and using thescreen, we are going to tell you what is happening as much as possible. I would like tooffer a kind of live broadcasting of what’s happening. Last night, I was told to reportongoing discussion in the groups. I hope that the participants on the floor are going tostay with us, rather than feeling relaxed, please give your focus to ongoing discussion.
Is everybody ready on the stage? Now we have 50 minutes for the discussion. You canstart.
Group Discussion
Moderator
I am Nakamura, reporting what’s happening. On the screen you can see the young
people engaging in the discussion. This is Group A, talking with Mayor Murakami ofMusashino City. I’d like to introduce the seven young people individually. Please lookat the screen and stay with me. Each group, a leader is assigned. For Group A, the leader
is Shinji Shibata. Shibata is the student in the fourth year of the fishery science in
Nagasaki University. He has been involved in many activities for peace andnuclear-free world. Recently, he is busy with the study, so he cannot leave the university.
Group A has one difference from the other five groups. In Group A, there is an oversea
student who does not speak Japanese, so among the members of Group A, they
communicated in two languages, Japanese and English. So communications was moredifficult for Group A, but they already had wonderful discussions. The next in Group A,this is Risa Nomura, in the second year of Nagasaki University. She is a member of theNagasaki Youth Delegation. She was at the first preparatory meeting of NPT Review
Conference in Vienna. In March, she was also at the New York negotiation on theTreaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. And Naoya Takahashi, student from
Kyoto University of Foreign Studies. Kyoto University of Foreign Studies is auniversity with NET-GTAS, and he is a member of NET-GTAS. He majors in Spanish,
unfortunately, he is not with a mayor speaking Spanish, but he is good at speaking
Spanish. Another member, from Meiji University, is Daichi Kawashima. He is from
Fukuoka, and he has been to Nagasaki for more than 10 times. In September, he isplanning to go to the Caribbean countries. If there are mayors from Caribbean area,
please give him some accommodation, which will make Kawashima happy. In Group A,
there is a student from abroad. Ms. Tran Phuong Thao, studying at Ritsumeikan Asia
Pacific University. Because of the Takeshima Island issue, there is a difficulty between
Japan and Korea, and she has been studying the history between the two countries. The
last member of Group A is Hanane Okubo, a student from Hiroshima Jogakuin SeniorHigh School. Ms. Okubo attended the preparatory meeting of the NPT Review
Conference as a Youth Communicator for a World without Nuclear Weapons and madea presentation.
Group B’s leader is Atsumi Fukui, studying at Nagasaki University, in the second year
for the intercultural studies. He also attended the Vienna conference and the Marchconference, and he is very good at sports. And Hanako Mitsuoka, also a member ofNagasaki Youth Delegation, and she was at the New York conference in March. She isin the fourth year of the educational science. Peace Caravan, conducted by the Nagasaki
Youth Delegation, brings them to various parts of Japan and she has been leading thecaravan. Next member, Yukiko Kawase, a NET-GTAS member of Kyoto University ofForeign Studies. After three weeks, she is going to Canada as an exchange student. If
there are any representatives of Canadian authorities, please talk to her. Next, Tatsumi
Kamakura of Meiji University. He is a person who started and is leading a student
organizations involved in international collaboration. Another member of Group B isNana Yamaguchi, Hiroshima Jogakuin Senior High School. As Youth Communicator for
a World without Nuclear Weapons, she also went to Vienna, attended the preparatory
meeting. She is from Hiroshima. That was Group B.

And Group C. The representative of Ypres, Mr. Filip Deheegher, is with seven students.
Leader of Group C is Tamaki Sakai, Nagasaki Junshin Catholic University, also amember of Nagasaki Youth Delegation, attended Vienna conference and also New Yorkconference in March. There is a mayor from Canada, and this is because I said that there
is a student, Kawase, who is going to go to Canada in three weeks from now, so pleaseexchange your name cards later. It is wonderful that you find a new relationshipbetween the people, although it’s not part of the plan. Let me continue with Group C.
Tomoya Sasaki of Nagasaki University, in the fourth year of the engineering faculty,
and also a former member of Nagasaki Youth Delegation. In 2014 in Vienna, there was
the Third Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of the Nuclear Weapons, and he wasthere. I asked him how he is going to introduce himself, and he said, he loves champon,
the typical noodle in this region in Nagasaki. Another member is Hazuki Shimomura of
Ritsumeikan University of Kyoto. Ritsumeikan University is famous for the museum,Kyoto Museum for World Peace, and she is supporting the museum as a student staff.
She is studying international laws. Another member is from Meiji University, Naoki
Iwata. Recently, there was the New York conference, and Iwata was in the conference
room when the historic treaty was adopted on July 7. He went to talk to the South
African Ambassador, which shows that he is a very active person. And high school
member, Kokoro Tanaka is from Kwassui Senior High School. This high school is wellknown for peace education in Nagasaki, and in peace education, she is engaged indevelopment of a system called Nagasaki Archive, where people can look for andsearch for testimonies of hibakusha in Nagasaki. The last member with Group C,
Hideaki Ko of Shudo Senior High School in the senior year, and he also took part in the
preparatory meeting for the treaty. Group C is engaging in discussion with Ypres. I
would like to show you how discussion is going on, and participants on the floor, I hopethat you will be able to support the students during this discussion.
Now Group D. This is the table for Group D, supporting Mexico City. Ms. Maria
Fernanda Olvera Cabrera, Director of the Institute of Youths is at this table, and she isdiscussing with the five student members. Yuri Yamada is the leader of this group. She
is the fifth Nagasaki Youth Delegation and she is the only adult, after graduating from a
university, she now works at a small inn for tourists in Nagasaki, and she receives many

foreign visitors. She introduces Nagasaki City to visitors and guests, and she also works
as a go-between Nagasaki citizens and foreign tourists. And now, Haruka Asada with
Ritsumeikan University. She is a student staff member of Kyoto Museum for World
Peace of the university. She is a student of a faculty of literature, but she says that the
subject she loves the most is accounting. Now, from Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific
University, Ke Kosmas Ken. Ken goes to the Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in
Oita Prefecture, and his current interest is Japanese politics: for instance, a crime ofconspiracy or the ban on the import and export of arms. He is writing thesis on thequestion of whether Japan should be armed with nuclear weapons or not. And, from
Kwassui Senior High School of Nagasaki, Kiyo Yamato. In 2017, she participated in the
Critical Issues Forum led by Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey
in the Unites States. Because of this experience, she was appointed as Japanese Foreign
Ministry’s Youth Communicator for a World without Nuclear Weapons. The last
member of Group D is Yuya Konishi of Shudo Senior High School of Hiroshima. He is
also a Youth Communicator for a World without Nuclear Weapons, and he has attended
the preparatory committee. Together with Ms. Maria Fernanda Olvera Cabrera from
Mexico City, they are engaged in a good discussion right now. So that’s all for Group D.
Now to Group E, and we are moving with a camera. They are working with Mayor
Nkenfack of the City of Fongo-Tongo of Cameroon. Five student members, and theleader of Group E is Yuka Kitazato from Nagasaki University. She is the fifth memberof Nagasaki Youth Delegation, and she is going to go to China for study soon, andamong the participants in this Mayors for Peace conference, if there is anyone who canadvise her about her studying abroad in China, please give her your advice. Now, othermembers of Group E. They gave us a wonderful presentation: from Kyoto University ofForeign Studies, representing NET-GTAS project, Takahiro Abiru. He is going to
Kuwait next month for study, so if anyone is from the Middle East area, any mayors or
representatives of the Middle East, please give him advice as he goes to Kuwait for astudy next month. And from Meiji University in Tokyo, Shintaro Otsuki. His major isinternational law, but in fact, when I asked him what he studies today, he said, hestudies wine because he would like to use wine as a bridge connecting Japan and therest of the world. So, those of you who are interested in wine or winery, please get intouch with him after this meeting. Maybe half of the adults in this hall would be able togive him advice about wine. Now, high school student members in Group E. Earlier, we
received presentation of Hiroshima Nagasaki Peace Messengers. From Seiwa Joshi
Gakuin High School in Nagasaki, Moe Sekiguchi. As you saw in the presentation, she
has already made many speeches in international fora, she is a very good speaker as wehave already seen. Another high school student member of Group E is from Eishin
Senior High School, Mizuki Goto. She took part in the first preparatory committee
meeting for the NPT Review Meeting in Vienna.
The draft has already been written and will presented on a white paper. In the limited
time of 50 minutes, they are listening to opinions from the leaders of the local
authorities and in time, they have to summarize the materials for their presentation they
are going to make later. So, how effectively they can spend 50 minutes is a very big
hurdle for all of the groups, but we are all looking forward to the outcome of the
discussion.
Now, let’s move on the last group, Group F. The local authority assigned to Group F is
Biograd na Moru of Croatia, and we have Ms. Jasminka Bajlo, official mayor’s proxy.
Leader of Group F is Satoshi Nakagawa with Nagasaki University. He is a senior of theenvironmental studies department, and his area for research is behaviors and ecosystemof crabs. However, he is really interested in nuclear issues. He was at the negotiation
meeting for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. And let me introduce toyou to the other members of Group F. From Meiji University in Tokyo, Haruna
Watanabe. She is now explaining to Ms. Jasminka Bajlo. Like Iwata, at the adoption of
the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, she was one of the few Japanese
students who were there. Together with Iwata, students of Meiji University are in theirstudies, which have been using the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons as amodel to go through a kind of a simulator that debate for the negotiation. They are led
by a teacher who is a specialist in international law, so they have a good knowledge andhave a high skill on discussion. In Group F, there is a foreign student. Amanda
MacDonald, University of Nagasaki Siebold Campus. She is fluent in Japanese. Also,
she has no problem discussing in Japanese. She is a student from Wisconsin, UnitedStates. And, last but not least for Group F, a high school student of Eishin Senior HighSchool of Hiroshima, a sophomore, Yuta Takahashi. He is also a Youth Communicator

for a World without Nuclear Weapons and he went to a meeting in Vienna. Together
with other high school students, he made a presentation for Mayors for Peace, and he
was given a big applause from the audience as he was able to deliver very impressive
speech in an eloquent manner.
So those are the students and the local authorities. From Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima andNagasaki. As a matter of fact, all of them represent broader regions of Japan,
considering where they were born and raised. And also, we have international students
in the groups. They come from different backgrounds and also the contents of peaceeducation they received are different. They differ in the areas of interest and they differ
in age, students from colleges and high school students. Going beyond these differences,
they have continued their discussion.
How much time do we have left? It seems that they have 25 minutes left. So, we areabout halfway through the 50 minutes of discussion. So they have to consider the timing
to stop their discussion and begin to write the draft presentation materials on the white
paper, and that’s another important task for each group.
Now, regarding their preparation, let me show you some snapshots to show you where
they are in their cruises of discussion. Those photographs are shown in a manner ofslide show. Almost all the students assembled only yesterday in one place. Last night,
till 22:00 at night, they worked hard on their discussion. They had very active
discussion to refine their plans and proposals. So all of those photos eloquently showhow hardworking they had been. So I hope you will continue to enjoy those photos, andat the right timing, I would like to tell you what they are discussing later.
So as you can see, they are in the midst of heated discussion at each table, and somegroups have begun writing drafts on the white paper, and some had begun to summarize
their discussion on a piece of sheet.
We are already into the second half of the 50 minutes, so I suppose almost all the groups
began to summarize their discussion on the white paper. Let me see what kind of
discussion they are having now, starting with Group A. On their whiteboard, they havethose words of summary. One is, “activities by the youth, for the youth.” And next theysay, “A forum for peace.” That seems the expression I often hear from young people,
that is, from college-age students. They do have interest in peace or war issues. It’s justthat they feel embarrassed to discuss peace or war and are embarrassed to tell theirfriends their interest in such issues. They shy away from doing so because friendsaround them may think that they are too serious and do not seen them as an amusing
person. So, we should create a place where young people can seriously discuss peace
and war. It also says, “Kichijoji is the town of animation films.” It seems that they
started with the characteristics of a specific city. Each city or local community havecertain features and strengths, and they could utilize such characteristics to make people
understand that peace issues are not something distant from their daily life, but is an
issue which is really a part of their daily life. In order to do so, they would like to link
animation film, or other things young people are usually interested in, with issues ofpeace or war. Another is a town meeting. As you know in Nagasaki, Mayor Taueorganizes what is called a “champon meeting,” a town meeting where young people canbe engaged in discussion. For young people, college-age students, usually they don’t
have an occasion to discuss with mayors in person. Therefore, I believe this is a very
good opportunity for the representatives of local authorities to have exchanges or dine
together with students. It will be nice if you could create such opportunities. And also,
young people can join free of charge in those events because young people do not havemuch money to spend. It will be nice if they can come up with events where young
people are able to join without spending too much money. So much for the points of the
discussion which took place in some of the groups.
Next, Group B. About the activities of Group B, one thing we should take note is, out of
the six local authorities, France is the only nuclear-weapon nation. Among all the
nuclear-weapon nations, local authorities or cities are different, and there are so many
cities in France who are not supporting the nuclear weapons. They have different policy
in local authorities. They are the powers to seek for peace. How can young people givethe yell or support to those local authorities, is being discussed. Now, what are theproposals of Group B? Let’s see. This is Group B. I don’t think I see everything here.
You can see a wording which says “peace movie” with French and Japanese nationalflags. We have to wait for the final presentation to come, but “international peace movie

contest” is the words I see. I believe this is a proposal to discuss a peace movie. And“France is a nuclear-weapon nation,” it says. What are the proposals they are able to
make under such circumstances?
Let’s move on to the next group. Group F. On the whiteboard says, “Biograd as asymbol of peace.” This is what I see, and starting from step 1 to step 4, by taking thesesteps, how can we spread activities of peace? As step 1, it says “prior learning.” What
are the learning processes they have to go through for the preparation? And step 2 is“prepare events.” And step 3 is “carrying out the events,” and step 4, it says “postcard.”
Be it the short term, middle term or longer term, it’s not that it’s better to have the big
event for only one time. Probably it will be very good if they can come up with along-lasting movement which can start from one event. That seems to be one of theobjectives of the students. For students, after leaving their schools, graduating fromhigh schools and going to universities, and university students graduating fromuniversities, it might be difficult for them to continue with their activities, but
long-lasting activities are something we are emphasizing on this plan.
Now, on the stage, it seems that there are so many people gathered here, especially highschool students, on the stage. It seems that they are very much interested in what’s
going on in each group’s discussion. On the stage, there are a lot of high school students
who have come down from the second floor because we can accommodate only thevery limited number of the students. Therefore, to the students on the stage, may I ask
you to come down and change with the students waiting in the queue to come up to thestage? I have one request. We only have a little longer than10 minutes for the group
work. This is the last-minute work you can do. So for the observers, please do notprevent the students in the group from working on their project. Please do not speak tothe students working on the presentation unnecessarily. So, for the students andobservers, would you like to change with the people waiting for coming up to the stage?
Can you shuffle and change with the people who are waiting to come up to the stage?
This is a request to the students who are on the stage. Once you are done with yourwork, please change with the students who are still waiting on the first floor to come up
to the stage.

To the staff in Nagasaki City Hall, would you please bring additional white papers forthem to write down? To the students working on the project, we do have more papers tocome, so please use those papers.
Now Group E, Fongo-Tongo discussion. It says “web page” in pink color. At this time,on the web page, SNS usages can be also planned. I believe there were several such
requests, but what’s important here is you cannot just end with the use of SNS. In whatway, by whom, are we going to make the best use of SNS is something I would like thestudents to work on. We have also included those wishes in the plan. Not just creating a
website, but what are their plans which should be incorporated in the website? Let’s
wait for the presentation by Group E.
Now to the group members, you only have three minutes to go. It seems that you are ina rush. You only have three minutes. To the observers and the audience, they only havethree minutes to go. We would like to smoothly move on to the presentation,
immediately after the end of the group work. The students are in rush, so for theobservers, may I kindly ask you to come down from the stage? Each group are working
to get ready for their presentation. They only have less than three minutes. They havetaken three weeks for the preparation. I wonder where they end up with at the
preparatory works and what they have done before this group work. I wonder how thesuggestions and recommendations will be worked by the heads of local authorities.
Based on those activities, I believe there is a new collaboration between young people
and local authorities. At the risk of repeating myself, it is about time to move on to thepresentation. May I kindly ask you to come down from the stage? Staff members, canyou make the official announcement in English also?
I wonder whether there are groups finished with the preparation. It seems they need alittle more time. If you think you can go ahead and make the presentation, first come,first served. Looks like four or five people are engaged in writing down the final
wording. The group who is ready to go, please raise your hand. Students who are readyto make the presentation, please come. Time’s up! You only have one or two minutes.
You have to finish your last-minute work and be ready for the presentation. Each groupis given five minutes, which is very short to give the outcome of the discussion. Five

minutes. It’s impossible for you to cover everything you have discussed. You can justgive the essential parts of the discussion.
To the mayors of local authorities, the content of the preparation work by the students is
not specifically linked with the local authority at the table who is in charge of giving
recommendations or suggestions. But I’m pretty sure that the proposals which will begiven by the youths are going to be utilized for your day-to-day activities. After
listening to the presentations, if you wish to adopt those activities in your local
authorities, please come to those students and have a talk with them. It is not restricted
to the six local authorities represented here at the head table. The students are working
for peace making, so please give them a warm support and words.
I’m trying to buy sometime, and it is now time to start the presentation. Are you all
done? Let’s start from the one that has already finished in time. Who goes first? Whowants to go first? Group B, Group A, Group F, and the rest groups are requested tofinish your preparation. So, you are requested to be seated and listen to the presentation.
The first presentation will be by Group B. You only have five minutes for presentation.
In the very limited time given to you, please comply with the time. Basically, thepresentations will be given in Japanese. Simultaneous interpretation is available.
This is Group B. You need to introduce the city you worked with. Is everybody on thefloor ready? This is the start of the presentation, and Group B, you have five minutes.
Presentation of Activities for Peace 1: Group B
Good afternoon. Group B worked with the City of Vitry-sur-Seine. I am not the leader,but I was the facilitator. We have two proposals to share with you. I hope you are goingto enjoy, and also start working with us. Fist is the short-term idea, which Kawase isgoing to present.
The first plan is titled “La paix d’ici” or “Peace from here.” In this short-term project,
we aim on to building bases for our activities. The first objective is to build a base in
Vitry, and the second is to build a kind of a gateway to peace. This is a proposal we
gave to the city of Vitry, but I think this idea can be applied to all the cities in the world.

This base can be given in a form of bulk container, so the physical spaces are secured.
And then in that space, we plan to hold workshops, and this is going to be a one-day
workshop. First, we have one hour of workshop, have lunch together, and then go see amovie together and share our impressions about the movie. After that, we will create an
art to express our own feelings. Those paintings will be created by the participants andwill stay in that activity base, instead of bringing them home and forgetting about it.
There should be accumulated paintings. And that will be the achievement of thisshort-term plan. This is a one-day program. It’s quite easy to participate if it’s a one-day
program. In the city of Vitry, they are going to have a physical center to give people
opportunity to think about peace. The ultimate goal for this project is to make thatphysical space, even though it may be prefabricated by a simple building, which will
give opportunity for people in the city to think about peace together.
Next is the mid-term/long-term plan. We are confident of this proposal. We propose on
hosting an international peace movie competition. This an international movie
competition, and Vitry will be the center place of this film competition. This will beborderless, and we can share ideas about peace. The movies will be produced by highschool students or university students in Japan and in Vitry. It’s going to be a 30 second
short movie, and they will be distributed via Facebook or Twitter to the worldwide
audience. And then, there will be a voting by social media. Then there will be anawarding ceremony. So, the international peace movie competition can help us inpromoting peace education.
As well as peace education, we first focused on what’s happened in the past. For
example, what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the reality of A-bombings.
The visit to museums or listening to the testimonies of the A-bomb survivors are thekinds of activities. As for the current issue, in today’s world, the issue of nuclear
weapons continues. So, the number of nuclear warheads, yields and power of thenuclear weapons, efforts toward disarmament, nuclear abolition and the Ban Treaty. We
are going to have a seminar to share with participants about the basic facts. And toward
the future, peace movie will be created by a group thinking about what they can expressin the movie through their discussion. Thinking about what they can express about
peace, we need to build successors. Vitry has been quite active on the issue of peace, butthey say that peace education is something en route, so I think what happened in
Hiroshima and Nagasaki should be conveyed to the people in Vitry. So, by providing a
training program for those who can tell their stories, we can convey the message ofpeace to people abroad.
Moderator
Thank you very much. Next is Group A.
Presentation of Activities for Peace 2: Group A
What can we do to make a change? First, we thought about creating a space where
young people can gather, and think and talk about peace in a very casual, friendly
manner. The space should also be a great opportunity for international exchange andmutual exchange. When we think of peace, it should be future oriented. It’s not only
thinking about the past, but we are thinking about the future, a peaceful future. We think
this kind of place is really useful and important.
So, what can we do to make it happen? Here are some of the more specific ideas how
we can actually plan to create such a space. First, we will look for young people whohave some relationship with Musashino City through public recruitment. And there arequite a few universities and colleges in this area. Therefore, students would be the mostprobable targets. And these university students, quite a few of them are international
students. For example, ideas should be incorporated and linked with various measures
implemented by the city. The city already has some sort of a committee, where thepeople gather and exchange opinions and views about what they can do to make thecommunity a better place to live. And one set of perspective incorporated in this is thatutilization of animation, or Japanese “anime” related. Taking up this idea, we can form
some sort of a group where we can actually promote peace through art. And we want to
get the largest possible participation of young people. Therefore, we should pay fullrespect to the ideas young people offer. Again, in relation with Musashino Art
University, and young people who have gathered for the initiative can work together
with those art students to make creative artworks related to peace. So in all of these
initiatives, young people are the main actors, and to have a place and space where thesepeople can gather is idealistic. So, at the moment, Musashino City already has quite abit of resources of all kinds, and that should be well incorporated with the resources ofthe young people. Thank you very much.
Moderator
Thank you very much, Group A. Now, let’s move on to Group F. When you begin,would you please indicate with whom you were working with? Are you ready? Group F.
please.
Presentation of Activities for Peace 3: Group F
We are in charge of Biograd na Moru of Croatia. It’s surrounded by sea and it’s a tourist
spot. This is the feature of the city, and as you can see in this picture, it is a beautiful
place in the coastal area, surrounded with boats. This feature should be focused andcreate a day or time which symbolize peace for the event, praying for peace. We will
give you the details now.
Biograd na Moru of Croatia should be created as the place for symbol of peace. Step 1
is the preparation. Step 2 is the decoration of the town. Step 3 is carrying out the events.
Step 4 is sending postcards to other towns. Let’s go one by one. In step 1, high school
students or junior high school students can be engaged in the events. Peace education
was in our mind before we came here. But in Biograd na Moru, they are alreadycarrying out such education, so they have already taken Step 1. Step 2 is to create thetown as the symbol of peace. We are going to decorate the town to symbolize that.
Decorating the town with chalk arts or balloons. On the balloons, we are going to put
peace mark or peace symbol like this. Step 3 is to carry out the events. Holdexhibitions including testimonies of hibakusha, but they are holding such events already,so continuity of such events is the step 3. Secondly, a “Lantern Day” to pray for peace.
This is the lighting of lantern for peace, and Biograd should be embraced with thoselanterns praying for peace. Thirdly, because this is a very famous place by the sea, byusing the lights of the yachts or the boats, we are going to surround this area with lights.
This seems to be a very good candidate place. There are a lot of boats more here so,
probably this seems to be the better place. This symbol mark originally had blue hearts,and there was a bee in the center. We arranged this to make a symbol for peace. Why isit blue? Biograd is very famous for its beautiful sea. Through those series of events, wewould like to make a day to think about peace, and to make Biograd na Moru the“symbol of peace.”
The next step going from this is that we want to have a picture taken of this heart
made from the symbol of ocean, by using, for example, drone overhead, and using thatimage make postcards. These postcards, would have the image as well as this message
over here, “Small cities make small steps, but together, can make a big difference.
Eliminate nuclear weapons.” So, we will send out these postcards to other cities tospread the message of peace as well asking them to join Mayors for Peace program.
That way we can not only continue with this program in Biograd, but also try tocontinue this in other cities and continue to spread this message.
This plan consists of various events, but that has to be done by the initiative of young
people. This is the obligation of young people who is the driving force for the future. Be
it Nagasaki or Biograd na Moru, probably one idea is to create a youth group or youth
association jointly. One proposal we have is, to members of Mayors for Peace, would
you like to create such young people’s association to have the connection? This is anidea from the ban treaty, which was just adopted, and was realized because of theinitiatives and appeals by hibakusha and citizens of the A-bomb cities. Such solidarity
and cooperation, among citizens groups will need to be spread among local authorities.
Thank you very much.
Moderator
Thank you very much, Group F. Next, Group E, Fongo-Tongo, please.
Presentation of Activities for Peace 4: Group E
I would like to make a presentation about Fongo-Tongo. First of all, when we firstlearned about Fongo-Tongo, it was a surprise. First, it’s a city in Cameroon, and because
we didn’t know anything about the city or the country, we tried to search it throughwebsites. We started without knowing much about the city. So one suggestion is that wewould want it to make a web page focusing on photos. Young people loves to takephotos, and we would like to build a platform for photos, that is common between
Nagasaki City and Fongo-Tongo. And then we can collect many photos as possible.

The second one is the short-term exchange program. It’s a two to three weeks exchange
program between young people of Fongo-Tongo and Nagasaki. This is based on thepeace education. For example, young people of Nagasaki go to Fongo-Tongo for thepeace caravan. By going to Fongo-Tongo, they can learn about history and environment
about the city. On the other hand, when students from Fongo-Tongo come to Nagasaki,
they get to learn and meet people who have experienced A-bomb, and learn theirfirsthand experience. They can do a homestay, and they can learn about the culture.
The third one is a new language course we put in. It is kind of connected to the second
one, so if more students become interested in Japan, for example, Fongo-Tongo has auniversity, and we thought maybe they should offer a Japanese course. Not only
establishing a Japanese course, but also, as a part of the education in Nagasaki
University, we can establish some course that introduces culture and language of
Fongo-Tongo. And of course this is also related, and another one is translating thetestimonies of the A-bomb survivors. In order to translate, you really have to understandhow they felt, so I think this itself is peace education.
There is one minute left, and this is the last one. If we presented all the activities, it may
be difficult to get feedback, so in order to offer an opportunity to learn about peaceeducation, this is stimulated by the stepping stone placed in Germany. In one part of thestreet, some section is removed and a golden colored footprint is inlaid. When they findthe golden footprint, people will stop. The footprint will have information about a year
and also a name of a city, but they don’t know what it means. By using the iPhone ARapp, they can get information about the wars or conflicts, for example, “1945 August 9,
Nagasaki.” You can get the audio, photo, and written information about the atomic
bombing, which will provide an opportunity to know about the history of wars of eachcities.
The purpose of doing this is that our one step forward leads to the establishment ofpeace. And it is very important for each person to deepen their understanding of peace,
and we would like to spread that to other people. That is all. Thank you.

Moderator
Thank you very much. Now, Group D, please get ready.
Presentation of Activities for Peace 5: Group D
Thank you very much. In our Group D, “Semana de la juventud por la paz 2017”, is an
event for this year, and I would like to tell you what kind of events are going to be heldor should be held. On a short-term basis, we considered to have a Day of Peace, but as amatter of fact, in Mexico they have a Peace Week, so we decided to look for long-term
and mid-term plans. This event is going to run for six days in November this year, andthe purpose of this event is to feel the value of peace and consider a pathway for a better
future. The venue is Zócalo Square in Mexico City. Zócalo Square is indeed a very
important place for Mexicans, and it’s an extremely vast square, one of the largest
squares in the world. The contents are, international issues, stories told by hibakusha,
and we would like to use videos and documentary films to make it easy for people tounderstand. Mexico suffered invasion by the Spanish. They have gone through difficult
history, and we invite experts to speak about this history, and invite hibakusha to telltheir experience. And also, Syrian refugees is also an issue, which should be discussed
in the event. In Mexico, there are hibakusha who live in Mexico, so we would like toinvite them to speak of their experiences on that occasion.
The second one is the use of animation films and manga related to love, human rights,
war and peace, and selling those copies of such books, and we also hope that we areable to screen those animation films. And a workshop for children and parents.
Producing some goods for them to play together, for example, Shimbun janken gamegoods, could be done in a way of combining Mexican and Japanese culture, and let the
Mexican parents and children make paper cranes. In Mexico City, domestic violence
seems to be a big issue. Some parents are being abusive of their children. Family is thesmallest unit of society, and that should be the starting point for building peace, andthat’s what we consider extremely important.
Next is a production of an animation and picture books appealing the value of peace.
Also, “A foreign country you discovered” could be used as a theme for a video-making
contest, and the grand prize winner should be given opportunity to go to that country fora cross-cultural experience. By so doing, people at large are able to expand theirunderstanding of different cultures, and standing on a wider perspective that may beable to consider peace. Mexico has a lot of colorful and cute goods for daily life, so wewould like to use these goods ornamented with Mexican colors for sale. And
opportunity for dialogue between citizens and the mayor, that was our plan, but the
mayor is a very open-minded person, so I hope that he will just continue to keep thispractice. And a public open competition for a logo, but I heard that they already have alogo, so maybe they can produce another one, a cute logo mark. A Spanish song
concerning peace could be composed.
In November, the event I mentioned earlier, it’s a very big festival with musical concert
inviting many musicians, like Fuji Rock Festival in Japan. Additional things may bedifficult for this year, but maybe for the next year. Also PR using various media, andfrom November 6 to 12, this big event is going to take place in Mexico, so I encourage
you to visit Mexico during that time. Thank you very much.
Moderator
Thank you very much Group D. So the last one is Group C. So, last but not least, GroupC is to be the last presenter of this session. If you are ready, please start the presentation.
Presentation of Activities for Peace 6: Group C
Good afternoon, we are from Group C. Group C will make a proposal to Ypres in
Belgium. Ypres City is the first city which suffered an attack by chemical weapons ofmass destruction. Nagasaki is the city which suffered from an atomic bombing, andtherefore, we tried to combine the characteristics of these two cities.
So, we have a short-term proposal as well as a long-term proposal. Short-term proposal
is a peace festival, and long-term proposal is a peace speech contest. I’m going to
explain about the exchange program. This is rather complicated, so please focus on it.
There are two parts, and one of them is a speech contest. After the contest, three winnersof the contest will be given the right to be on an exchange program. The speech contest,
as has been mentioned, Ypres City is the first city that was attacked with chemical
weapons of mass destruction, and therefore university students of Ypres will do thehearings of the survivors of the wars. Also the students of Nagasaki will do the hearingof hibakusha. Making the best use of these hearings, they will come up with the script
for the speech contest. They will learn from the survivors, and will come up with theirown thoughts and disseminate their thoughts to other people. So, students in Ypres will
come to Nagasaki on August 9, or around that time, and Nagasaki students will go to
Ypres on November 11, which is the date that the chemical weapons were first used on
the City of Ypres. In the receiving cities, the students will make a textbook based on
their history and give a lecture to the counterpart university students. When they comeback to their own countries, then they will disseminate their experiences to other people
widely.
Now I’d like to explain what happens after you are on the exchange program. There willbe three students from both cities, each would be on the exchange program, and thenthey bring back their textbooks that the receiving city’s students made, and by using
these textbooks, they are going to give lectures or presentations in their own cities. They
will have to present what they learned through this exchange program. Maybe press
conference can be also used, as well as website and school magazines are other channels
for disseminating these information. Not only to school classmates, but also widely tothe citizens of the city, disseminate the information and their experiences.
Now I’m going to talk about the short-term proposal, which is a peace festival. In Ypres
City, in a three-year cycle, they have various festivals. One of them is a peace festivalthat is to be held once in every three years. We thought we can bring in some elementsthat can attract young people, together with the peace festival and Ypres.
As just has been mentioned, there will be three winners of the speech contest. And wewill display art pieces, one of them is the Fat Man created using PET bottles or otherwaste, and we will display this art at the festival. The second one is, by using poppy
flowers, we will create some object to decorate around the festival venue. Poppy
flowers are the symbol of Ypres City.
I’m going to explain about the short movie. To be frank with you, as we talked with therepresentative of Ypres, this is the one that we really need to think over. The content isthat, both Ypres and Nagasaki, cats are very famous. Therefore, we created a cat as acharacter on the short movie so that they will see various tragic histories through theeyes of a cat. But the representative of Ypres said that the important thing is to talk what
happened to the people, rather than animals. Therefore, rather than using a cat, we tried
to come up with something that can communicate directly to the hearts of the people.
Now I’m going to give this a wrap up. Through the discussion with the representativefrom Ypres, there are some plans that cannot be realized such as the short movie.
However, we had very heated discussions and members of the team is different in termsof age, but we could deepen our discussion and come up with this summary. Ypres
suffered from chemical weapons and Nagasaki suffered from atomic bombing, so as
cities that suffered from wars, we would like to come up with some kind of a plan that
we can communicate and exchange between these cities and contribute to peace in theworld. Thank you very much.
Moderator
Thank you very much. These were the presentations by each group. This is a good
opportunity. Although we don’t have much time, I think we can have only one question
from the participants. If there is a question, I think we have time for one question, but
we would like to use this precious opportunity, there are many citizens and mayors fromother Japanese cities or the mayors from abroad. We have time to receive one question.
If not, we would like to conclude the session.
Students and young people could share with you only a part of the ideas they have
prepared, and they were given a very short period of time for the presentation.
Tomorrow, we are going to exhibit the ideas written on those papers so that you canhave more time to go through them. The ideas and projects presented here need support
from mayors and citizens in various cities for the realization, so if any one of you isinterested in some of these ideas, please contact these young people. I think this was avery challenging session for Mayors for Peace, young people and mayors collaborated,
and we had a wonderful reaction among people. Here we have the mayor of Nagasaki. I
don’t know whether the mayor of Nagasaki feels like doing it again, or not so much, but
creating something new is a source of joy. Activity toward peace is a very serious issue,

but young people are filled with energy in creating something new. Let us share this joyof creating something new. I hope that many cities will agree with me. Thank you verymuch. Please give a big hand to the youths and representatives of the cities. Those on
the stage, could you please stand and say thank you, “arigato,” to the participants?
YouthsArigato-gozaimasu.
Moderator
Thank you very much. Could you stay on the stage? So this concludes session III.
Thank you very much for your kind cooperation. Next session is going to start at 16:30
as is planned. I would like to thank you for your kind support to me and let us continue
to support these young people. Thank you.

The 9th General Conference of Mayors for Peace

Session IV

Roles of NGOs, Citizens’ Groups and A-bomb Survivors’
Groups, etc.
August 10 (Thu), 2017 9:30-11:00
Nakabe Hall, Nagasaki University Bunkyo Campus

Moderator:
Masao Tomonaga
Chairman of Organizing Committee of the Nagasaki Global Citizens’
Assembly for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, Japan
Introduction of Peace Activities:
Thomas Hermann
Deputy Mayor of Hannover, Germany
Nam-jin Kim
Director of the Peace and International Affairs Division,
Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, Korea
Teruko Yokoyama
Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors Council, Japan
Summary:
Hiromichi Umebayashi
Special Advisor, Peace Depot Inc., JapanMC
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for your patience. Now Session IV begins.
I would like to ask Mr. Masao Tomonaga, Chairman of Organizing Committee of theNagasaki Global Citizens’ Assembly for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons to serve asa moderator.
Moderator: Mr. Masao Tomonaga, Chairman of Organizing Committee of theNagasaki Global Citizens’ Assembly for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons,
Japan
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Now I call upon the opening of Session IV. My
name is Masao Tomonaga, Chairman of Organizing Committee of the Nagasaki Global
Citizens’ Assembly for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.
Now the theme of this particular session is “Roles of NGOs, Citizens’ Groups andA-bombs Survivors’ Groups, etc.” In the beginning, we will have the presentation by“50 Cities – 50 Traces” International Art Project 2018-2020, Germany. That will befollowed by the presentation by Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, and then thepresentation by the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors Council. So we will have threepresentations. Afterwards, all the presentations will have time for interaction with theaudience. After Jeju Special Self-Governing Province’s presentation, unfortunately, thespeaker has to leave to catch his plane. So, for Jeju Special Self-Governing Province,
we will receive questions and comments from the floor right after his talk. In closing
this session, Mr. Hiromichi Umebayashi, sitting next me, Special Advisor of Peace
Depot Inc., is going to make a summary. And I, as a moderator, will make a moderator’ssummary of the session. Now, we shall begin. The first is “50 Cities – 50 Traces”
International Art Project 2018−2020, the speaker is Mr. Thomas Hermann, Deputy
Mayor of Hannover. Then, he will be followed by Dr. Menges. So there will be two
speakers for the first presentation. Mr. Hermann, please.
Introduction to Peace Activities 1: “50 Cities – 50 Traces” International Art
Project 2018−2020
Mr. Thomas Hermann, Deputy Mayor of Hannover, Germany
Mr. Chairman, Mr. Secretary General, distinguished guests and friends. There is a

popular German saying that goes, “There are three things men should do in life; plant atree, build a house, and father a child.” This proverb is also a permanent reminder of thedesire to make stand against the transience of life by living. You hand something that
endures, something visible. What I’m talking about is legacy traces that outlive our own
existence, and provide the lasting reminder that we were once here. The need to beremembered and not forgotten is a strong emotional resonance for many people. And
the desire to leave a legacy whatever form it might take, for subsequent generations,give meaning to their own lives.
Incidentally, the idea of planting a tree goes back to a much older saying by the German
Protestant reformer Martin Luther, whose reformation of the church 500 years ago, weare commemorating this year throughout Germany. He said, “If I knew the world was toend tomorrow, I would still plant an apple tree today.” And this taught takes the idea ofthe first saying further. The apple tree, the symbol of hope, confidence, and future. That
is what Mayors for Peace and the supporters have taken to heart.
The art exhibition entitled “50 Cities – 50 Traces” also explores the issue of legacies
people leave on this earth. It chiefly spotlights the traces that have been left in our cities.
Traces about aesthetic images and representations from 50 mayors for peace cities havebeen created. They show, for example, the simple tire mark on asphalt can be turned
into an astonishing work of art. And yet, the exhibition is also warning that this world
will be all gone if all nuclear weapons are used. The beauty of our legacies will be
wiped out, lost forever. This is why it is so important for us, and above all, Hannover,
the Lead City, that this exhibition highlights the mission of Mayors for Peace to create aworld free of nuclear weapons. There are still much to do as we seek to achieve our goal,and since we can only do this as a shared effort, involving many people, we want thisexhibition which will be shown in more than 20 cities in Germany and Europe including
Hannover, Munich, Berlin, Manchester, Potsdam and Ypres, to make people curious
about our cause. We are convinced that an exhibition visibly under the banner ofMayors for Peace, will effectively communicate our mission to a wide audience. This is
why we would like to invite you to be among this cities to host this exhibition. Now I’mdelighted to hand over to Dr. Menges who will now outline further details on thecontent of the exhibition, the artists involved and infrastructure needed for this projectto become reality. Thank you very much.
Dr. Raimund Menges
Thank you very much, Mr. Hermann, for your introduction. I’m glad to have theopportunity to speak to you about “50 Cities – 50 Traces” project: a world without
nuclear weapons. Let me start with a word from Eric Hobsbawm who was a quite
famous great British historian. Right before he died in 2012, he said, in essence, hespoke about traceless oblivion in an interview. He said that the modern society
essentially operates without a sense of the past. He said, “If you forget what happenedin the past you, simply have to repeat the same mistakes over and over again.” I think itis the mission of Mayors for Peace to help the world, avoid making the same mistakes.
Again, I think I’m really scared of reading the recent news. How can we make this issue
more aware to the public?
With the “50 Cities – 50 Traces” project, we want to contribute to this Mayors for Peacemission. We want to do this with an art project because we believe that art can build
bridges and create encounters. Encounters connect people. This is what we do here. It
can create trust and it can create understanding and friendship. I think this is the key.
And it was, I think, the word over the last couple of days, the key element to create
friendship as a basis for peace. Such encounters need catalysts and stimuli. We need to
do something to really create this encounter and just as Mayors for Peace network, theworldwide network, also art can create such encounters, across borders, and even
without words.
With this project, we want to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the
Non-Proliferation Treaty which was signed in 1968. We want to support the Mayors for
Peace mission for a nuclear-free world, and we want to contribute to disarmament
education. We want to connect people and to create this trust and understanding weneed as a basis for our peace work.
The artistic concept behind this “50 Cities – 50 Traces” project is to juxtapose
individual traces from 50 Mayors for Peace cities. These traces, will highlight thediversity and beauty of those cities and of the daily life taking place therein. The

exhibition is conceived as an invitation to respect and to preserve the world’s visible
remainders, which are the bearers of memory. It is an appeal against the destruction of
our cities, against the deployment of nuclear weapons, supporting the idea behind theMayors for Peace movement that “cities are not targets.”
The exhibition will travel to Mayors for Peace cities who are interested in this project,
starting from 2018 through 2020, which marks, again, the 50th anniversary of theratification of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. If your cities wish to participate inthis global project, please contact us. You will find the contact details on the flyers thatwere distributed. And also, this presentation we are showing here can be downloaded
from the website of the “50 Cities – 50 Traces” project.
Since time immemorial, cities and streets have always been the lifelines of every society.
They are essential arena of life. They are drenched in memories. They connect people,
places, countries, cultures-even though we had to fly here, I mean there is no road toJapan, but nevertheless, they connect people. They are the settings for life itself, forencounters, for accidents, for dramas, for stories, this is our life. Streets and places, theychange, erode, damaged, repaired, and are marked by traces. And these traces reveal
something about those who left them, telling stories, or conjuring images of the places
where they are found.
Traces are the photographic subject of the Stuttgart based artist Klaudia Dietewich. She
is interested in the aesthetics of daily life relicts, which in one way or the other reflect
the condition of our world. Her found objects are fragments and pieces that are
non-representational, but that can call to mind memories, associations, and narratives.
As a distillation of life lived, the works raise the questions of what remains of us and of
the world as we know it.
The project office in Stuttgart in cooperation with Hannover City is responsible for thetechnical implementation of the project. Once you decide you want to execute that, ourcommunication languages are German, English, and we are glad to have a Japanese ladyin our team, so we can communicate in Japanese. Also the project office’s main
responsibilities are to produce the artwork, to collect mayoral statements, which are partof the exhibition art, so we invite every mayor of the Mayors for Peace to contribute tothis statement. As you have seen, it as an example in the beginning when deputy mayor
Hermann talked, we’ll produce the video of all the statements. You can see a shortexcerpt of that at our booth over there. And we will maintain a project website.
A Mayors for Peace city that agrees to host the exhibition shall provide the exhibition
space, shall invite collateral events and actions if wished, should invite the public andthe press, organize an opening reception, and at the end, dismantle the exhibition andrepack the 50 traces to transport, and bear the shipping and traveling fees. Depending on
the nature of the collateral events and actions that each city wants to invite, therespective necessary provisions shall be made.
There is always a question about the wall space required, but this really depends on thepattern you want to show or the different works, so it can be right between 10 and 35
meters. It’s really depending on how it’s displayed. On the left side, you see theexhibition as it was in Stuttgart just a month ago, and on the right side, you’ll see analternative pattern that can be shown if there is not enough wall space.
The “50 Cities – 50 Traces” project wants to contribute to global disarmament andpeace education. This is also an important part of what we are doing here. And actions
during the time of the exhibition, according to what you want to organize, may include
providing information on the initiation and the history of the NPT and actual activities
on nuclear disarmament, maybe posters or by rollups which we did in Stuttgart. Then,of course, it could be telling stories of survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing,
we have had people let in our booth where offering a video sessions, video materials,
video sessions that you hear survivors talking. Involving local people, schools andpupils may be by participating actions, Hannover, for example, created a really great
example. We developed a questionnaire for younger and older school kids. And also aworking material for teachers who want to involve their kids in a quite suitable―and I
think child-friendly―way. This is a fantastic work that is available in English, of course,
and really some invitation for school classes to participate in this environment.
Now, let me show you a short two-minute video, which was taken at the start of thekickoff exhibition we did in July in Stuttgart.
(Video)Thank you very much. Wolfgang Stuckbaum

produced this video. This is very greatthat we have it and we could show it here.
For closing, the project office in cooperation of Hannover City developed a couple ofmore suggestions for collateral actions that we offer in a kind of an action box, and that
could be included in the exhibition.
That was, in short, what we wanted to present to you. Thank you very much forlistening, and again, our warmest invitation to participate in this project. Thank youvery much.
Moderator
Thank you very much, Dr. Menges and Mr. Hermann. This project was clearlypresented to us. You need to have a gathering of the people in order to start any kind of
conversation, and the conversation and gathering will start something new. And you
repeated that the keyword “trace” again and again. It can be legacies from cities. Thankyou very much for your presentation.
Now we move on to Mr. Nam-jin Kim, Director of the Peace and International Affairs
Division, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province. As I mentioned, Mr. Kim has to leave
here at around 10:20, so if you have any questions or comments to him, please direct
your questions or comments to him after his talk is over.
Introduction to Peace Activities 2: Jeju Special Self-Governing Province
Mr. Nam-jin Kim, Director of the Peace and International Affairs Division, Jeju
Special Self-Governing Province, Korea
Good morning, my name is Nam-jin Kim, Director of the Peace and International
Affairs Division, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, Republic of Korea. It is mygreat pleasure to present what the “Island of World Peace” of Jeju has done so far forpeace at this conference.
It has been twelve years since Jeju was designated by the Korean government as Islandof World Peace, on January 17, 2005. Here is the background for that designation,
followed by an outline of the projects Jeju has put forward for world peace. First of all,Jeju is at the geographical confluence among the principal Northeast Asian nations,serving as a gateway in and out of the region. Amid the turmoil of the Cold War and thedivision of the nation after the Korean War, Jeju underwent the worst of tragedies, theJeju April 3rd Incident, which broke out in 1948 and lasted eight years until 1956,
killing around 30,000 innocent civilians. Jeju citizens, however, have transformed thepainful memories into a spirit of reconciliation and living together. Even wheninter-Korean relations showed no improvement after the division in 1945, Jeju, together
with various civic groups, has led the efforts to bring about reconciliation between theSouth and the North, by leading such various initiatives as sending mandarin oranges to
North Korean people and trips by Jeju citizens to North Korea since 1999.
A series of summit meetings have been held in Jeju. The first was the summit meeting
between the Soviet Union and South Korea in 1991, which is thought to have ended theera of the Cold War. The US-South Korea summit in 1996, and the summits between
South Korea and Japan in 1996 and 2004. A summit meeting between the two Koreas
was held in 2000, followed by several inter-Korean ministerial talks. To celebrate thefirst anniversary of the South-North summit meeting, the Jeju Forum for Peace andProsperity was launched in 2001, helping Jeju to become known as a place to discuss
Northeast Asian peace issues.
This ultimately led to the designation of Jeju as Island of World Peace in January 2005,
reflecting the Jeju people’s aspiration for peace.
Jeju has made a lot of efforts for peace since its designation as Island of World Peace.
As I mentioned, the Jeju Peace Forum has positioned itself as a venue of dialogue for
global peace and cooperation with the attendance of former and current high-level
leaders, intellectuals and journalists. The forum has continued to grow, beginning withsome 350 people from nine countries in the first forum to about 6,000 people from 80
countries around the globe in 2017 this year. In particular, since 2016, non-proliferation

of nuclear weapons and disarmament in the Asia-Pacific regions, including in North
Korea, has been on the main agenda for the forum. This year’s forum had a session
about the roles of cities for world peace, with the governor of Jeju, the chairperson of
the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, and the chairperson of the Pacific Rim Park
participating. During the session, the governor of Jeju received a certificate confirming
its membership of Mayors for Peace.
Next, the Jeju Peace Research Institute, founded in 2006, has performed various worksof research and exchange activities for the establishment and dissemination of peace on
the Korean Peninsula and in the East Asian region. It also organizes the Jeju Peace
Forum. This picture is the Jeju Peace Center. Opening in 2006, the Jeju Peace Centerhas exhibitions for education purposes on display including wax sculptures ofprominent global figures for their life-long contribution to human rights and peacearound the world. Established in 2010, the UNITAR Jeju International Training Centerhas provided a wide range of training programs to help develop human resource
capabilities, especially regarding issues that are major concern in the Asia-Pacificregion, such as human rights, environment, and climate change. For future generations
to better understand different cultures and raise awareness on a better future for the
Earth, Jeju hosts the Jeju International Youth Forum with 300 students from 21 cities inseven countries every year.
Pacific Rim Park has been built, led by the Pacific Rim Park Foundation, a San
Diego-based private foundation, with the voluntary participation of cities, universities,
and experts around the globe, contributing to the spread of peace through arts andcultural activities. This is the first Pacific Rim Park of Vladivostok, Russia, and San
Diego, USA, Yantai, China, Tijuana, Mexico, Palawan, Philippines, Jeju, South Korea,
and Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The Pacific Rim Summit, launched during the 2012 Jeju
Forum, and its third meeting is scheduled to be held in Jeju next year. Taking thisopportunity, I would like to say that we look forward to Nagasaki City's joining the
project as well as participating in the third meeting to be held in Jeju next year. This is
our ODA project for peace. To broaden awareness of peace for Jeju people, we provide
support for peace education for about 2,000 Jeju residents every year.

And now, I would like to share with you our exchange and cooperation plan between
South and North Korea for a denuclearized Korean Peninsula. We call it the “5+1Collaboration Project” These are just plans so far, but I believe this project will cometrue someday. First, by resuming the delivery of mandarin oranges that was suspended
in 2012, we want to revitalize exchanges with the North at a civic level. Second, acruise route between Jeju and North Korea will be established for the creation of a“peace belt” in Northeast Asia. And third, joint efforts by the two Koreas for conserving
the ecosystems on Mt. Halla in Jeju and Mt. Baekdu in North Korea will make possible
exchanges of knowledge and know-how on environment conservation. Fourth, a mutual
trip to both Jeju and North Korea, which was mentioned during the South-North summit
meeting in 2000, will help gain momentum for exchanges at a non-government level.
And fifth, by inviting North Koreans to the Jeju Forum, Jeju can help build a consensus
for peace and set the stage for further discussions on cooperation for peace, playing aleading role in inter-Korean reconciliation. And plus one. Jeju has also been pushing
forward its main policy on peace energy. It means that the whole process from energy
generation to its consumption is carried out in peaceful ways. A model of a Jeju-styleenergy-independent town is under preparation to be applied to North Korean villages tohelp resolve energy issues in the North.
Lastly, for the purpose of further dissemination of peace, Jeju plans to form a city forum
for peace, so that cities that suffered painful history can attend from home and abroad.
We will make every effort to facilitate activities of the Pacific Rim Parks, and work
together with other cities to encourage more students to participate in the Jeju
International Youth Forum.
Jeju, a leader in the concept of inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation, will
successfully fulfill its duties as “Island of World Peace.” We will continue to support
for the peace-related activities led by civic organizations, creating more opportunities
for Jeju citizens to participate, and strengthen the capacity as Island of World Peace tocontribute to world peace. I hope your continued interest in our efforts for peace. Thankyou for listening.
Moderator

Thank you very much, Mr. Kim. Would you wait at the podium for a few seconds? As I
mentioned earlier, we would like to open the floor for questions or comments to Mr.
Kim’s presentation. Any questions or comments? Jeju, and his presentation was reallysuitable to tell us the role of cities. Would you please state your name and youraffiliation, where you are from?
Question/Comment from Floor 1:
Mr. Miyata, Unzen, Japan
My name is Miyata, I come from Unzen, I’m just a citizen and a hibakusha exposed tothe atomic bombing when I was 5 years old. In your speech today, you mentioned thepeace for Northeast Asia and you have activities and proposals. RECNA in Nagasaki
University has already made such proposals at the United Nations. Is there any
collaboration between Jeju and RECNA, a research center in Nagasaki University?
Moderator
Mr. Kim, did you get the question? Do you have any collaboration between your city,
Jeju and Nagasaki University? You are both dedicated to Northeast Asia.
Mr. Nam-jin Kim
Jeju Island has active interactions with Japanese people. With respect to nuclear issues,
Hiroshima and Nagasaki have been promoting Mayors for Peace conference and this is
the first time that we participated in this conference. We would like to continue to havethis network and interactions with other local authorities and would like to further
enhance cooperative relationships. Now, in Jeju Island, as I mentioned in my speech, wehave a peace research institute, and we would like to consider possible collaboration
with the peace research institute in Nagasaki.
Moderator
Is there anyone from RECNA of Nagasaki University? It seems that there is no direct
collaboration between the two organizations at the moment. So, Mr. Suzuki of RECNA,
there is no direct collaboration between the two institutes.
Prof. Tatsujiro Suzuki, Director of Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition

(RECNA), Nagasaki University, JapanOn an individual level, some members have been taking part in Jeju Forum, but notorganizational level.
Moderator
Did that answer your question? Would you please use the microphone?
Mr. Miyata
I think this is a very good proposal. I think there could be a good link fordenuclearization of Northeast Asia or the establishment of Northeast Asia
nuclear-weapons-free zone. This is impossible on the individual level. Organizationlevel of collaboration is necessary.
Moderator
Thank you very much. Any other questions or comments? Please, Mr. Komizo,
Secretary General of Mayors for Peace.
Question/Comment from Floor 2:
Mr. Yasuyoshi Komizo, Secretary General of Mayors for Peace, Japan
Thank you very much for your presentation. Actually, as he showed in the slide, thisyear, I was kindly invited to participate in the Jeju Forum. I was so impressed with theparticipation of 5,000 people from all over the world. They have been doing this morethan 10 years, and was quite an impressive city. A small city, but full of history, andvery much committed to peace. The governor is very much committed to themembership of the Mayors for Peace. I think North Korean nuclear issue is currently
very difficult to resolve, but at the same time, I think the consistent efforts like Jeju intrying to bridge the gap and by combining international efforts, I think we can vision abetter future. And I think we need to really respect and support Jeju’s endeavor. I justwanted to say this because I was so impressed, although they are in a very difficult
situation. They are keeping their vision on the reconciliation and building together abetter world. That is something Mayors for Peace as a whole is aiming at. And
congratulations for your presentation. Thank you very much.

Mr. Nam-jin Kim
Thank you.
Moderator
Mr. Kim, would you like to make any response to Mr. Komizo’s comment?
Mr. Nam-jin Kim
This year, Mr. Komizo, Secretary General took part in the Jeju Peace Forum, and has
given a very impressive speech. I was able to participate in this conference, and I wasable to learn the efforts by Nagasaki and Hiroshima people. This was a great
opportunity for me. So, as we move ahead, we would like to consider what can be done
together for the peace in Northeast Asia. We do like to have a collaboration, and thegovernor of Jeju is also interested in the Mayors for Peace conference, so I’m going toreport to him about the outcome of this conference, and I would like to consider what
specific collaboration is possible. Thank you.
Moderator
Thank you very much, Mr. Kim. Please give him a big hand of applause.
Now, let us welcome the third speaker. From Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors Council,
Ms. Teruko Yokoyama, please.
Introduction to Peace Activities 3: Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors Council
Ms. Teruko Yokoyama, Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors Council, JapanI am with Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors Council, my name is Teruko Yokoyama. I
would like to talk about today, the roles played by hibakusha groups, especially byNagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors Council and by Japan Confederation of A- and
H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations.
Survivors, or hibakusha, of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were abandoned in the postwar
politics and society, alienated in illness, poverty, isolation and discrimination. On March
1, 1954, on Bikini Atoll, a US H-bomb testing was carried out. There was a swirl ofdeadly ashes on the atoll. The No. 5 Fukuryumaru vessel, and tuna fishing fleets wereexposed to the radiation, and chief radio operator, Mr. Kuboyama, died. The housewivesof Suginami Ward of Tokyo, recognizing the horror of radiation, started a signature
campaign to ban the A-bomb. Instantly, they were able to collect as many as 30 million
signatures. With this as the power, Japan Council against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs
started to hold world conferences, and the first conference was held in 1955 inHiroshima. For the first time, hibakusha, who were in silence, started to testify. There
were two people joining from Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Young Women’s Association,
told the inferno of A-bombing and their experiences. Young Women’s Association
joined with Men’s Association in May 1956, and we have created the Nagasaki Atomic
Bomb Young Men and Women’s Association. That was the first association, and I am amember.
Supported by the anti-A- and H-bomb movement, in May of that year, Hiroshima
Atomic Bomb Survivors Council, and in June, Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors
Council were created. The purpose of establishment is the banning of nuclear weaponsand stipulation of A-bomb survivors assistance act. The second world conference was in
Nagasaki. At that time, Ms. Chieko Watanabe, who was suffering from injuries in thelower half of the body, made an appeal as her mother accompanied her.
On August 10, hibakusha from all over Japan created Japan Confederation of A- and
H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations. “Let’s rescue ourselves and through our experiences,rescue humans out of crisis,” that was the declaration. Ever since then, each prefecture
created hibakusha association. In the same year in December, we sent a petition to theDiet, and on the following year, 1957, A-bomb Survivors Medicare Law was enacted
and health handbooks were issued. And finally, health checkup started. Twelve years
after the A-bombing, Japanese government finally started to take action. We promoted
our movements to make improvements, and we were able to come up with an act tosupport hibakusha. Since we are discussing the banning of nuclear weapons, I would
like to end the introduction of our activities in hibakusha support.
Through the nationwide peace and nuclear banning movement, there were strong
requests by local authorities organizations, and hibakusha of both Hiroshima andNagasaki went on caravan tours from city to city to tell the atrocity of A-bombing.

Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Young Men and Women’s Association, overcoming the injuries
and handicaps, they were quite active and went on a tour to tell their stories. Mr.
Taniguchi, in spite of the burns and bedsores as you can see in this picture, went even to
overseas to testify.
Overseas activities started in 1957. In USSR, China, US, UK, France, Germany, other
European countries, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, and Southeast Asian countries, we told
the atrocity, cruelty and inhumanity of A-bombing. We went on campaigning,participating in peace conferences. There were only few countries we have not yet
visited.
In 1974, we requested for a research to be conducted under the UN initiative to learn thereality of A-bombing and to make efforts for the establishment of a nuclear weapon
convention. Under UN NGO’s initiative in 1977, symposium on hibakusha issues washeld. Related to the researches on hibakusha, three researches on general life, medicine
and history of hibakusha began. With this as the basis, renowned figures such as theNobel laureates and scholars started to do the analysis, having discussions in Tokyo,
Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Specially the Nobel Peace Laureate Baron Noel-Baker said,“Life of oblivion,” and made the declaration to humanity, saying, “Humans are all
hibakusha. We have to put our power together to get rid of the nuclear weapons.” Fromthat time onwards, “hibakusha” became the common language. The symposium were
held to tell the reality of hibakusha in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which was based on
scientific foundation and analysis for the first time, which was quite époque-making.
In 1978, there was a rising momentum on the global peace movement and banning of
nuclear weapons. The First Special Session of UN General Assembly on Disarmament(SSD1) was held. We sent 41 hibakusha from our confederation, and a total of 502
people were sent from Japan, and submitted the signatures of 20 million. Four years
later, the second SSD was held in 1982. A million people went on the demonstration in
the avenues of New York. For the first time as hibakusha, in the UN General AssemblyHall, Senji Yamaguchi testified, saying, “No more hibakusha, no more war.” Thepoignant cry moved the people in the world. For the first time, the confederation ofJapan translated brochures with pictures into different languages. There was ananti-nuke movement in Europe on the other hand, and there were requests for hibakusha
to come over. We went to Vatican and had the pleasure of seeing the Pope, John Paul II.
In 1985, on the 40th anniversary, 45 member visited the five nuclear weapon states tomake requests to the governments and hand exchanges with their citizens. In 1995,
asking for the illegality of the nuclear weapons to the International Court of Justice(ICJ), we started a project to resort to the international court, with signatures of morethan 3 million from all over Japan. The then Mayor Itoh of Nagasaki City brought apicture of a charred boy by the A-bomb as he made his presentation to the court. On thefollowing year, 1996, ICJ delivered an advisory opinion that threats of the use of
nuclear weapons would generally be contrary to the rules of international law.
In 1997, the Japan Confederation made the photo panels “A-bombing and humanity”,
and brochures both in English and Japanese. Starting from 2000, NPT Review
Conferences were held and we participated in that year onward. In 2005 in the NGO
session, for the first time, the opportunity was given to hibakusha to testify. Also, ninepieces of A-bomb picture panels were exhibited, and we were able to have a poster
session with a hibakusha testimony. In the conference of 2010, at the biggest main
gallery of the UN lobby, we were able to demonstrate and exhibit 50 panels. In 1996, in
Washington DC and other cities, we have done testimony caravan by hibakusha, withthe cooperation of Japanese residents and students living in the states. We’ve been doing
this every summer.
The average age of hibakusha is now beyond 81 years old, but our wish is the same. We
shall not repeat the hell of that day and must abolish nuclear weapons. In April 2016, weannounced an international signature campaign to appeal Hiroshima and Nagasaki’s
heart to abolish nuclear weapons. We are aiming to collect several hundreds of millionsof signatures by 2020. We are receiving a lot of countenance and support from heads ofprefectures and cities.
In Nagasaki, we created a prefectural association to appeal widely of c the signature
campaign. Every month on the 26th, we come out to the streets to collect signatures.
Mayor Taue in December, and Governor Nakamura in April, joined with us to collectthe signatures for the total elimination of the nuclear weapons. We are spreading those
campaigns in many local authorities.
In the negotiation of the Ban Treaty at the United Nations, we visited so frequently to
Geneva and New York, and had an opportunity to take the floor on behalf of the Japan
Confederation, and we sent 3 million signatures on June 17. And finally, after 72 yearsof long waiting, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was adopted at theUnited Nations. We hope that this will come into force while we are alive. We have tobring the voices of hibakusha, “No more nuclear weapons.” Many hibakusha died after
dedicating themselves in telling the reality of the A-bombing. The remaining hibakusha,
as long as our lives allow us to do so, will continue to tell you the story. Thank you very
much.
Moderator
Thank you very much, Ms. Yokoyama. Now Mr. Kim needs to leave. Thank you verymuch.
Concerning the first and the third presentations, now we would like to open the Q&A.
Concerning the presentation from Hannover, are there any questions or comments?
May I ask you a question, Mr. Hermann? This art project, it will go to different cities
only in Germany, or go to other cities in Europe as well? And will it happen this year?
Mr. Thomas Hermann
We will start next year, 2018, and it will end in 2020.
Moderator
Until 2020. So it’s going to be three-year project.
Mr. Thomas Hermann
We are going to start right in the beginning of 2018, and it’s not only in Germany andnot only in Europe, hopefully, but we hope to invite any Mayors for Peace city in theworld who’s interested to participate. Actually, we hope to start this traveling exhibitionhere in Japan, in the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, hopefully, because I think thiswould be a strong signal to the world that this is something that supports the mission.
Moderator
Mayor Matsui, Mayor Taue, I sincerely hope that Japanese cities are going to participate,so I we would like to urge your support.
Any other questions or comments? We, human beings, wish to leave our traces. I thinklegacy may be a too big word for me, but everybody has a hope, strong desire to leavesomething behind. So, tire trace on asphalt is also a beautiful piece of art, which wasquite impressive to hear. A city is a kind of a collection of traces of many people. In
Nagasaki, you find many traces. Every Sunday, I walk about 10 kilometers in the city,and every time I find something new. I always find some new traces. Some are very
famous, but others are not famous at all. They represent our lives themselves. So, thatwas the conception of the art project, and I was very much impressed by the concept.
This year, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was adopted, so why don’t
you incorporate that fact into your art project, Dr. Menges? I know that thiscommemorates the 50th anniversary of NPT, but what about what happened this year,
adoption of the Treaty? Can’t you incorporate that aspect into your art project, if
possible?
Dr. Raimund Menges
Yes, we are still developing about the collateral actions. I mean there are still ways to go.
There are so many ideas that we are working on, providing an image on what happened.
In our website, there are a few examples, like with matchboxes. There is one project, forexample, that works with 7,400-something matchboxes where we want to have people
write every single name of a Mayors for Peace city on it, and arrange them. This is, forexample, one of the action boxes. In the same sense, we could of course include, and wewill think about including more of these actions that would pick up as actual
development. Ban Treaty is one of the things we should include, and I think there are
more things to come over the next couple of months. Who knows what’s going tohappen politically and in all negotiations? So we will take this into account while wedevelop these collateral actions. I think this is a good platform to incorporate this.

Moderator
Thank you very much. I’ve been to Hannover once, and from the City Hall, I could see
the view of the city. Hannover, as you know, experienced air raid and the city wasdestroyed by the bombing, and in that city of Hannover, now an art project is being
prepared. It’s really moving to know that.
In Jeju, they have a project of “peace belt.” What do you think about that kind of project,
Mr. Hermann? What do you think about Jeju’s project of building a peace belt? It may
sound similar or also different. What do you think about that project?
Mr. Thomas Hermann
I think the peace belt is very important and it is even necessary to intensify these efforts.
We see these days the potential of A-bomb, by visiting Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and at
the same time, we are looking at the threat coming out from the global battle between
the United States and North Korea, so it is even more important these days. We will takeevery opportunity to work for peace.
Moderator
Thank you very much, Mr. Hermann.
Another question from the floor, but please wait for the microphone. Could you give us
your name and affiliation?
Question/Comment from Floor 3:
Ms. Tomoko Maekawa, Nagasaki, Japan
My name is Tomoko Maekawa, a citizen in Nagasaki. I am participating in the citizens’
movement against A-bomb. It’s not directly related to art. Petition drive for the A-bombabolition and Ban Treaty. Japan and Germany are under the nuclear umbrella of the US.
In that sense, Japan and Germany shares the same situation. Thinking about Japan,
citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and national government, we see differences in theway of thinking, but what about the situation in Germany?

Moderator
Mr. Hermann, are you ready to respond?
Mr. Thomas Hermann
This is not easy to answer. Most people in Germany are against American nuclear
weapons that are currently in Germany. Majority of the people don’t see this as aprotection, but rather as a risk. But we need to make a difference between what Mayors
for Peace cities do and can do, working for a nuclear weapon-free zone, and what isinternationally possible. Cities do not have any influence on the issue where these
nuclear weapons are based. We are part of NATO, and this is a contradiction itself. On
one side we need to accept that we are in NATO and that NATO has nuclear weapons,
and on the other side, we have to live with it. So, again the question is what we can doon one side and what can we do as cities, and on the other side, what is internationallypossible to change.
Moderator
Thank you very much for responding to a question that includes some difficult aspects.
We do appreciate your very honest response. What just stated is the attitude ofHannover as a city. Thank you very much. Are there any related questions? Any
follow-up questions or comments? Mr. Komizo and one more person is ready to speak,
but please wait.
Question/Comment from Floor 4:
Mr. Yasuyoshi Komizo, Japan
Thank you very much for a very important comment, or the question given by the
Nagasaki citizen. It was quite important. This is not the overall opinion of Mayors for
Peace, but please allow me to talk about what the secretariat is preparing, and this issomething very important.
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, during the process to the adoption,
five or six years ago, those advocates were saying that nuclear-weapon states are notinterested at all, so it’s better to prepare and adopt treaty excluding the nuclear-weapon
states in order to give them disgrace. And they said discriminately that NPT should bedestroyed. This was the starting attitude toward the Treaty. But Mayors for Peace havetaken the following attitude; we know that a ban is necessary, but we cannot physicallyreduce nuclear weapons if we are going to have a treaty without the nuclear-weapon
states. We know it’s difficult, but the ban must be realized together with thenuclear-weapon states.
What happened is as follows. We came up with the adoption of the Treaty without thepresence of nuclear-weapon states, but we have successfully included our proposals
from Mayors for Peace. First, we need to adopt the Treaty, and after that, we will try
further efforts to incorporate the participation of the nuclear-weapon nations to join.
And such additional provision was added in the statement of the Treaty. Because wemade such assertion and made strong urge to the United Nations, a German
representative honestly said, the majority of the Japanese people are wishing for anuclear-free world, but in reality, when you look at the international community fromstate to state, they are quite dependent on nuclear umbrella. Now how are we going to
make a change in this? When we think about that, there was ICAN organization andthere was the basis of motivation to promote such voices. Five or six years ago,
hibakusha’s voices were not heard, but because there are several tens of thousands
nuclear warheads still existing, and there is a possibility that if it is used, there will be adeath toll of a million. Regarding Hiroshima and Nagasaki, some people say it was only
a destruction in a small city, but there is a high level of possibility and risk that a nuclear
weapon might destruct more people if it is used. But the reason why we were successful
in adopting the Treaty is because of the accidents and errors, there is a possibility that a
nuclear weapon might be utilized. 2014 was the beginning year, and many people wereable to hear the voices of hibakusha. Everybody thought it was a history in the past. But
they started to recognize that there is a high probability that it may be utilized in the US,
in Africa, in the Middle East, and in Asia, anybody can become victims of A-bombs,
same asHiroshima and Nagasaki, and that was the recognition. They started to

become aware that they cannot be dependent on the actions of nuclear-weapon nations.
They started to say, “There is a right for everybody to participate in the negotiation.” Soeven the Treaty was adopted, it will be meaningless without the nuclear weapons statesand states under their nuclear umbrella. So the Mayors for Peace proposed a particularprovision to be added in the Treaty.

Just between you and me, this is not an open comment. Mayors for Peace and ICAN
discussed this. They said the nuclear-weapon nations and allies under the nuclear
umbrella, we have to cooperate and have people join in on this discussion because every
citizen thinks there is a query in their safely and it is very important. You have to bringthe voices of the citizens. And those citizens have to bring their voices to the central
government, and that has to be strongly appealed, and there would be a dramatic change.
We cannot move the US only with our bilateral relationship, so is the case of Germany
and NATO nations, South Africa, Australia, and these countries, they, together withcitizens, are now starting to think in a different way. If everybody can recognize that, I
think we can make a change. Now that we have the Ban Treaty in front of us, what’s
important here in our activity is the citizens and the government of each country. We
have to put our voices, saying that there has to be a different way. We are able to movethem. There is no way we can solve the issues of intelligence by nuclear weapons. This
is indeed a mayors association, but mayors alone are not able to make a big move. You
have to appeal to your citizens in each local authority and those citizens have to appeal
to the central government, and we have to create a surge and wave. That is the reason
why we are saying this is going to be a very good momentum. We will be able to createa bigger driving force and the feelings and experiences of hibakusha are the foundation.
Because of that, there is the strength in Mayors for Peace. This is something I wanted toshare with the people of Nagasaki.
Moderator
Thank you very much. That was a big speech. Any other person who would like tomake comment?
Question/Comment from Floor 5:
After a big speech, as a citizen of Nagasaki, allow me to make a comment. The peace
activities by Germany was something I was very much interested in. And also thestudents of Germany, whom I met during my voyage on the Peaceboat, used the catchphrase “new-born Germany.” They said they need to create a new Germany. Nuclear
power generation plants will be abolished by 2020 and the Auschwitz site is cleaned byautomobile manufacturer employees, and also today, we were able to have the peacemaking by way of art. In terms of sensitivity, I believe I would like to make theadmiration and commendation of your activities. Prof. Tomonaga, how can we make achange in Japan, something by art? I believe this is very big proposal put on the tablefor us.
Another issue is hibakusha. You said, “What we can do as the citizens.” And of course,
theoretically you have to do your job in Mayors for Peace, especially, Japanese
government is reluctant to participate, so you have to give a push to the central
government from Mayors for Peace. Most of the mayors of Nagasaki Prefecture are nothere, Mayor of Unzen is not here. What’s happening to them? Also, about theinternational signature campaign. In Germany, are you engaged with the signaturecollection campaign? So the question is to the German representative. Are you engaging
with the signature collection? Are you doing the signature campaign?
Moderator
Mr. Hermann, do you know about the global campaign for collecting signatures?
Hibakusha are taking initiative in collecting signatures. Do you do the same inGermany? Do you participate?
Mr. Thomas Hermann
I’m not aware of the campaign with the signatures you mentioned, but I think thatwould be absolutely something very good to do also in Germany to support the effort ofthe cities, to stop this crazy process with the nuclear weapons. As cities, we are fighting
for peace and we do talk and challenge our government and also NATO to change thethinking.
And I fully agree with Komizo-san in what he said and an example for this change ofperception and change of thinking. I think Germany can be, since in our country we aredebating and discussing for many years about the peaceful use of nuclear power plants.
And there is a strong movement for decades, which is against the use of nuclear power
for creating electricity and energy, and finally, the terrible accident in Fukushima had
led to a big cry of German people, and finally led to the result that Germany is going toshut off all the nuclear power plants step by step. We’ve already shut down about 50%

of those that were there. And within the next six to seven years, the rest will be shut
down. So we hope that the risk that simply are in these power plants shall be banned.
This is an important step. In Germany, it is a very important step in the change ofthinking because we are here not only talking about the peaceful use of atomic energy to
produce electricity, but it goes along with debate about nuclear weapons. Maybe this isalso an important step toward an atomic-free world, to start switching off your power
plants, and this could be a nice example maybe for the rest of the world.
Moderator
Thank you very much.
Are there any questions to Ms. Yokoyama? Would you please identify yourself withyour name?
Question/Comment from Floor 6:
Ms. Miho Cibot-Shimma, Malakoff, France
I am from France, a nuclear-weapon nation, my name is Miho Cibot-Shimma. I live inMalakoff. We are the Lead City of France, Mayors for Peace, and we have created theFrench Chapter because there were several visits by the representatives of Japan
Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, Shuntaro Hida, who diedthis year, and Sumiteru Taniguchi, who is now hospitalized. They were on French TV
several times. They had an opportunity to testify in many places in France. High school
students in France said to us, they were worried about the aging hibakusha, and they
were very much afraid that hibakusha might be gone, and they were very much afraidthat they are not able to listen to the testimonies of hibakusha anymore. And they said,
we would be able to share the memories of hibakusha, and they are able to succeed andinherit their testimonies. But the average age of hibakusha is 81 years old. How are you
planning to deliver the message of hibakusha? I believe there is an association of thesecond generation of hibakusha. What is the activity of theirs to disseminate theirmessage?
Moderator
In the interest of time, would like to be responding very briefly? Thank you very much.

Ms. Teruko Yokoyama
Yes, the average age of hibakusha is about 81. In Japan Confederation, directors are
already approximately 70 years old, but in the secretariat, they are making their best
efforts. The experiences of hibakusha, speakers of testimonies, and supporters of
testimony meetings, need to work together to do more. But how are we going to keep
the testimonies of hibakusha? Maybe a video clip, or pictures, or drawings by hibakusha,
or a collection of testimonies. Those might be some of the means and tools by which wewill be able to keep.
About the second or third generation of hibakusha, young people and supporters of us,
for example, in France, I heard that there are a lot of young people who are determinedto give us their support. In Japan, high school students and young people are very eager
to connect the hearts of hibakusha to the next generation. With the strong expectation
and wishes, we hope that we will be able to pass our wishes and hopes over to the next
generation. We hope that we will be able to continue that.
Moderator
Thank you very much. To listen to hibakusha in person may be very difficult, almost
impossible in 10 years from now. Today, she mentioned some of the plans to overcomethat severe difficulty. That is exactly the challenge taken up seriously in Nagasaki.
Due to my poor time management, we don’t have sufficient time left, but among civic
societies in Japan, early on, the nuclear issues have been tackled by this particularorganization, and that has been taking the leadership in this movement. Now we have
Mr. Umebayashi, Director of RECNA. So today, regarding the role of NGO citizen
groups, or the role of cities at large, Mr. Umebayashi, Special Advisor to Peace Depot
Inc. is going to give us his summary. We might have to spend some time of the break.
Summary:
Mr. Hiromichi Umebayashi, Special Advisor, Peace Depot Inc., Japan
Thank you very much. My name is Umebayashi. We don’t have much time left, but I
think there has been a very good session, so please allow me to say a few words. At theoutset of the four-day conference, Mayor Taue discussed a starting point. That is
important for the whole conference. He mentioned that there are two starting points.
One is the starting point of hibakusha experience, and the second point is the starting
point of network formation among cities. I think these two important starting points arecondensed, or in a sense culminated, in this morning session.
We received three presentations this morning, and each one of them showed that eachcity has unforgettable incidents in the past, and they have a very strong internal urge to
do something from their past experience. All organizations of cities have such importantand strong experience, and I think that gives a power to the organization, Mayors for
Peace, and I reconfirmed this in this session. Through transmitting that starting point
experience to others or to next generation, we feel the need to have partnership witheach other among cities and other entities involved. Mayors for Peace is an organizationthat allows to collaborate further with each other, and that is the secondary confirmation
I was able to obtain here

this morning.

Hannover’s “50 Cities – 50 Traces” project is very unique, innovative project. It createsa cultural impetus, and this project itself gives us further inspiration to move forward.
Each city has a legacy of the past, especially civil war, civil conflicts or other kinds of
war where they remember that citizens were ill-treated, and finding such traces would
encourage cities to link up with each other further. I believe that that was truly the
project, represented by this “50 Cities – 50 Traces.” And they are going to run thisproject from 2018 to 2020, the target year for our important 2020 campaign. A very
innovative project, indeed.
And for Jeju projects, I really wanted to discuss more with Mr. Kim if his time hadallowed, but I gained deep interest in Jeju’s activities. I think Japanese people havesome unsettling sentiments in their hearts. On April 3, 1948, a tragedy took place in Jeju
Island. Japan colonized the Korean Peninsula, and that resulted in the division into two
Koreas, and with the deliberation of the Koreans, strong movements emerged among
Koreans to unite the two Koreas, and there was such a strong uprising among citizens in
Jeju also. So, in a sense, Japanese colonization of Korean Peninsula led, to some extent,
to this tragedy In Jeju Island. One Korean resident living in Japan, a poet, Mr. Sijong

Kim, wrote a poem about this incident. He is a Korean resident in Japan and he wasrecently awarded important prize called “Osaragi Jiro Award.” This is a short book of
his autobiography about how he has been living as a Korean living in Japan. He was oneof the survivors of that incident, and how he had changed and how he tried hard to
become a person loving japan, and how he could be involved in that riot uprising in
Korea and he came over to Japan illegally and became a Korean resident in Japan.
Memories resonate with each other. There seems to be a very strong resonance ofmemories among individuals, and each city has such a strong potential with respect tomemories. With respect to activities by Japan Confederation of A- and H-BombSufferers Organizations. I will not repeat as I’m sure those activities are alreadyintroduced to you. Culture of peace can be forged out of citizens’ experiences. Such
activities of creating culture of peace from citizens, I believe, is going to play a decisiverole for the real eradication of nuclear weapons once we have this Treaty on theProhibition of Nuclear Weapons. I believe that that process is very important.
This road ahead of us is going to be more challenging and more difficult than thepathway toward realizing the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and I thinkthat civil society is now being tested, challenged whether we are apt to that challenge.
Kissinger, Perry, Shultz and Nunn issued powerful messages and they spoke of thefollowings. When a nuclear-free world is realized, and when we think of national
security, people’s disposition, or rather, how the people think about security, that big
mindset change is necessary in order to realize a nuclear-free world. And I think theirstatements are really becoming true today.
Also, the world free from nuclear weapons is today’s world without nuclear weapons.
With the treaty prohibiting the nuclear weapons, we have the treaty but we do not havea new way of thinking regarding security. Therefore, we need to go through process ofchanging our mindset concerning the security, and we need to realize the eradication of
nuclear weapons. For people’s disposition, the way they think, and new civiltransformation, I believe that citizens’ power in making that change is going to be
decisive. And in that sense, Mayors for Peace has a very important role to play, and theorganization, Mayors for Peace, is supportive by grassroots. People’s power is going tobe more needed as we move ahead than before. And Japanese government and thenuclear weapons state, their ideology about nuclear weapons have to be changed
through such power. Thank you very much.
Moderator
Mr. Umebayashi has given a wonderful summary, so I have no further things to add. But
nuclear issues or the peaceful use of nuclear power are regarded as matters to be dealt
with by national governments. In that case, what can we, the cities, say about them? In
the case of Japanese cities, that seems to block the city’s way forward, but the city is
supported by citizens and residents. And the citizens are the people, players who make areal memory in history. I think that is very well reflected in the international art project
by Hannover. So, when each individual’s experience is accumulated, it becomes ahistory. And hibakusha’s urgent call is reflected in the Treaty on the Prohibition of
Nuclear Weapons. Ms. Yokoyama didn’t say that so clearly, but that is a clear-cut longyears of testimony, telling by hibakusha I believe, has spread throughout the world andmoved the world toward the adoption of the treaty. I have no doubt about it. With this, I
would like to conclude this session. The role of cities, local authorities as we try toreally realize a world without nuclear weapons, I believe that we were able to reaffirm
the important starting points. Mayors for Peace, “Toward a World without Nuclear
Weapons.” How will our organization speak up to national governments? I hope thatthat will be addressed by Mayors for Peace as one of the activist. That’s my hope.
Thank you very much.

The 9th General Conference of Mayors for Peace

Session V

Summary and Reporting of Session II, III & IV
August 10 (Thu), 2017 11:15-12:15
Nakabe Hall, Nagasaki University Bunkyo Campus

Chairperson:
Tomihisa Taue
Vice President of Mayors for Peace, Mayor of Nagasaki, Japan
Summary and Reporting:
Tatsujiro Suzuki
Director, Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition (RECNA),
Nagasaki University, Japan
Keiko Nakamura
Associate Professor, Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition(RECNA), Nagasaki University, Japan
Masao Tomonaga
Chairman of Organizing Committee of the Nagasaki Global Citizens’
Assembly for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, Japan
Adoption of the Nagasaki Appeal and the Special Resolution Requesting the
Early Bringing into Effect of the Treaty Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons

MC
Thank you very much for waiting. We are going to start Session V. Mayor of Nagasaki,
Mayor Taue is going to chair the session.
Chairperson: Mr. Tomihisa Taue, Vice President of Mayors for Peace, Mayor of
Nagasaki City, Japan
Good afternoon. I am Taue, Mayor of Nagasaki. We are now coming to the final
program of the 9th General Conference of Mayors for Peace. This is Session V.
First, concerning Session II, III and IV, the moderator for each session is going to give
us a report. Then, we are going to adopt the Nagasaki Appeal. Now, let us start with themoderator for Session II “Roles of Local Governments.” Prof. Suzuki, Director of the
Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition (RECNA), Nagasaki University,
please.
Summary and Reporting of Session II:
Prof. Tatsujiro Suzuki, Director, Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition(RECNA), Nagasaki University, Japan
Thank you. I served as moderator for Session II. I am Tatsujiro Suzuki. The theme forthe session was “Roles of Local Governments.” First presentation was from Mr.
Thomas Hermann from Hannover, Germany, and then Mayor Jaime Fresnedi from
Muntinlupa, Philippines, and from Malakoff and Grigny in France, Mr., Michel Cibot
and Mayor Philippe Rio made a presentation, and from Ayabe City in Japan, Mayor
Zenya Yamazaki gave a presentation.
Concerning the presentation by Hannover, “50 Cities – 50 Traces” project was
introduced. And also the mayor said that Hannover is the sister city of Hiroshima, andhas agreed to contribute and support the growth of Mayors for Peace. On July 8,commemorating ICJ’s advisory opinion, they have the Flag Day. I was very much
impressed by the gingko tree project. The planting of seedlings of gingko which has
been grown from the seeds from the A-bombed tree.
The City of Muntinlupa talked about the very shocking fact that ISIS is having a very

serious impact on the children, and talked about the importance of peace education forchildren.
France is a nuclear-weapon state. Malakoff and Grigny talked about the efforts made as
members of Mayors for Peace. AFCDRP and LPACP were introduced. They also talked
about the collaboration with Africa. People are sent to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, andalso talked about the importance of peace and peace education. Issues like violence andpoverty in cities, makes those people most vulnerable to climate change, and talked
about the importance of culture of peace. I was impressed by the concept of culture ofpeace.
Then Ayabe City in Japan, the first Japanese city to declare as the member of World
Federation, is quite active in peace activities. It’s a sister city with Israel, and Ayabe
City leads the Middle East Peace Project. From Israel and Palestine, they invite children
affected by war and they stay in a Japanese city for two weeks. The project started in
2003. I was moved by a former participant’s words, “Realization of peace was
impossible for my parents’ generation, but perhaps it would be possible for our
generation.”
Then we had Q&A. It was about the contents of peace education, how much impact thepeace education can have on the reality, and importance of inheritance of the memories,
and how we can ensure to have impact on the policies.
Then Ms. Maria Fernanda Olvera Cabrera, representing Mexico City, talked about the
project. This is a disarmament project in families. When people bring those arms to city
office, they are given something positive instead, so this is an ongoing grass-root level
disarmament.
Then Mr. Michel Tomasek from Dunkirk talked about a project of memory cities,
networking cities for the inheritance of war memories.
From a nuclear-weapons country, India, Mr. Thomas Mathew of Mallapuzhasserry City
talked about collecting petition for peace, and he presented collected signatures to themayor of Hiroshima.
Then Mr. Kenji Kitahashi of Kitakyushu City talked about the tree-planting project of
Kayoko cherry trees, originally from Nagasaki.
Then, the former mayor of Rawanduz, Mr. MP. Serwan Abdullah Ismail from Iraq
talked about the ongoing suffering, especially those caused by the use of chemical
weapons. At this moment, people are suffering. This is what he told us.
Then, there was a summary given by Mr. Yasuyoshi Komizo, Secretary General of
Mayors for Peace. He said in each city, taking its own approach, efforts for peace aredone quite sincerely. He was very much impressed by the efforts made by various cities.
As you heard from Mr. Komizo, He gave us a very passionate message, saying thateverybody is really serious. Sharing of experience and solidarity gives us strengths to
Mayors for Peace. And he said that we have to show that Mayors for Peace can make astrong contribution.
Please allow me to add three more points. I think I found something common among
different presentations and comments. I found three of them. One is the balance
between rationality and emotion. We tend to focus more on the rational aspect because
we are scientists, but art and testimonies by hibakusha and photos and movies, they arepart of the culture. We have heard about the culture of peace. We have to influence both
the rational aspect on human spirit, together with emotional aspect. What happened in
the past is part of history, but learning from the history to support the present, and thepresent is the starting point for future. When we think about peace education, someone
asked if learning about the past alone is enough, and I would say that learning about thepast is the basis of today, and today is the starting point for future. We have to comeback to this issue of the relationship between past, present and future.
In the previous session, another important concept was network: networking,connection, and collaboration. One of the strengths of Mayors for Peace is that we havea network. And connection among individual people and individual cities are the basisof the global network. I was very much impressed by the fact that the members of

Mayors for Peace know that what you are doing in your city and are stimulating eachother, uniting the overall efforts. So networking is the third concept. Although the term
“network” sounds quite flat, but actually when we use the term “networking,” it means
something very deep.
In the session, I think I became passionate and asked you to join me. Ultimately, weneed to think about the importance of humanity. The Treaty on the Prohibition of
Nuclear Weapons was adopted, and approaches toward the adoption was done inhumanity-based, or humanitarian approach. If we forget about humanity, we cannot
achieve anything. Remember your humanity and forget the rest. This is an expression
from Russell-Einstein Manifesto, and I would like to conclude with the same word.
Remember your humanity and forget the rest. Thank you very much.
Chairperson
Thank you very much. On the theme of “Roles of Local Governments,” this theme is akind of basis or fundamental theme for Mayors for Peace. As we see more members, westarted to see some regional differences. But this theme, roles of local governments, isalways new and old. I think that the summary was quite insightful because the talks
were about the basis for activities.
Now I’d like to turn to Session III. Moderator, Ms. Keiko Nakamura, Associate
Professor of the Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition (RECNA), Nagasaki
University is going to give us a summary.
Summary and Reporting of Session III:Ms. Keiko Nakamura, Associate Professor, Research Center for Nuclear WeaponsAbolition (RECNA), Nagasaki University, Japan
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to first show you the slides of
discussions and activities that took place yesterday, and I would like to go through mysummary. I would like you to look at those photos to see what happened yesterday.
Some of you were perhaps absent yesterday. You see many young people in the photos,
and “The Role of Youth” was the theme of Session III. In our efforts to try to eradicate
nuclear weapons, the role of youth is, needless to say, important, and that has been

repeatedly said. As Prof. Suzuki mentioned earlier, logic and emotions, young people
gaining knowledge from different points of view and perspectives, and they learn how
other people think, and then they begin to form their own ideas, and in that sense,
knowledge is important as the basis. But humanity or personality, young people don’t
have such a tragic experience themselves, but they have the ability to have empathy tothe sad experiences of those people. And they could understand such an event assomething that could also happen to them. Having compassion or empathy toward
others is really important for them to develop.
Now, in the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, it is said that nuclear
disarmament education is more important. Then how does it relate to the discussion we
had yesterday? Yes, of course we need to implement peace education programs andoutcome of such programs is very important. But the process of preparing a peaceeducation program needs involvement and input from young people, and that itself isgoing to be a learning opportunity for them. For example, yesterday, young people
made plans of peace activities, and one of them was providing multilingual translationsof testimonies of hibakusha. Multilingual translations of testimonies themselves arevery important because they can be understood by various people. But on the other hand,in that process of translation, they will learn to have compassion and to try to feel what
they really felt in that tragedy. They also have to learn the historical background.
Translation is not just a matter of language. They need to have an attitude to try to learn
the feelings and emotions, the real experience of hibakusha. Young people in eachmember city, are working together with member cities, for peace program plan is very
important, and I think that was so demonstrated in the discussion session yesterday.
Now I would like to go through what happened yesterday in the discussion. At first, it
started with a speech by His Excellency Taro Kono, Japanese Minister for Foreign
Affairs. Then we had presentations by two member cities of Mayors for Peace. One is
Manchester City from the UK, and the second is Granollers City from Spain. They
introduced their peace activities and showed us very interesting photos. For instance, in
Manchester, they have Project G. They use seedlings taken from the A-bombed gingko
tree, and what was very impressive is that they use this motif, A-bombed gingko tree
and they use it in multiple directions in peace education. Tree planting is just one action,

that seems very natural for such a tree, but then, it could become a starting point for
creative ideas about how the tree can be used for various other ideas. Then Granollers
discussed a city open to peace. How traces and legacies of civil war can be used inpeace education was demonstrated by Granollers City. That was very impressive.
And then, high school students, Hiroshima and Nagasaki Commercial High School,
students from these two schools made a very eloquent presentation and that was truly
impressive to me. For instance, Peace Department Store or Drama Club of Nagasaki
Commercial High School, and they issued a Joint Peace Declaration. Those are theactivities that can be done because they are high school students. Young people, variedin age, some elementary school children or those in their twenties, they have different
age level and different social backgrounds. So they take advantage of their own
situation and background as they get involved in peace activities.
After the presentation, young people got engaged in the group work. Some of thosegroups also made presentations, for instance, Hiroshima Nagasaki Peace Messengers,
Nagasaki Youth Delegation and Kyoto University of Foreign Studies. For group work,some of you are here, and later I would like to hear from you what impression you
obtained from that session. Some may have been surprised. It was an activity for young
people’s groups to work with cities to plan a peace activity. This is not just discussion
on the desk. It’s not for the sake of discussion. They had to come up with a plan which
is workable and practicable toward the next Mayors for Peace conference, and that wasa very unique and interesting attempt, tried for the first time in the general conference.
Thirty-two young people from all over the country participated. College students, highschool students and adults, and some came from Tokyo and Kyoto, and some wereinternational students now studying in Japan. They were split into six groups andalready spent three weeks for the preparation for yesterday’s discussion. Each group did
preparatory studies on the city assigned to them, and for them, some of the cities were
not known before. Earlier I mentioned that the whole process is a learning process forthe young people, so they learned about the city assigned to them from scratch. They
had discussions in the process. On certain cases, they sent email enquiries to city
officials. And they produced short-term and long-term plans for peace of each cities,

and yesterday, taking 50 minutes, six groups from Group A to Group F had a final
process of discussion. Musashino City of Tokyo, Vitry-sur-Seine of France, Ypres ofBelgium, Mexico City of Mexico, Fongo-Tongo of Cameroon, and Biograd na Moru of
Croatia, worked with those young people’s groups respectively. The plans they came up
with could be applied not only to those cities they worked with, but also to other cities.
Some of the cities here may find some of the plans that young people came up with very
interesting. With that notion in mind, young people discussed and prepared short-termand long-term plans.
Let me go through the discussion they had. First, on the point of young people, some
said that they do have interest in peace activities, but felt they cannot join them so easily.
So some suggested on creating a casual forum for students to get together easily and thecity could provide such place for young people to get together to talk about peace andwar, and they could invite local celebrities or city leadership to such discussions.
Another was that students should interview survivors of war of respective cities, andthey could take part in a speech competition, and the winners could go and visit theircounterpart city for further studies and experience. Exchange program was alsomentioned by other groups, but the important point is that such student education
abroad program should be based upon peace education. As part of the study abroad
program, students could get involved in translation of various testimonies.
Some of the proposals were very unique to young people, for instance, use of SNS or
use of new information technology. For instance, AR, augmented reality, or the use ofvirtual reality was mentioned as the enabling technologies. In Germany, there are what
they call “stumbling stones.” Likewise, physical trail of peace exists in different cities.
If you wear AR glasses, then, on the pathway, the walker is able to get various visual
information about what happened on that trail. That was one plan.
There were many proposals for workshops and events, but the important thing is thatthose events or workshops shouldn’t be just one time event, but as is exemplified by theterm “culture of peace,” those events should be able to take deep roots in the local
communities. Some mentioned that a big change can be brought about from a small city.

Also, networking importance was emphasized, so in various member cities of Mayors
for Peace, maybe some cities could establish a section of youths so that young people
are able to get in touch with each other and network with each other as we go ahead.
Their contents of the presentations are shown on the white papers which are posted
outside in the foyer, so please stop by and read them. Yesterday, the young people
became friends with each other, so last night after the discussion, they all came together
in a gathering and they said that they were really happy because they were able to speakwith a mayor, the leader of a local authority, and that was a hard-to-get occasion forthem. They were able to discuss not about what they want to do, but what the city needs.
They listened to demands and needs of the city, and they had the real opportunity ofmaking a thorough research about the city beforehand, and came up with a plan which
is suitable for the city. And they had a very good communication with each other andwith the cities. They already exchanged business cards, name cards and addresses, andthey were very happy.
I hope that the experience they had will not be the end, but is a step toward a further
networking and activities. Thank you very much. I have spoken too long.
Chairperson
Thank you very much. We had the discussion on the roles of the cities, and that was themain theme we have been discussing from the beginning of Mayors for Peace, but theroles of youth is a new subject matter which is very much paid attention to by many
representatives. I think it was s challenge. I was watching what was discussed in thegroups. They were quite lively and buoyant, and Prof. Nakamura has been broadcasting
the contents of discussions, about what’s happening in each table. That was so good. I
am so glad that we organized that session. On the second floor of this auditorium, there
were junior high school students from four junior high schools, and they were observing
what’s happening on the stage. They were very much frustrated because they wereseated in distance so they came to the stage.

Together with high school students, whowere a little bit older than they are, they were watching what was being discussed there.
This trial was a great success, I thought. In the near future, as we continue our activities

of Mayors for Peace, we hope that we will able to continue this kind of meetings, withthis as the first meeting of youth, especially deepening exchanges between mayors of
local authorities and young people. The points of discussion are listed on the posters in
the hallway.
Now, Session IV, this was held today. Mr. Masao Tomonaga, Chairman of Organizing
Committee of the Nagasaki Global Citizens’ Assembly for the Elimination of Nuclear
Weapons is going to give us the summary.
Summary and Reporting of Session IV:
Mr. Masao Tomonaga, Chairman of Organizing Committee of the Nagasaki Global
Citizens’ Assembly for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, JapanI believe most of the audience attended Session IV, which ended just now. I don’t think I
have much to report, but there were three presentations. The theme of the session is“Roles of NGOs, Citizens’ Groups and A-bombs Survivors’ Groups, etc.” The membersof the cities, what they are doing and what they can do.
As the first speaker from Hannover, Germany, an art project was presented. Startingfrom next year for three years, they are going to go through more than 20 cities
including the other cities in Europe, including Berlin. “50 Cities – 50 Traces,” aninternational art project. The idea and conception is quite unique. Whenever we talkabout peace activities, we try to set a theme, try to collect people and have a discussionthat is the ordinary way. But their idea was quite different. When we think about humanlife,

it is very transient and ephemeral. If you

want to leave something in the society,on this globe, maybe if you become a grown-up, which can be counted as the legacy tothe cities, but for each individual’s mind and heart, there is something they would liketo keep as a trace or as their legacy. Those can be expressed in ways of drawings andpictures. There, the theme of peace can be embraced.
Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the NPT. Especially NATO and EU countries,
embracing those issues in Germany, linking with the abolition of nuclear weapons andincorporating that theme, they have made such a plan in art project.

The biggest objective is to have people get-together. Otherwise you cannot start
anything. When you have people gathered here, then dialogue and friendship can becreated. The friendship can become the foundation of furtherance of peace. One
women’s art collection can be shown. It was quite refreshing as an idea and as a plan.
For us, engaging in peace activities, it was quite eye-opening.
Second presentation is from our adjacent nation, South Korea, a very close place toNagasaki. From Jeju Island, we listened to the peace activities, especially because it is apeace island. Rooted in the history of Jeju, after the war, released from the colony byJapan, they thought how to unify the Korean Peninsula. But there were differences innotions, and because of that, there was a fighting before the Korean War. In Jeju Island,
opponents were massacred and as many as 30,000 people were killed. So this is the
beginning of the conception of this idea, based on their history in Jeju.
As a local authority, they have the Peace Research Institute. Geographically, Jeju Island
is located in the center of Japan, South Korea, and China. So they hold various peace
forums. For example, UNITAR (United Nations Institute for Training and Research)’s
human resource development program and youth peace forum, which I believe there
were many participants from Japan. In such circumstances, one of the big themes they
are tackling is the currently divided Korean Peninsula, and exchanges between south
and north should be promoted in the private sector. There are various volunteer groups,
and arts and cultural groups. They can incorporate and integrate all those different
activities and initiatives of Jeju City. With a very long history, they have an assembly. I
believe there were 6,000 people gathered in that assembly.
And they have a plan to establish the “peace belt.” Northeast Asia nuclear-free zone is
one of the themes studied in RECNA in Nagasaki University, but in the broader scopeof ideas, they are planning to create the peace belt. They will also work on ecology, andembrace those ideas as well. Very specific ideas are planned. With the DPRK, they areplanning to invite them to have a dialogue in Jeju Forum, and exchanges of visits
between the North and the South. There is a big mountain in Jeju Island, and there is Mt.
Baekdu in the DPRK, and there is a plan to have exchanges between the two tourist
destinations. I believe they are wonderful plans.

And the last presentation was by the representative from Nagasaki Atomic Bomb
Survivors Council. Their nationwide organization is Japan Confederation of A- and
H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (hidankyo). The speaker talked about their history.
Starting from 1950s, especially after the Bikini Atoll H-bomb testing, there was atremendous surge of campaign, starting from the housewives in Tokyo, which spread to
Shizuoka Prefecture. That is the movement to adamantly oppose against H-bombs andA-bombs. She has given quick rundown of the history, especially focusing on hibakusha
of Nagasaki. It is also a negative history for the hibakusha suffering from injuries andaftereffects.
She was focusing on the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Young Men and Women’s Association,and the two associations merged which became a nationwide organization, the Japan
Confederation. But there must have been a lot of difficulties, be it the financial matters,
and they are expanding its network. In the UN disarmament conference, “No more
Hiroshima, no more Nagasaki, no more war” was advocated by Senji Yamaguchi. He
died several years ago. Through the forces of hibakusha, such waves have continued. In
New York, in the negotiation process of the Ban Treaty, there were the voices ofhibakusha, and in the preamble of the Ban Treaty, a credit was given to the voices ofhibakusha.
This is my personal note, but testimonies of hibakusha have spread out to the world, but
after 50 years from the end of the war, there was the pessimistic perception among the
hibakusha at that time. They started to be concerned that “We are not able to be heard.
We have been calling for the total elimination of nuclear weapons, but I don’t think weare successful in communicating our voices. We are making our best efforts, but we are
not being heard.” This was their pessimistic perception at that time. It’s been 22 years
since then. After 72 years from the end of the war, especially in the past five years, we
had been focusing on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, and there wasa big movement to adopt the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. I believe
the origin of such activities was the voices of hibakusha. Ms. Yokoyama has given suchhistory.

After those three presentations, there was a general discussion. We took a lot ofquestions, among which the important question raised was, the Treaty of the Prohibitionof Nuclear Weapons was adopted, but in the case of Japan, because of the security
policy, that is the nuclear umbrella policy which they are clinging on to, so they are notable to participate. They insist that this is the decision made by the central government,but on the other hand, citizens, especially hibakusha think, “How can the country that
suffered the atomic bombing- not able to participate in this Treaty?” There is thefrustration among part of the citizens.
And there was a question to Hannover, and Mr. Hermann, Vice Mayor of Hannover said,
among the citizens in Germany, because nuclear weapons of the United States are
deployed in Germany, there are a lot of citizens who think it as a risk, and majority ofthe people wish to join the Treaty, but as a member of NATO, it is not possible. I believe
the Netherlands is the member of NATO who participated in the negotiation, and theonly country which voted against it. This is indeed the issue which is embraced by theGerman government.
Now, how are we going to bring the voices of citizens to the central government? There,
I believe we are able to act as intermediary for the citizens, and there was a big speech
by Mr. Komizo, Secretary General. In the provision of the Treaty, a special provision
was included by a proposal made by Mayors for Peace, so that the nuclear-weapon
nations, as well as allies under their nuclear umbrella can join the Treaty. We hope that
we will be able to push forward to try to fill the gap between the nuclear-weapon
nations and abolition advocates. We should never be divided. We need to try to unify
and fuse those different opinions. Ms. Nakamitsu, representative of the United Nations
who attended the Peace Ceremony on behalf of the United Nations as theUnder-Secretary-General, said, there are nuclear-weapon nations who are the membersof the NPT, and there are, on the other hand, the advocates of banning of nuclear
weapons. She questioned, “Is there any idea to try to fuse and integrate those different
opinions?” I believe this is the most important question. This was raised by one of thecitizens in the panel. Because of that, we had a very good discussion.
There are some other points of the discussions, but if I start to say everything I don’tthink I have enough time. Civil society, civil groups and the roles to be played by themshould be culminated to the activities of the cities. I thought Session IV was very good.
Thank you very much.
Chairperson
Thank you very much. Session IV focused on the roles of the civil society, and the civilsociety is the source of power for Mayors for Peace. The background and history ofeach cities are different, and therefore it’s important and it’s possible to learn from eachother.
We are 20 minutes behind, but I would like to invite some comments from the member
cities participating here. Anybody with comments or would like to share yourimpression about the conference? We will invite two representatives, and they are given
the floor.
Comment from the Member City:
Mr. Hoshyar Siwaily, Kurdistan Democratic Party, Iraq
Good morning. My name is Siwaily. I am heartfelt for the large delegation. We’ve comefrom Iraqi Kurdistan, we’ve come 12,000 kilometers, across the border of many
countries, to come and join you in remembering the victims of these two terrible
tragedies. We are here also to show our commitment and extend our hands to you and tothe member cities in enhancing peace in the world. The Mayor of Sinjar was with us,
but he had to fly to Karachi and he couldn’t attend this morning session. He had astatement to read and he gave me this statement to read it on his behalf. So please allow
me to read this statement.
The Yazidis, I don’t know to what extent you’ve heard about, but I’m sure you haveheard about the massacre and genocide of the Yazidis in Iraqi Kurdistan three years ago,
but this statement is about that genocide, and the massacre of the Yazidis. The first actof genocide in the 21st century was carried out against Yazidis Kurds in Iraqi Kurdistan
on August 3, 2014 by the terrorist organization of the Islamic State. This unprovokedattack on mostly civilian people caught the attention of the world and facilitated thecreation of an international coalition to combat the Islamic State worldwide. The

Yazidis, at distinct religious community are one of the most ancient components ofKurdish nation. They are mainly concentrated in the Sinjar district in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Sinjar is located 150 kilometers to the west of the city of Mosul, and close to the Mt.
Sinjar. The Yazidis have being persecuted throughout history because of their religion
and their nationality.
The latest massacre on August 3 was the most brutal attack on the Yazidis in their recent
history to wipe out the entire population and to forcibly convert the survivors to Islam.
On this day, the Islamic State terrorists, equipped with heavy weapons captured fromthe Iraqi Army in Mosul two months earlier, commenced their onslaught andextermination on this peaceful district of Sinjar. Thousands of Yazidis were killed andburied in mass graves. Thousands among women and children were taken as prisoners.
Those who managed to survive took refuge in Mt. Sinjar or fled to Syria or the
Kurdistan region. A total number of 6,417 people, among them, 3,387 were women, 600
children were captured and were taken to Mosul and Syria. They were subjected to themost inhumane and cruelest treatment by the IS jihadists. The women and young girls
were subjected to physical and sexual violence, including systematic rape and sex
slaving.
The Kurdistan Regional Government commenced a concentrated effort to locate andrescue the prisoners. It has, with the help of others, managed to rescue 3,092 people outof total abductees of Yazidiz. A total of 46 mass graves have so far been discovered, inwhich 1,724 bodies were found and reburied. To this day, more than 5,000 people are
missing.
Sinjar was liberated in two stages. The last offensive by the Peshmerga force on
November 15, 2015 defeated Islamic State, and liberated the town. The offensive by theIslamic State and the subsequent military operations led to the destruction of more than
85% of the town. The majority of the people have not been able to return to their homes,
due to the slow progress in the reconstruction process.
The people of Sinjar desire a decent and peaceful life. The international community canplay an important role in assisting the Yazidi people by ensuring that the genocide ofAugust 2014 will never be repeated. I’m providing direct support for the reconstructionof this beautiful and historically-rooted district. It is needless to say that the ultimate
salvation and permanent end to this historical persecution and operation of the people ofKurdistan, including the Yazidis, are achieved through the establishment of an
independent state. Realizing this task, and learning from our tragic history, the politicalleadership of Kurdistan has decided to organize a referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan on
September 25, 2017. This referendum will enable people to make a wise and conscious
decision about their region.
We hope that the distinguished participants of this Mayors for Peace conference in
Nagasaki, as a contribution to the world peace, support the people of Kurdistan andunderstand the legitimate quest for peace and safety. Thank you very much.
Chairperson
Thank you very much. This was a statement from a representative from Iraq. Eachregion has their own important issues. As we see the increase of membership, together,with global efforts, we also have another pillar of activities led by the Lead Cities ineach region. And this concludes the time for the comments.
Adoption of the Nagasaki Appeal and the Special Resolution Requesting the Early
Bringing into Effect of the Treaty Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons:
Chairperson
Next is the adoption of the Nagasaki Appeal. Please refer to the Nagasaki Appeal thathas been distributed to you. Yesterday, we had the drafting committee to come up withthis draft proposal of Nagasaki Appeal. In Session I, we decided on the action plan, andas part of the action plan, we say that we are going to make efforts to ask for the early
entry into effect of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. So, we propose to
adopt this Special Resolution Requesting the Early Bringing into Effect of the Treaty
Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons. And this draft also requires your adoption. So, Mayor
Matsui is going to read the Nagasaki Appeal.
Mr. Kazumi Matsui, President of Mayors for Peace, Mayor of Hiroshima, JapanLet me read out the Nagasaki Appeal.

“The Nagasaki Appeal
For the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons and Lasting World Peace
We, the representatives of 7,417 cities from 162 countries and regions around the world,
have met at the 9th General Conference of Mayors for Peace held in Nagasaki andengaged in active discussions on the theme “Toward a World without Nuclear Weapons– What We Can Do Toward 2020.”
In August 1945, atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The fierce
heat rays, blast and radiation instantly leveled buildings and turned the cities into
burnt-out ruins, cruelly killing more than 210,000 residents, including women, children
and the elderly. The hibakusha, many of whom only narrowly survived, have witnessed
many terrible situations where people were deprived of human dignity. They havesurvived for 72 years with physical and emotional wounds that can never be healed.
While suffering from cancer and other diseases caused by radiation, the hibakusha havecontinued to appeal to the world for the abolition of these inhumane weapons, driven by
their strong and almost life-shortening determination that no one else should ever again
suffer as they have.
Yet, there still remain nearly 15,000 nuclear weapons on our planet, and massive
budgets have been allocated to programs aimed at modernizing them. In addition, thethreat of nuclear weapon use is increasing in various parts of the world, such as
Northeast Asia, Europe, South Asia and the Middle East. Furthermore, the unintendedor accidental use of nuclear weapons and the risk of nuclear terrorist attacks cannot beignored.
Based on the 2020 Vision (Emergency Campaign to Ban Nuclear Weapons), Mayors for
Peace has been engaged in diverse activities in partnership with civil society, NGOs andothers, aimed at the urgently needed realization of a world without nuclear weapons.
These activities include signature-collecting for petitions that call for the early
realization of a nuclear weapons convention and appeals for its implementation atinternational conferences.

This summer, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was adopted. We
sincerely welcome the enactment of this treaty, the first international law that explicitlybans nuclear weapons. This historic advancement toward nuclear disarmament won theapproval of the majority of UN member states, and demonstrates to the international
community that the slogan “Nagasaki must be the last atomic-bombed city,” as the
hibakusha have continued to pronounce at every opportunity, is a common desire that
represents the will of all humankind. Also, the member cities of Mayors for Peace haverealized that, even though a desire for peace expressed by one city may constitute a
small voice, such voices together can be a driving force in the world if we cooperate andnever give up on our goals. We have also been convinced that we are on the right pathwith our activities.
With this pride in our hearts, Mayors for Peace is determined to push forward thefollowing actions.
Aiming at the early implementation of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear
Weapons, Mayors for Peace will make efforts to make this treaty more effective by
further strengthening collaboration among the hibakusha, civil society andtreaty-leading nations that have served as a driving force in the adoption of the treaty,
and all member cities will strongly urge their national governments to adopt it. In
particular, we will strongly urge the governments of nuclear-armed states and thoseunder the nuclear umbrella to do so.
Mayors for Peace represents more than one billion residents of the member cities, andhas worked for the elimination of nuclear weapons and the promotion of peace. Yet
beyond nuclear weapons, regional challenges such as chemical weapons, armed
conflicts, refugee crises, famine, poverty, discrimination, violence, and environmental
destruction and, more recently, terrorist attacks have emerged. To these ends, we
support concrete actions to implement the United Nations Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) including those pertaining peace, cities, and education. In addition, we
will further increase the number of member cities and actively work on strengthening
and deepening regional networks in order to promote humanitarian activities, especiallyaddressing regional challenges to ensure safety and welfare in civil society.
Mayors for Peace will work towards creating a culture of peace in order tofundamentally address the various problems standing in the way of peace. On that
account, we recognize the significance of peace education to pass on war experiences,with a child and youth perspective, to future generations. The member cities of Mayors
for Peace are committed to design and promote actions to advance peace education. By
participating in the Mayors for Peace network, cities can put into practice the culture ofpeace in implementing local policies.
Peace is a desire shared by all humankind. We must pursue peace based on humansecurity, in which all individuals respect and trust each other as world citizens by
overcoming the divisions of nationality, race and religion, to consider safety as acommon concern of all people. This is the path to realizing a world without nuclear
weapons. Mayors for Peace will concentrate its efforts on pursuing this long anddifficult path, with a strong determination to attain these goals, in close cooperation
with all like-minded individuals, groups and nations.
Mayors for Peace strongly calls on the United Nations and all governments to take thefollowing actions:
1. Observe the NPT regime and support the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear
Weapons.


Steadily and sincerely promote nuclear disarmament in accordance with the
NPT regime so that nuclear weapons will never be used again, listen to thestrong voices of civil society, the voices of those who have set the course for the
successful adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, andsign and ratify the treaty leading to its early entry into force.



Reaffirm that this treaty is a significant step forward in the pursuit of a futurecomprehensive nuclear weapons convention achieving the total elimination of
nuclear weapons.

2. Make efforts to address global issues that deprive human beings of dignity.



Make sincere and prompt efforts to address global issues that deprive humanbeings of dignity, such as nuclear weapons, chemical weapons, conflicts, refugee
crises, famine, poverty, discrimination, violence, environmental destruction andterrorism.

3. Make efforts to create a culture of peace and offer opportunities to more people tolearn, be aware of, and realize the harsh reality of atomic bombings and wars.
Call on representatives from governments and international agencies to visit theatomic-bombed cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, so that the inhumanity of
nuclear weapons can be imprinted firmly in their hearts after learning of thereality of the bombings. As a result of such visits, they will better appreciate theneed to abolish such weapons as soon as possible. Provide full support toactivities promoting the preservation of war experiences, atomic bomb
exhibitions and peace research and education programs to be held in the cities,
so that the citizens of those cities can widely share the horrors of war and civil
conflicts in various parts of world.

Addressing the above, at the 9th General Conference, Mayors for Peace adopted theAction Plan for the period of 2017 to 2020. We hereby pledge to make every endeavor
to achieve the abolition of nuclear weapons at the earliest possible date and aim forlasting peace in the world.
August 10, 2017
Nagasaki, JapanThe 9th General Conference for Mayors for Peace”
Thank you.
Chairperson
Thank you very much. President Matsui read through the Nagasaki Appeal. Anyquestions from the participants? If not, I would like to ask you, those in favor of
adopting this appeal as it is?

(Applause)
Thank you very much.
Now, I would like to read out the Special Resolution Requesting the Early Bringing into
Effect of the Treaty Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons.
“Special Resolution Requesting the Early Bringing into Effect of the Treaty
Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons“We call on the cities around the world to unite in cross-border cooperation to pave theway towards the abolition of nuclear weapons.”
This call made by the Mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki led to the establishment of“Mayors for Peace.” Since then, we have appealed for the establishment of a legal
framework to prohibit nuclear weapons as we believed it to be essential in achieving
their abolition.
On July 7, 2017, these efforts bore fruit. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear
Weapons, which explicitly bans nuclear weapons, was adopted at United Nations
Headquarters by 122 nations, a figure representing 60 percent of all United Nations’member states. This was made possible by the heartfelt appeal by the hibakusha andlike-minded people that “nuclear weapons should be abolished,” an appeal that gained
worldwide support and moved the nations. Mayors for Peace with 7,417 member cities
from 162 countries and regions, wholeheartedly welcomes the adoption of this treaty.
The 9th General Conference of Mayors of Peace was held after the adoption of theTreaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. At the General Conference, we themembers of Mayors for Peace, renewed our determination to strive for the realization ofa world without nuclear weapons.
“Let Nagasaki be the last atomic-bombed site in the world.”
Here in Nagasaki, we Mayors for Peace affirmed that these words are the common wish

and will of civil society and resolved our commitment to perpetuate these words for all
time.
Mayors for Peace hereby resolves to urge all nations, including the nuclear-armed states,
to join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and bring it into effect at theearliest possible date.
August 10, 2017
Nagasaki City, Japan”
Now, any questions about this special resolution? It seems none, so those in favor of
adopting this special resolution as it is?
(Applause)
Thank you very much for your support and approval. As the outcome of the 9th General
Conference of Mayors for Peace, we have thus adopted the Nagasaki Appeal and thespecial resolution. These documents are going to be distributed to all member cities ofour organization, to UN and other international organizations and NGOs concerned.
This concludes Session V. We are a little behind the schedule. I apologize for the poor
management of the session. I thank you very much for your kind cooperation for
Session V. Thank you very much.

The 9th General Conference of Mayors for Peace

Closing Ceremony
August 10 (Thu), 2017 12:15-12:45
Nakabe Hall, Nagasaki University Bunkyo Campus

Chorus Performance:
Elementary School Attached to the Faculty of Education,
Nagasaki University
Messages and Addresses:
Eddy Newman
Lord Mayor of Manchester, UK
Tomihisa Taue
Vice President of Mayors for Peace, Mayor of Nagasaki, Japan
Kazumi Matsui
President of Mayors for Peace, Mayor of Hiroshima, Japan

Closing Ceremony
MC
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for waiting. Let us now commence theclosing ceremony. Before the closing ceremony, we would like to invite elementary
school children from the Elementary School Attached to the Faculty of Education,
Nagasaki University to sing songs.
Chorus Performance: Elementary School Attached to the Faculty of Education,
Nagasaki University(Performance)
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It was A Thousand Paper Cranes. Every year on
August 9, this song is sung at the Peace Ceremony. Every month on the 9th, at 11:02,
when the A-bomb was dropped, there would be the broadcasting of this song. There is
the aspiration for peace in each one of the paper cranes. We shall continue to sing thissong. The next song is titled, Let’s Shake Hands. We would like to be closer to you.
While we are singing song, we are going to give you a present. Let’s shake hands!
(Performance)
We shall see you again. Thank you very much.
MC
Thank you very much. Those were the children from the Elementary School Attached to
the Faculty of Education, Nagasaki University. Thank you for your wonderful choruses.
Now, ladies and gentlemen, we would like to commence the closing ceremony of the
9th General Conference of Mayors for Peace. On behalf of the participants, we would
like to invite Lord Mayor of Manchester, Mr. Eddy Newman to address to us.
Address by the Representative of Participants:
Mr. Eddy Newman, Lord Mayor of Manchester, UKKonnichiwa. Mayor Matsui, Mayor Taue, Secretary General Komizo, fellow mayors,ladies and gentlemen. First thing I want to say was not in my written speech. That wassuch a wonderful performance from the children there. There is the saying common to
all of us, I think, that children are the future. I’m sure that the future of Nagasaki isassured with the children like that.
I am delighted to be able to speak to you today in the closing ceremony of the 9thGeneral Conference of Mayors for Peace, here in the beautiful city of Nagasaki. I havelistened carefully to all the sessions of the conference and can see the energy,
determination and unity that exists in our large organization committed to peace and aworld free of nuclear weapons.
This is my first visit to Japan and I have been very impressed with the organization of
all of the events. It was a great honor to represent Manchester at the Hiroshima andNagasaki Peace Ceremonies. I found them to be truly respectful and dignified events
commemorating those who had died in the terrible attacks of August 6 and August 9,1945. It is so important to also remember those whose health is still affected by theatomic weapon attacks and nuclear weapon test programs and to call for a different way
of doing things—a peaceful way of cooperation, solidarity, mutual respect andunderstanding. That is why I came into politics and I am sure that this is also why you
are here today.
In November 1980, 37 years ago, Manchester was one of the first local councils to
declare itself a Nuclear Free Zone. I am proud that—as a young Councillor then—I was
involved in putting forward that policy.
This year, on May 22 at around 10.30pm in my city of Manchester, thousands of excitedchildren and their parents were leaving Manchester Arena Concert Hall after awonderful concert by the American singer Ariana Grande. Seconds later a suicide
bomber exploded a device near the entrance of the Arena, which adjoins one ofManchester’s main railway stations. Many received terrible injuries and sadly 22 people,
including children and young people, were killed in this vile act of terrorism. My city,
like many other cities around the world who have been affected by such incidents, wasshocked to the core.

In coming here to Hiroshima and Nagasaki I have been touched by the spirit of the
hibakusha, the survivors of the bomb. Their spirit of solidarity, of reconciliation, of
caring for each other. Such a spirit has also come from Manchester after this terrible
incident. I was honored to lead a vigil the day after the attack outside Manchester Town
Hall in front of tens of thousands of people and I have been present at many othersimilar events. There has been a great sense of solidarity, love, grief and disbelief, but acommon and joint desire that this incident would not divide our city.
Manchester is a very diverse city made up of people from many different ethnic origins.
It is a very tolerant city where mutual respect remains the dominant theme. It is a truecity of peace. The days and weeks after this attack have seen our city come together likenever before, and I am sure that this will continue.
Through Mayors for Peace, Manchester has worked for a more peaceful world free of
nuclear weapons. Now, more than ever, we will work for a world where mutual respect,
co-operation, solidarity, and peace prevail, and we hope you will all continue to joinwith us in that challenge. Mayors for Peace can be a beacon for peace to thecommunities we represent. It has played such an important role this year in achieving
the historic Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty, and now our challenge is to follow this up by
persuading nuclear weapon states like the United Kingdom, my own country, toimplement a policy of multilateral nuclear disarmament.
I would like to thank the organizers of this conference in Nagasaki for all their hard
work in bringing us all together. I would like to thank the Mayors of Hiroshima andNagasaki, the Mayors for Peace Secretary General and the wider Secretariat and myfellow Executive Members for the very strong and good leadership they provide to ourorganization. I welcome the ‘Nagasaki Declaration’ that we have just agreed as our callto the world to change and to embrace peace. Let us all do that together in the spirit ofsolidarity that is at the heart of Mayors for Peace, is at the heart of the cities of Nagasaki
and Hiroshima as I’ve seen this week, is at the heart of the city of Manchester and all
your own towns and cities. No one wants war, people want peace. Let us unleash thepositive spirit of the hibakusha and the spirit of all those who campaign for peace.

Thank you, on behalf of the all the participants, for your attendance and I wish you well
as you send this message back home to your families, your cities and your countries.
Thank you.
MC
Thank you very much, Lord Mayor Eddy Newman.
Mayor of Nagasaki, Vice President of Mayors for Peace, Mr. Tomihisa Taue is going toaddress you.
Closing Remarks:
Mr. Tomihisa Taue, Vice President of Mayors for Peace, Mayor of Nagasaki, JapanWe are now concluding the 9th General Conference of Mayors for Peace, and as we justheard from the Lord Mayor of Manchester, I agree with him about the wonderfulperformance by the children. Yesterday, at the Peace Ceremony, we heard children who
joined us for the performance of songs as we enjoyed today. The stories are quite
serious, talking about the tragedy, making us feel very low and down. And the children’ssong and voices can purify our distress in our heart. I believe that children have a
special power to encourage us to keep on working toward our aims.
We had four days for the general conference. I can say that we had a wonderfulconference, rich in content, I would like to express my thanks to all the member cities,
the three moderators, and all the supporting organizations and their staff. Thank youvery much. Please accept my deep feeling of thanks.
We were able to adopt the special resolution. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear
Weapons is a treaty that illegalize nuclear weapons, and this is one of the positive
outcomes of the efforts made by Mayors for Peace. This was possible because of thestrong activities by the A-bomb survivors or hibakusha. Now that the treaty is
successfully adopted, we could confirm that the role we have taken so far was in theright direction.
This general conference was able to adopt the special resolution and I believe this is one

of the important outcomes of our conference. We were also able to adopt the Nagasaki
Appeal. We have more than 7,400 cities as members of Mayors for Peace. We haveformed a very big network, and as we see this expansion of the network, we need toincorporate new types of activities. Our common and ultimate goal is the totalelimination of nuclear weapons. In addition to that, creation of culture of peace andengagement in peace education is also mentioned in the Nagasaki Appeal. And also foreach region, we decided to start tackling with regional issues as we stated in the
Nagasaki Appeal. The Nagasaki Appeal clearly shows us the future direction of theactivities of our organization. In 2020 and beyond 2020, what are we going to do? We
need to start discussion about the future vision. I believe that the Nagasaki Appeal gives
us wonderful suggestion about our future activities. We also adopted the Action Plan for2017 to 2020. Again, the action plan is quite rich in content, and we have beencollaborating and we have never given up. Small voices can be united into a larger
voice, which clearly show that small pieces of voice are actually the biggest voice ofhumanity.
We were able to prepare the program to implement the action plan for the coming three
years. The coming three years is quite important. Vision 2020 has been the target for us.
But what is going to be our vision beyond 2020? I think we are at the important time
where we need a serious discussion. We had a wonderful face-to-face talk with eachother, had discussions, and deepened our friendship. I believe that we were able tostrengthen the network of Mayors for Peace. Let us seek for another opportunity so that
we can further deepen our friendship and have more discussion which will enlarge themany small voices. In the 9th General Conference, I was able to conclude with awonderful outcome. I am proud of being a member of this wonderful team, and by
taking one step at one time, let us continue walking with confidence in what we aredoing. I would like to renew my thanks to all of you who made this general conference
to be held in a successful manner. Thank you very much.
MC
In closing, on behalf of the organizer, President of Mayors for Peace, Mr. Kazumi
Matsui, Mayor of Hiroshima gives us a closing address.

Closing Remarks:
Mr. Kazumi Matsui, President of Mayors for Peace, Mayor of Hiroshima, Japan
In closing, please allow me to say a few words as the President of Mayors for Peace. I
would like to be brief. Just a minute ago, we adopted the Nagasaki Appeal as theoutcome of this general conference. We are about to end this conference, going over for
three days. I would like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt thanks to themember cities, governments, participants from NGOs, and all the staff and volunteers
who have supported this conference. My deepest thanks go to all of you.
In this conference, we prepared a new action plan for the target year of 2020, andNagasaki Appeal. Now is time for us to work together with all of you to achieve an
early joining of all the states to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, alongwith our action plan, and also to work hard for the resolution of diverse issues faced byregions. Needless to say, our activities require partnership and collaboration with thecitizens, as many citizens as possible, and working together with a wide range ofentities and players, including the United Nations, national governments and NGOs. I
would like to continue to ask for your kind understanding and cooperation.
The next general conference is going to be hosted in 2020 in Hiroshima. By that time,
let us all make further efforts to make a sure step forward toward a peaceful world
without nuclear weapons. Thank you very much once again. I would like to thank you
once again for your very kind cooperation. This concludes my speech. I would like to
see all of you again. Thank you.
MC
Now, as the finale of this general conference, municipal leaders and children are asked
to sing together a song. Mayors, would you please come to the stage and join thechildren in singing this song It’s A Small World?
(Performance)
Thank you very much. Three years from today in 2020, the 10th General Conference ofMayors for Peace will be hosted by the City of Hiroshima. To pass on the Nagasaki’s

message, wishing for a lasting world peace, one thousand paper cranes made by the
pupils of the elementary school are passed on to Hiroshima City. Members of the choir,would you please hand over the one thousand paper cranes to the mayor of Hiroshima?
Please give them a big hand of applause with our sincere wish for realizing a lastingworld peace.
Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes the 9th General Conference of Mayors for Peace.
Thank you very much for your very kind participation in the four-day period. Thankyou.

The 9th General Conference of Mayors for Peace

Press Conference
August 10 (Thu), 2017 13:00-13:45
Nakabe Hall, Nagasaki University Bunkyo Campus[Executive Cities of Mayors for Peace]
President:
Kazumi Matsui, Mayor of Hiroshima, Japan
Vide Presidents:
Tomihisa Taue, Mayor of Nagasaki, Japan
Thomas Hermann, Deputy Mayor of Hannover, Germany
Nkenfack, Mayor of Fongo-Tongo, Cameroon
Michel Cibot, Honorary City Manager of Malakoff, France
Eddy Newman, Lord Mayor of Manchester, UK
Jef Verschoore, Deputy Mayor of Ypres, Belgium
Jasminka Bajlo, Counselor of Biograd na Moru, Croatia
Josep Mayoral, Mayor of Granollers, Spain
Khder Kareem, Mayor of Halabja, Iraq
Executive:
Adrian Glamorgan, Mayors for Peace Working Group, Fremantle,
Australia

MC
Let’s start the press conference.
Moderator: Mr. Mizuta, Director of the Public Relations Section, Nagasaki City,Japan
We would like to now start the press conference. I am acting as the moderator of thissession. My name is Mizuta, Director of the Public Relations Section of Nagasaki City.
In this press conference, we have invited the Executive City members who were theparticipants of the 9th General Conference of Mayors for Peace. Press Conference lastsfor 45 minutes. First, there will be the presentation and the explanation on the Nagasaki
Appeal as well as the Special Resolution Requesting the Early Bringing into Effect of
the Treaty Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons, followed by the impressions by each
Executive City representative. The question and answer will follow. First, Mayor
Matsui, please give the summary of the 9th General Conference of Mayors for Peace.
Mr. Kazumi Matsui, President of Mayors for Peace, Mayor of Hiroshima, Japan
In this very place of Nagasaki, we discussed about creating a nuclear-weapon-freeworld by 2020. For four days in the past, we had thorough discussions together with themembers of Mayors for Peace. Through the course of the discussion, various practices
and ideas where presented. Also, we renewed our determination for peace at thismeeting. Especially on July 7, we have been advocating for a Ban Treaty together withhibakusha, and this was finally adopted. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear
Weapons totally matches with the 2020 Vision of Mayors for Peace: creating a
nuclear-free world. I believe this is going to be a critical step forward. Therefore, as
Mayors for Peace, we will try to identify the future challenges that is the totalelimination of nuclear weapons. That has to be taken as the consensus of civil society.
To the nuclear-weapon nations, they have to negotiate for disarmament in a sincere
manner, and not only the United Nations but also to all the governments, we would liketo ask them to participate so that we will be able to have the early bringing into effect of
the Treaty. We have to create such environment for preparations. I believe this is going
to be the challenge for us,

Mayors for Peace.

As Mayors for Peace, based on those problems and issues in front of us, our objective isto create a lasting world peace, which is more and more increasingly important. As to
how we should bring ourselves into the future, we have added one more pillar to thepillar of activities. In the past, we have been focusing only on creating a nuclear-freeworld as the first pillar, but we added the second pillar to create realization of safe andresilient cities. We thus created Mayors for Peace Action Plan (2017- 2020).
In order to realize a world without nuclear weapons, the voices of hibakusha should beshared among countries, not only the nuclear-weapon nations, but also their allies. We
hope these countries will participate to realize the early entry into effect of the treaty,
and it will become more important for us to continue to place requests to eachgovernments to join the treaty together with our member cities and civil societies.
As for the second pillar, we have added one more activities to realize safe and resilient
cities. There, of course, are various issues which hamper us to realize peace, but in orderto prevent that from happening, it is necessary to create culture of peace. Terrorism andrefugees, those are regional problems, but we need to tackle all those problems under
the initiative of Lead Cities, and member cities are going to give further support forsuch activities. Through the course of those activities, SDGs, advocated by the United
Nations, in order to realize this development plan, specific activities needs to besupported by Mayors for Peace. I am pretty sure that we will be able to make a progressby the activities we will be advocating,
But in order to secure that progress, we need to cultivate and foster international public
opinion. Especially, it is necessary to enlighten and educate young people, the driving
force for the future. Young people should be aware and understand what happened in
the past, and try to understand and recognize them, and they will be able to look at the
future. Thus, peace education is one of the important tasks we need to tackle in ourassociation. In Session III, we had a discussion on the roles of youth. Together with themayors of the member cities, there were a lot of discussions among the young people. It
was quite buoyant and vibrant. It was well-accepted and I think we had a very goodoutcome. Very specific proposals were given by the young people in order for the local
authorities to put them into practice, I think there should be a lot of experiences, goodpractices and teaching materials exchanged on the website and other means.

In this general conference, what we have reaffirmed is, Mayors for Peace, with its over
7,400 members from 162 countries, I believe this is the strength which can foster andraise international public opinion. We have to make the best use of such strength that wehave. Together with our member cities, based on the action plan we paired, we hope wewill be able to steadfastly realize our plan.
Now, in realizing the action plan, there were three discussions: roles of cities, roles ofyouth, and roles of civil society, NGOs and other organizations. Prof. Suzuki, Prof.
Nakamura, and Dr. Tomonaga chaired each session. There was a wrap-up of eachsession just a few minutes ago.
Just to give you a further summery, I believe peace is the common wishes of everybody
in the world. If that is the basic condition, in order to realize peace, what we can counton is the driving force of the young people on whose shoulder our future rests. The
activities are based on human security for peace. This matches with the concept ofrealizing a world without nuclear weapons. The roles to be played by Mayors for Peace
is to strengthen its connection with like-minded individuals, organizations andgovernments, and make our upmost efforts with a strong determination to realize
everlasting peace without nuclear weapons. I believe that is the summery of thisconference. We were able to reaffirm those voices which were quite significant to us.
We are wishing that the member cities will continue with their efforts in further
activities. Thank you very much.
Moderator
Thank you very much.
Next, about the Nagasaki Appeal and the Special Resolution Requesting the Early
Bringing into Effect of the Treaty Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons, Mayor Taue, would
you like to give us the summary?
Mr. Tomihisa Taue, Vice President of Mayors for Peace, Mayor of Nagasaki, JapanThe Nagasaki Appeal and the Special Resolution Requesting the Early Bringing into
Effect of the Treaty Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons is something I would like to cover.

Starting from the Nagasaki Appeal, there are three pillars. The Treaty on the Prohibitionof Nuclear Weapons, with the initiatives of Lead Cities to try to solve their regional
problems, and also put into practice of peace education and creating culture of peace.
This is not only on the initiatives of Mayors for Peace and cities, but I believe those are
the common factors of actions we will be taking towards the UN and governments. As
for the Ban Treaty, the actions Mayors for Peace will take, is that we would like toappeal for the early bringing into effect of the Treaty. We will deepen our collaboration
with hibakusha, civil society, and countries advocating the Treaty, to encourage ourrespective governments, especially the nuclear-weapon nations and their allies who areunder the nuclear umbrella. We will ask the United Nations and all the governments tocomply with the NPT, and join the Treaty.
As for the regional issues, in the world, chemical weapons, conflicts, refugees, famine,
discrimination, violence, environmental destruction and terrorism, those are the regional
problems we come across from day to day. Therefore, as one of the actions of ourassociation, we would like to solve those regional issues by the initiatives of Lead Cities
so that we will be able to give further support for the realization of SDG by the United
Nations in order to protect the well-beings and happiness of our citizens, we would liketo strengthen the regional network while we are working on solving these challenges. To
the United Nations and countries, we are asking to call on working further for thesincere efforts to address the global issues.
In order to solve these problems, it is necessary to make efforts to create a culture ofpeace. Therefore, members of Mayors for Peace, will emphasize on peace education on
children and youth, to communicate the importance of peace, and to push actions to
implement peace education. By participating in the Mayors for Peace network, each city
is able to create an atmosphere where peace should be respected. We will call on the UN
and governments to make opportunities for the creation of culture of peace, and to learn,touch upon, and understand the reality of atomic bombings. With those important points,
w adopted the action plan from 2017 through 2020. We pledged to make every endeavor
to achieve the abolition of nuclear weapons at the earliest possible day.

Now, about the special resolution, I would like to make a comment on this as well. In
this general conference, as you know, that was immediately held after the adoption of
the Ban Treaty. And we have adopted the action plan from 2017 to 2020, and thisincludes the early bringing into effect of the Ban Treaty. Now that we have adopted that,
it is necessary to have the voices from the civil society. Therefore, in the 9th General
Conference, we have come up with the Special Resolution Requesting the Early
Bringing into Effect of the Treaty Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons. I have made suchproposal and I got unanimous support. Thus we adopted the special resolution. I believe
this is going to be one step further to put the treaty into practice. Including thenuclear-weapon nations, we appeal and call on for them to join the treaty, to bring into
effect of the treaty. That’s all. Thank you very much.
Moderator
Thank you very much. We would like to ask each participant to give us their impression.
The time limitation is one minute. Mayor of Hiroshima, would you like to start, saying
your impression?
Mr. Kazumi Matsui
You can pass me. Because of the time, you can pass me.
Moderator
Mayor of Fongo-Tongo, would you like to give your impression?
Mr. Nkenfack, Mayor of Fongo-Tongo, Cameroon
Thank you very much. At the risk of repeating myself, I have to thank you all again.
Thank you very much for your hospitality in Nagasaki and Hiroshima. I would like toexpress my appreciation. Yesterday, we adopted the appeal. We are very much satisfied
with this appeal. When I go back to our city, we shall continue to endeavor further, andincrease the membership of Mayors for Peace. We do have the action plan, we shall dothe appeal in the university, together with young students. With many countries inAfrica, we shall explain what we have adopted as Nagasaki Appeal. We shall make apresentation on the Nagasaki Appeal, and hope the expansion of Mayors for Peace sothat we will be able to create peace in the world. We hope that we will be able to createprosperity. If there is peace, we will be able to see development. We are very muchsatisfied. Not only for the citizens in Cameroon, but also throughout Africa, these arecommon issues to all the countries in Africa. Mayors of the cities of Africa, we justhope that they can participate in Mayors for Peace. If that happens, this is going to be a
big organization. Thank you very much.
Moderator
Thank you very much. Next, Hannover, please.
Mr. Thomas Hermann, Deputy Mayor of Hannover, Germany
Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank the secretariat and the host city of Nagasaki
for managing this conference. We had very good discussions about the Treaty on theProhibition of Nuclear Weapons, and other global aims and global issues. I was deeply
impressed by the two Peace Ceremonies, first in our sister city Hiroshima, and then in
Nagasaki yesterday. Those were the ceremonies with a high level of dignity, and I was
also impressed by the speech of hibakusha. When I go back to Germany, to Hannover inEurope, with the energy to realize the aims of new action plan, which is very good andthe goal is specified. It will be the challenges we have in the next few years. Thank youvery much.
Moderator
Thank you very much. Next, Halabja City, please.
Mr. Khder Kareem, Mayor of Halabja, Iraq
Thank you very much for the secretariat and the mayors of Nagasaki and Hiroshima fororganizing this conference again. We are always on the conference, talking about atomic
bombs, but especially the Middle East, in the region of Syria and Kurdistan, chemicalbombs are still being used. There are mass destructions, and they are killings, especiallychildren and women are affected with these things. Time is limited, so I don’t want totake so long time. I hope that we will succeed, and this conference was a success. And I
would like to invite you for the anniversary of Halabja, to hold the Executive
Committee Conference in Halabja in 2019. Thank you very much.

Moderator
Thank you very much. Granollers, please.
Ms. Carme Barbany, City of Granollers, Spain
Good afternoon. Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity. There are four
representatives from Spain. One is representing Barcelona, and another is representing
the federation. I would like to express my deepest thanks to you all. We had wonderfulwelcome, and this has been wonderfully operated conference. I would like to express
my thanks to all of you who have supported this conference. I attended the Peace
Ceremony both in Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and I was very much impressed, especiallyby the speeches given by hibakusha and activities conducted in Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
I was deeply impressed. The advancement of the activities was quite satisfactory for us,
so together with you, we have been working, and that is a great honor and I’m very
happy that we will keep on working with you. Lead City, or other federation of thecities of Spain, we would like to make efforts to invite new members to thisorganization. And also, we need to strengthen our ties. We hope to promotecollaboration with other organizations. Lastly, for the implementation toward SDGs, I
think we need to collaborate. In Spain, member cities of Spain are going to work hard inorder to implement the action plan. Thank you very much.
Moderator
Thank you very much. Biograd na Moru, please.
Ms. Jasminka Bajlo, Counselor of Biograd na Moru, Croatia
The special thanks to Mayor Taue, for the excellent organization of all these events, andon this 9th General Conference, this is the third general conference that Biograd has
participated in. In my opinion, among these three, this is the best one. Why is it the best
one? I have to also say my congratulations to the staff of Mayors for Peace and to theSecretary General and to his staff for a magnificent, I must say, action plan. What reallyleft to the best, I can say, the best experience here was the experience with the youth.
Maybe it’s because years ago I used to work with children, and I worked withelementary school children, high school and university, I used to teach. This brought meback to the early stage, especially yesterday working on that session with youth. This issomething we have to emphasize that peace education must go through the young. The
youth is our future. It just filled my heart to see these young people so enthusiastic, it’sunbelievable how enthusiastic they are. And the first impression I got this enthusiasm isthree years ago when I was accompanying Mayor Matsui and delegation in New York.
When we visited the high school in New York with high school students from
Hiroshima to the high school in New York, and the enthusiasm of the high school
students from Hiroshima showed. All the happenings, atomic bombings, has left a
special impression. So now it’s been connected with yesterday, working with thoseyoung children. And my congratulations. You Japanese have beautiful youth and you
must be very proud of your children. I hope that they will be an example to the others.
Thank you very much.
Moderator
Thank you very much. Malakoff, please.
Mr. Michel Cibot, Honorary City Manager of Malakoff, France
Thank you very much. I would like to repeat the appreciations expressed by otherfellow mayors. I would like to express my thanks to the cities of Hiroshima andNagasaki, and the secretariat. This is my ninth time to attend the general conference.
Because I witnessed changes, I’m very happy. I have no regret. All the things that took
place in the past are complimenting each other. In this conference, violence in Africa orin the US or in other regions, we have discussed the issue of violence. According to theaction plan, we have decided to do something about understanding how violence isrelated to other issues. And we need to think about how nuclear weapons, the biggest
level of violence, can affect us. Our country is a nuclear-weapon state. Therefore in
France, actually, it’s not so easy to expand the network of Mayors for Peace, but wehave many tools available. So we are going to have discussions, hoping that France, inthe future, will join the Ban Treaty, supported by 122 countries just recently.
Moderator
Thank you very much. Next, Manchester, please
Mr. Eddy Newman, Lord Mayor of Manchester, UKThank you very much. I won’t repeat the thanks to mayors and the secretariat andeverything, I made my speech just a few minutes ago, but please take that as said. As
the City of Manchester that’s been hit recently by terrorism, I was pleased that we haveagreed, as Mayors for Peace, in our action plan to have the secondary aim of “safe andresilient cities” that will deal with issues like terrorism as well as many other issues that
affect the balance on the well-being of people of our cities. But clearly, the primary aimof Mayors for Peace is to work for a nuclear-weapon-free world and the lasting world
peace. And I think that the experiences of, I’ve come to Japan for the first time thisweek, I’ve had a long history of, in my own country and in my city, working for peaceand against nuclear weapons, but it’s something different to come to Hiroshima andNagasaki where the people suffered in a terrible way. The consequences of the atomic
bomb attacks. We listening to hibakusha, brings home even in more detail, not numbersof the people that were killed and affected terribly in this way. These two cities are also
the actual facts on people’s lives and the loss of their family members, the illness iscaused by radiation and so forth, and that gets through to us in a very strong way, andthe brave hibakusha who obviously are now advanced age, but still, realize theimportance of explaining the stories what happened to them and their families and theircommunity, and that made a huge impression, as did the two ceremonies. I just finish bysaying that we know that nuclear weapons can destroy the world and destroy humanity.
There are so many nuclear weapons now, they are so much more powerful. Terrible
weapons that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we just have to do everything
possible to work between our cities and in our communities to organize campaign andpressure our governments and international community to get rid of nuclear weapons
once and for all. That is the way to save humanity and to have a bright future for thechildren that we saw earlier and that we heard from yesterday. Thank you.
Moderator
Thank you very much. Ypres, please.
Mr. Jeff Velshore, Deputy Mayor of Ypres, Belgium
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My native language is Dutch, but I’m afraid
there is no interpreter of Dutch, so I will do it in English. First of all, I will subscribe
what has been already said by the colleagues here on the table, concerning the thanks tothe organization and to the hospitality we have received here in this beautiful city. Also,
I was very impressed by the very respectful and beautiful ceremonies in Hiroshima andin Nagasaki, and by the speeches of hibakusha. I was also impressed by the speeches of
the President and the Vice President, mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the speeches
they had on both ceremonies. Yesterday we heard the local mayor sending out amessage to the government and there was also the prime minister. We had a very
beautiful concert. We are the city of peace in Belgium. We suffered a lot also in the FirstWorld War. I think, if I may use the expression, that we have got a lot of ammunition towork even harder for being a beacon of peace in our country and in our region. We
already have a peace office, we even have a peace prize, but not so known as the Nobel
Peace Prize. I think we heard a lot of ideas to go further. I wish to thank also thecolleagues in the Executive Committee for all the good reflections they have brought us
during these four days in this 9th General Conference. It’s the first visit to Japan for mealso, and I must say in this five days here, I only met with very friendly, very positiveand very enthusiastic people. I think I’m falling in love with this country. Thank youvery much.
Moderator
Thank you very much. Now Fremantle, please
Mr. Adrian Glamorgan, Mayors for Peace Working Group, Fremantle, Australia
Thank you very much for your beautiful hosting of a sensitive ceremony here in
Nagasaki and Hiroshima. At the basis of everything that you do, is love and concern forthe hibakusha, and an eye to the future of humanity. It’s a big weight that you carry. But
you carry it with great dignity and you signal to the world that nothing could be morepressing than removing weapons of mass destruction at the earliest. And with that inmind, I commend all that has been done at this conference to remind the world of its
obligation to current generations, to future generations, but also, out of respect for the
hibakusha who have suffered and who live now with the hope to perform their duty andrid the world of nuclear weapons. I say from Fremantle, which is long way away fromthe rest of the world, but no one is safe from nuclear weapons or its consequences, andthat we must swiftly act. But I would also say that in meeting Mayors for Peace here,each one of them has a history that has dealt with violence in their own community,

violence harm or hurt, and together that community has taught itself and worked witheach other to create peace within the community. These mayors, I commend to you.
They are practical, realistic people who showed that there are practical measures tobuild peace and change in an attitude of mind. So I’ll leave Nagasaki with great hopeand energy, and hope that you will enquire of each of these cities, discover their own
history, and their own transformation of conflict into a world of hope. Thank you.
Moderator
Thank you very much. Now I’d like to open the press for your questions. When you
raise your question, please state your company’s name and to whom you would like toaddress your question. Already we are past the time, and actually, the mayors andrepresentatives have to move, so I would like to take questions or comments from twocompanies. Please raise your hand.
Question 1:
Mr. Yamaguchi, The Nagasaki Shimbun
Nagasaki Shimbun newspaper, my name is Yamaguchi. About the action plan, I have
two questions. One is to President Matsui. About the action plan, this was adopted andyou have the second pillar, “realization of safe and resilient cities,” and adding thispillar is leading to the “realization of a world without nuclear weapons,” the first pillar.
Could you once again explain the connection between the two pillars?
Mr. Kazumi Matsui
Thank you very much. Eradication of nuclear weapons, yes, that is the primary anddirect goal, but that leads to our ultimate goal of realizing a lasting world peace where
people have to be assured of their safety and well-being. As of today, Hiroshima andNagasaki’s efforts toward nuclear weapons eradication have been supported by all of
those member cities of our organization. And we have been able to see the adoption of
the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Of course, we have to increase thenumber of those states which join the treaty. That’s the challenge. On the other hand,each city has its own regional issues. In trying to realize a lasting world peace, regional
issues have to be tackled with in parallel with efforts for nuclear weapon abolition’s
realization. And tackling these pillars together, we believe we are able to energize us

toward the achievement of the ultimate goal of lasting world peace. As we havecontinued our discussion in the past conferences, we had been discussing nuclear
weapons eradication, but at the same time, we need to actually work on the regional
issues, safe and resilient cities, and that has been the opinion expressed so far, and thatis why we adopted the second pillar.
Question 2:
Mr. Yamaguchi
In relation to that question, I have a question to Mr. Michel Cibot. For many years, youhave been participating in the general conference of Mayors for Peace, and besides thenuclear weapons abolition, how to do with other regional issues, I understand, has been
discussed within the general conferences. But today, now, the second pillar was added
to action plan. What do you think is the reason why this second pillar is now added?
Mr. Michel Cibot
Well, perhaps the process was systematic, without any problems or challenges. The
themes we had dealt with have changed to some extent over the years. We, for instance,
have adopted more advanced themes that are ahead of the rest of the world. By being
perseverant, we will be able to get the consensus of many others. For instance, I have afriend from Italy, here in this hall, and when the time passes, as we see from the incidentof Galileo, when the time passes, we know what is true. Of course I am old enough toknow all of those things. French cities have worked hard over the years. Many cities
have worked as members of Mayors for Peace, and also they have worked upon incollaboration of their citizens, and that is why we are able to convince ourselves that wecan put this second pillar, and we believe that the second pillar will invite many otherlike-minded cities and colleagues.
Moderator
Any other questions or comments? Please.
Question 3:
Mr. Okada, The Asahi Shimbun

Asahi Shimbun newspaper, my name is Okada. My question is related to the previous
question. Terrorism, poverty and refugee crises are added as a new pillar in your action
plan. I think that is what was decided in the next action plan. All of you come fromdifferent cities and different countries, and some have already touched upon this point,
but in your cities or in your regions, what challenges are you faced with? Especiallyamong the second new pillar, what kind of regional or city issues are you faced with?
And how would you like to solve these issues? If possible, I would like to ask each oneof you, but if there is anyone who would like to answer this question, please. Should I
mention to whom I would like to address this question? Well then, who should I pickup? I don’t have a particular preference. Mayor of Fongo-Tongo, there was a reference
to the social economic development, so including that, could you respond to myquestion?
Mr. Nkenfack
Africa is a vast continent. I am from Cameroon. It’s one part of one region in a big
continent of Africa, but Africa is such a big continent, consisting by sub-regions, but wehave a problem of terrorism, Boko Haram, the terrorist group. They are killing people inmany countries. This is not a formal, declared war, but an informal terrorist activity. We
have accumulated various experiences so far, and we have seen a lot here in Japan, andwe would like to link such experiences as a ray of hope and when we return our country,
we would like to continue to work, by holding seminars and meetings, especially to theyoung people, this is what I would like to work upon. Adults understand the evil ofterrorist groups, but that is not the case for the young people. They do not really
understand the evil nature of terrorist groups. They might be misled and they might berecruited to a terrorist group, so we need to educate them so that they will not be misled
or deceived. In Cameroon, giving drugs or narcotics to young people, and giving themammunition and weapons for fighting, and they come to places like such a convention
place and they conduct a suicidal bombing. So we need to educate them so that they will
not die or kill themselves without a cause. What was satisfactory to me in thisconference is that there were so many young people, students, in this conference. They
are engaged in the process of peace, understanding peace. This will spread peace in theworld. I would like to use this experience. In Africa, by holding seminars in Africa, andif necessary, please invite me to such a seminar in Africa, and please share yourexperiences with the young people in Africa.
I am so thankful to all of you, and thank you very much for giving me this chance again
to take the floor. Peace can’t be bought with any money, and development can beachieved only when the peace prevails. So, your work toward peace, I think, can be
spread to the rest of the world. Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and what happened in those
two cities should never be repeated. Today, terrorists are using all kinds of weapons, andwhich are not necessary. We hope to see peace in the world. Irrespective of the colors ofskins, we are all brothers and sisters, and we need to reconfirm this fact. Thank you.
Moderator
Thank you very much for your response. Unfortunately, the time is very limited. Mayor
Matsui has to attend to another business and he has to return to Hiroshima. So he isgoing to be excused. Other executives, they can answer your questions if there arefurther questions. Any further questions from the press? There seems to be none, so I
call this is the end of the press conference. Thank you very much.