Mr. Barack Hussein Obama
President of the United States of America
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
U.S.A.
May 18, 2016

Request to President Obama on the Occasion of Your
Visit to Hiroshima
Dear Mr. President,
We pay our respects to you for your decision to visit Hiroshima, following the G7
Summit Conference to be held in Ise-Shima, Japan on May 26 and 27. On this occasion, wewould like to submit the following request to you, on behalf of the Hibakusha, survivors ofthe atomic bombs dropped by the U.S. military on Hiroshima and Nagasaki 71 years ago.
Effort to create a world without nuclear weapons
In your speech in Prague, Czech Republic on April 5, 2009, you stated, “…one of thoseissues that I'll focus on today is … the future of nuclear weapons in the 21st century” and said,“Just as we stood for freedom in the 20th century, we must stand together for the right ofpeople everywhere to live free from fear in the 21st century. And as nuclear power -- as anuclear power, as the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon, the United Stateshas a moral responsibility to act. … So today, I state clearly and with conviction America's
commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.”Your statement greatly encouraged the peoples of the world. In order to create aworld without nuclear weapons, we urge you to take the lead and act to achieve a total
ban and elimination of nuclear weapons.
Stand together to achieve a world without nuclear weapons
In your speech in Prague, you made another important proposal -- to “stand together”
to achieve a world without nuclear weapons. “Standing together” should not happen in the
distant future, but it is about addressing nuclear weapons, which you said you would “focuson today”.
The 70th Session of the U.N. General Assembly last year adopted by majority vote theresolution entitled, “Taking forward multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations.” To
follow up this resolution, the U.N. set up the Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) and held
12 days of discussion in the first session in February and the second session in May, on
creating a legal framework for the elimination of nuclear arsenals. To our great regret, none

of the nuclear weapon states took part in either of the sessions. In order to achieve a nuclear
weapon-free world as you envisioned, if the U.S. takes the lead in attending the OEWG andinvite other nuclear-armed states to “stand together”, it would bring us much closer to anuclear weapon-free world in an early period of the 21 century.
It is not too late. We urge you to lead all the nuclear weapon states to follow theU.N. resolution and take part in the OEWG session.
Ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT)
It is essential to secure the ratification of the CTBT by the United States in achieving anuclear weapon-free, peaceful and safe world. In your speech in Prague, you declared, “Toachieve a global ban on nuclear testing, my administration will immediately and aggressively
pursue U.S. ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. After more than five
decades of talks, it is time for the testing of nuclear weapons to finally be banned.”
Unfortunately, seven years after your declaration, the United Sates has not yet ratified thistreaty.
Those states which have signed but not ratified the CTBT include the U.S., China,Egypt, Iran and Israel, while the three countries -- North Korea, India and Pakistan -- haveneither signed nor ratified the treaty. Given this situation, it is clear that the ratification by
the U.S. would have a significant impact on the others in promoting the CTBT’s coming intoforce.
Please make every effort to pursue U.S. ratification of the CTBT during your termof office.
Learning the damage and aftereffects of the atomic bombing by listening to theHibakusha
While you referred to “America's commitment to seek the peace and security of aworld without nuclear weapons”, you also said, “This goal will not be reached quickly -perhaps not in my lifetime.” When the U.S. used the atomic bombs on Hiroshima andNagasaki, it was only the U.S that possessed nuclear weapons. However, through the periodof nuclear arms race, we have now 9 nuclear-armed states in the world. Knowing first-handthe inhuman effects of nuclear weapons, we the Hibakusha raised ourselves from the long
period of forced silence to stand up to “save humanity from its crisis through the lessons
learned from our experiences, while at the same time saving ourselves,” and have continued
to appeal to the world, “No more Hibakusha.”
Recently, the “International Conference on the Humanitarian Consequences of Nuclear
Weapons” was held three times. The conferences concluded that the consequences of a
nuclear weapon explosion would not be constrained by national borders and no national orinternational capacity exists that would adequately respond to the human suffering andhumanitarian harm. And it is in the interest of the very survival of humanity that nuclear
weapons are never used again, and it can be secured only when all nuclear weapons havebeen eliminated.
We urge you, as the President of the “the only nuclear power to have used anuclear weapon,” to meet the Hibakusha and hear their experiences of the indescribablehell on earth, learn first-hand the damage and aftereffects of the atomic bombing, andlook at the A-bomb remnants and materials. It is our strong hope that you will have acourage and willingness to achieve a world without nuclear weapons in our lifetime.
Sincerely,

TANAKA Terumi
Secretary General
Japan Confederation of A-and H-BombSufferers Organization (Nihon Hidankyo)