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Nagasaki Survivor Ogawa Tadayoshi speaks on military spending, nuclear weapons and the war in Ukraine
Today, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) released the data on global military spending in 2021. World military expenditure increased in 2021 by 0.7% in real terms and is now estimated at USD2113 billion.
Nagasaki atomic bomb survivor Ogawa Tadayoshi is now holding an exhibition of photographs he took during a Peace Boat visit to Kyiv, Odessa and Chernobyl in Ukraine, hoping that peace and smiles return to the people there. Upon the announcement of the world's 2021 military expenditure and as part of the Global Days of Action on Military Spending (GDAMS), he shares these words:
"Give Peace A Budget" - not the military, which causes armed conflict. I want our taxes to be used for supporting those who are in danger. This is also a major issue in my country. Japan increased its military spending by 7.3% in 2021; the highest annual growth rate since 1972. Japan is the world’s 9th largest military spender. The ruling party is even discussing doubling its defense budget in the near future. The 2 year COVID-19 pandemic has exhausted Japan’s society and economy, like other countries around the world. We need to have more budget for health and welfare, education and solving issues like poverty, not for the military."
Hibakusha message for GDAMS 2022 - Mr Ogawa Tadayoshi from Peace Boat on Vimeo.