Celebrating Entry into Force Day - Nuclear Weapons are now Banned!

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) will finally enter into force on January 22, 2021. The decades-long plea of Hibakusha that their suffering will never be repeated is finally being realised as international law.

As an international steering group member of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), Peace Boat is involved in a range of actions to mark the historic occasion of Entry into Force Day. As well as celebrating this milestone, we will continue to work with the atomic bomb survivors and organisations both inside and outside of Japan to demand all countries to join the treaty.

Please see below for a list of related activities, both local and international, including those which can be joined virtually - we look forward to your participation!

*Please check the supported languages of each event.
*All times displayed are in JST (Japan Standard Time), GMT+9.

January 21: Press Conference with Hibakusha and Kawasaki Akira

Time: 11:00-12:00
Location: Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan, Tokyo and online
Atomic bomb survivors Kodama Michiko and Wada Masako, together with Peace Boat Executive Committee Member Kawasaki Akira, will give a press conference at the FCCJ. Full details can be seen here.
* The press conference will be streamed live on YouTube; watch online here.

January 22 and 23: “Every Second Counts for the Survivors! -Peace Boat Hibakusha Project Online-”

Session one:
Testimony by Mr Ito Masao
Location & Time: Online (Japan and Australia) / 16:00-17:30
Language: English & Japanese
Hosted by: the City of Fremantle, Australia, Peace Boat

January 23
Testimony by Ms Watanabe Junko
Location & Time: Online（Japan and Brazil)/ 9:00-10:30
Language: Portugese
Hosted by: University students in Brazil

Peace Boat launched its Hibakusha Project Online to share testimony of the atomic bomb survivors with people around the world virtually in October 2020. With the support of Nihon Hidankyo (the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations) we aim to conduct events in 100 countries by the end of this year. Footage from these events will be edited into a short film to be delivered at the first conference of states parties to the TPNW, scheduled to be held in late 2021 or early 2022. The above sessions will be held in connection to the day of Entry into Force. We are also grateful for collaboration for future events, as well as volunteers and donations - see here to get involved!

January 22: Global Action Day for the Entry into Force

A huge range of events are planned across the globe on this special day, which you can check out on ICAN’s website. ICAN will be hosting a live online event titled “Studio 22.21.”, starting from 21:00 Swiss time (05:00 JST on January 22). Peace Boat will deliver contents to this event including messages from Hibakusha, as well as news from the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki celebrating the Entry into Force of the nuclear ban.

Some highlighted events in Japan:

• In the city of Nagasaki, a special countdown clock tower has been established in front of the Nagasaki City Council; it will celebrate turning to zero at midnight local time.
• Diet Member’s Building, Tokyo / 10:00-16:00 (TBC): A delegation of Hibakusha will meet with Japanese government officials and Diet members to urge Japan to sign and ratify the TPNW (subject to cancellation or downscale due to the current state of emergency)
• Survivors and local citizens will gather in front of the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima at 6pm local time to create a candle message (18:00)
• School children will gather in front of the Children’s Peace Monument in the Hiroshima Peace Park (18:30)

Peace Boat is now cooperating with other Japanese NGOs to broadcast the above events and others live online, as well as share recorded footage. Please contact us for more information, or visit the Japan NGO Network for Nuclear Weapons Abolition’s website for details in Japanese language.

Peace Boat US is also co-sponsoring the following event:

The Launch of Reverse The Trend and The Power of Art and Activism
Location & Time: Online, Japan time Jan 22 8:00-11:00am / US EST Jan 21 18:00-21:00pm
Language: English
Hosted by: Reverse the Trend: Save Our People, Save Our Planet
Sponsored by The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation、Peace Boat US、the Rotary Club of Winnipeg and more
See here for event details or click here for Zoom registration.

January 23: Collaboration Event Broadcast from Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki

The highlight event in Japan will be a collaboration broadcast from three cities: Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is co-organized by the Japan NGO Network for Nuclear Weapons Abolition and International Signature Campaign in Support of the Appeal of the Hibakusha for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, which has successfully collected over 13 million signatures since 2016 to date, calling on all states to join the nuclear weapons ban treaty to eliminate them. Peace Boat is playing a central role in this effort.  

Title: “The beginning of the Nuclear-Free World” : The Commencement Event of The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
 Location & Time: Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki (an online livestream event held in three physical locations)  / 15:00-16:30
Language: Japanese language only

Part 1: Streamed from Tokyo
Video messages from:

• Ms Nakamitsu Izumi, United Nations Under-Secretary-General of Disarmament Affairs
• Mr Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross
• Ambassador Elayne Whyte Gómez, Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the UN Office
• Ms Beatrice Fihn, Executive Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
• Ms Setsuko Thurlow, Hibakusha

Speakers

• Mr Tanaka Terumi, Secretary General of Nihon Hidankyo,  the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations
• Others TBC

Part 2: Streamed from Hiroshima

• Words from Hibakusha representatives
• Messages from Hiroshima Prefecture Governor Mr Yuzaki Hidehiko and City Mayor Matsui Kazumi
• Youth panel discussion

Part 3: Streamed from Nagasaki

• Dialogue between Nagasaki City Mayor Taue Tomihisa and local business leader Takada Akira on “how to utilise the TPNW”
• Concluding session

In addition to the events listed above, Peace Boat is also involved in a range of activities, including numerous planned appearances by Kawasaki Akira in the media, and dialogue with government and parliamentary representatives as part of the Japan NGO Network for Nuclear Weapons Abolition. We are also supporting outreach and advocacy events led by youth and students, such as those coordinated by “Giin (Parliamentarian) Watch” and Kakuwaka Hiroshima.