核兵器禁止条約第３回締約国会議でのサイドイベントにて、共同代表の田中が発言しました。
以下に発言全文を掲載します。
Hello everyone! My name is Miho, and I am the co-representative of Kakuwaka Hiroshima. It is an honor to be here today to discuss the role of young people in seeking justice for Korean A-bomb victims.
I’m originally from Kitakyushu City in Fukuoka Prefecture, and I moved to Hiroshima in 2017, initially not interested in nuclear issues or the abolition movement at all. But meeting people actively working for abolition changed my perspective—I realized nuclear weapons are a very big political issue but there’s so much I can do for nuclear abolitions. In 2019, I co-founded Kakuwaka Hiroshima to push for Japan’s ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). We engage directly with elected representatives, ask where they stand, and share their responses on social media to hold them accountable.
However, in Japan, nuclear discussions often focus only on the past, portraying the country solely as a victim. However, as has been pointed out, many Koreans have been exposed to radiation because of Japan's colonialism. A true discussion of nuclear justice must confront this history. Japan is both a victim of nuclear weapons and a perpetrator of war. If we ignore this, our advocacy remains incomplete.
This is why the 2026 People’s Tribunal is so important. It exposes overlooked injustices—US and Japan’s responsibility and colonialism. This tribunal is about more than the past—it challenges us to confront systems of power and oppression that persist today.
The situations in Japan, Korea, and the U.S. are quite different, so I don’t think our approach can be directly applied to the other two countries. However, in addition to engaging with politicians, I’d like to share how Kakuwaka Hiroshima has worked to expand young people’s interest in nuclear abolition.
We are connected with activists across Japan who are tackling various social issues beyond nuclear disarmament, such as the climate crisis. We first connected about two years ago when we organized a panel discussion on the intersectionality of these issues. Since then, we have participated in each other’s events and supported signature campaigns. By strengthening these connections, we’ve seen that not only do activists become more engaged in each other’s causes, but their supporters and followers also start taking an interest, amplifying our collective impact.
From the neglect of Korean hibakusha to the ongoing genocide in Palestine, these struggles are deeply connected through colonialism, militarism, and structural violence. Nuclear abolition isn’t just about banning weapons—it’s about dismantling the systems that enable war and oppression.
I deeply respect everyone working on the People’s Tribunal. I’d be very happy to work together to end nuclear weapons and colonialism.
Thank you.