The Victim as Hero: Ideologies of Peace and National Identity in Postwar Japan

Appendixes

181 Appendix 1 The Stockholm Appeal Appeal of the World Peace Committee We demand the absolute banning of the atom weapon, arm of terror, and mass extermination of populations. We demand the establishment of strict international control to ensure the implementation of this banning measure. We consider that any government which would be first to use the atom weapon against any country whatsoever would be committing a crime against humanity and should be dealt with as a war criminal. We call on all men of goodwill throughout the world to sign this appeal. This appeal was signed by all the members of the World Peace Committee and thousands of signatures are already being received in every country all the world over.1 182 Appendix 2 Suginami Ward’s Petition to Ban the Hydrogen Bomb Cover Message Let all the people petition for banning hydrogen bombs; Let us call on all the governments and peoples of the world; Let us protect humankind’s life and happiness. Main Text Through a national people’s movement let us call on all the world to ban the hydrogen bomb. After the tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, now we the Japanese people have received for the third time the egregious injury of atomic and hydrogen bombs. The fishermen who were exposed to the ash of death are suffering from the horrible atomic sickness, and many businessmen in the fishing trade are worried as their livelihoods are threatened. The average citizen, who depends on fish as an important source of nutrition, is deeply anxious. This state of affairs is due simply to testing the hydrogen bomb, so the horror in case a nuclear war happens is more than one can imagine.Just four hydrogen bombs would turn all of Japan into scorched earth. Beginning with Dr. Einstein the world’s scientists have warned that nuclear war would destroy mankind. At this time of grave danger, resolutions to ban the hydrogen bomb have been passed in the Diet and similar resolutions have been passed in regional assemblies while petition movements to ban the bomb are progressing everywhere . These earnest petition movements will carry little weight, however, if they are conducted separately. We must combine all the people’s petition movements. In Suginami Ward the ward assembly, representing the people of the ward, passed a resolution for banning the hydrogen bomb on April 17. Then, based in Suginami Ward, we began a petition campaign for banning the hydrogen bomb. Let us develop this further into a national people’s petition movement. Then, based on the resolution of all the people as clearly expressed in this petition, let Appendix 2 183 us call on the world to ban hydrogen bombs and all production, use, and testing of nuclear weapons. This petition is not the movement of a specific faction but a movement to join all the people of various positions. And those we are addressing in this petition are not any specific states but every state’s government and people as well as the United Nations and other international organizations and assemblies. We believe that when, through this petition movement by all the Japanese people, we earnestly call for banning the hydrogen bomb, our voice will sway the conscience of all the world’s people and the first step toward protecting humankind’s life and happiness will have been taken. May 1954 Suginami Council for a Ban-the-H-Bomb Petition Movement Yasui Kaoru, Chairman1 ...