Address by H.E. Mr. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony

Address by H.E. Mr. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony

 

[caption id="attachment_7158" align="alignnone" width="496"] （広島市原爆死没者慰霊式並びに平和祈念式であいさつする安倍総理陛下（首相官邸、2013年8月6日）） (Address by H.E. Mr. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony (Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet, 6 August 2013))[/caption]

 

Here today, on the occasion of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony, I reverently express my sincere condolences to the souls of the atomic bomb victims.  I also extend my heartfelt sympathy to those still suffering from the aftereffects of the atomic bomb.

 

On this very morning 68 years ago, a single bomb deprived well more than 100,000 people of their precious lives.  It destroyed some 70,000 buildings and swept away the entire area through its hellish fires and its blast, turning the area to ruins.  Those who survived were forced to endure unspeakable hardships of illness and disability and tribulations in their daily lives.

 

The enormous price that was paid should be regarded as an immense sacrifice.  However, our forebears who built post-World War II Japan had etched deeply upon their hearts that they must never forget the people who perished in Hiroshima.  It was in this spirit that they created, and then bequeathed to us, a homeland of peace and prosperity.  We cannot help but find the most beautiful form of achievement in the streets of Hiroshima, full of greenery, where the continuous chirping of cicadas breaks the silence even now.

 

We Japanese are the only people to have experienced the horror of nuclear devastation in war.  As such a people, we bear a responsibility to bring about "a world without nuclear weapons" without fail.  We have a duty to continue to convey to the next generation, and indeed to the world, the inhumanity of nuclear weapons.

 

Last year, the Government of Japan submitted to the United Nations General Assembly a draft resolution on nuclear disarmament through the involvement of 99 co-sponsor nations, the largest number ever, including the United States and the United Kingdom, and it was adopted by an overwhelming majority.

 

This year, we began a program in which members of the young generation serve as "Youth Communicators for a World without Nuclear Weapons."   Next year, we will convene here in Hiroshima a Foreign Ministers' Meeting of the Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Initiative (NPDI), a forum that brings together non-nuclear weapons states, in which Japan has consistently taken a leading role.

 

We will exert every possible effort to enable individuals who are still now enduring pain and suffering and waiting to be recognized as having an atomic bomb disease, to receive that recognition as soon as possible.  Eminent persons, representatives of atomic bomb victims, and other relevant persons have been undertaking discussions with great urgency in order to listen to the voices of atomic bomb victims and move forward with better policies to support them.

 

This morning, as we mourn the souls of the victims in Hiroshima, I pledge that I will redouble my efforts to carry out these duties.

 

I would like to conclude with my heartfelt prayers once more for the repose of the souls of the victims.  I would also like to extend my best wishes to the bereaved families and to the atomic bomb survivors.  I will close my address with a pledge that Japan will firmly uphold the "Three Non-Nuclear Principles" and spare no efforts in working towards the total abolition of nuclear weapons and the realization of eternal world peace, so that the horror and devastation caused by nuclear weapons are not repeated.

 

Shinzo Abe
Prime Minister of Japan
August 6, 2013

 

(Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet, 6 August 2013)

 

 

広島市原爆死没者慰霊式並びに平和祈念式あいさつ

 

広島市原爆死没者慰霊式、平和祈念式に臨み、原子爆弾の犠牲となった方々の御霊に対し、謹んで、哀悼の誠を捧げます。今なお被爆の後遺症に苦しんでおられる皆様に、心から、お見舞いを申し上げます。

 

６８年前の朝、一発の爆弾が、十数万になんなんとする、貴い命を奪いました。７万戸の建物を壊し、一面を、業火と爆風に浚わせ、廃墟と化しました。生き長らえた人々に、病と障害の、また生活上の、言い知れぬ苦難を強いました。

 

犠牲と言うべくして、あまりに夥しい犠牲でありました。しかし、戦後の日本を築いた先人たちは、広島に斃れた人々を忘れてはならじと、心に深く刻めばこそ、我々に、平和と、繁栄の、祖国を作り、与えてくれたのです。蝉しぐれが今もしじまを破る、緑豊かな広島の街路に、私たちは、その最も美しい達成を見出さずにはいられません。

 

私たち日本人は、唯一の、戦争被爆国民であります。そのような者として、我々には、確実に、核兵器のない世界を実現していく責務があります。その非道を、後の世に、また世界に、伝え続ける務めがあります。

 

昨年、我が国が国連総会に提出した核軍縮決議は、米国並びに英国を含む、史上最多の９９カ国を共同提案国として巻き込み、圧倒的な賛成多数で採択されました。

 

本年、若い世代の方々を、核廃絶の特使とする制度を始めました。来年は、我が国が一貫して主導する非核兵器国の集まり、「軍縮・不拡散イニシアティブ」の外相会合を、ここ広島で開きます。

 

今なお苦痛を忍びつつ、原爆症の認定を待つ方々に、一日でも早くその認定が下りるよう、最善を尽くします。被爆された方々の声に耳を傾け、より良い援護策を進めていくため、有識者や被爆された方々の代表を含む関係者の方々に議論を急いで頂いています。

 

広島の御霊を悼む朝、私は、これら責務に、旧倍の努力を傾けていくことをお誓いします。

 

結びに、いま一度、犠牲になった方々の御冥福を、心よりお祈りします。ご遺族と、ご存命の被爆者の皆様には、幸多からんことを祈念します。核兵器の惨禍が再現されることのないよう、非核三原則を堅持しつつ、核兵器廃絶に、また、恒久平和の実現に、力を惜しまぬことをお誓いし、私のご挨拶といたします。

 

平成二十五年八月六日 内閣総理大臣・安倍晋三

 

（首相官邸、2013年8月6日）