Ishiba Mum on Whether Japan Will Attend Nuclear Ban Treaty Meeting

Tokyo, Jan. 8 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Wednesday stopped short of clarifying whether Japan will participate as an observer in a meeting of signatories to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons to be held in March.

Ishiba did not give an answer when a request for such a participation was made by members of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, or Nihon Hidankyo, during a meeting at the prime minister's office. Japan, which is under U.S. nuclear umbrella, has not signed the nuclear ban treaty.

Hidankyo co-chair Terumi Tanaka, who joined the meeting with Ishiba, asked the prime minister to meet the group again.

At Wednesday's meeting, Ishiba offered his congratulations on Hidankyo's winning the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize. "It's extremely significant. I'd like to express my sincere respect and gratitude to all of you for your efforts over the years," the prime minister said.

The Hidankyo members requested that Japan, as the only country to have suffered atomic bombings in war, exercise leadership toward the abolition of nuclear weapons.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]