By Sumie SATO, World BEYOND War, 1 June 2023
Sato is a member of World BEYOND War’s Japan Chapter.
One week has passed since the G7 Hiroshima Summit ended. On Sunday, May 20, I, as a mother and citizen of the democratic nation of Japan, expressed my message of nuclear abolition in a bicycle caravan protest in Hiroshima along with other members of the WBW Japan Chapter.
We had many online discussions in advance to become acquainted with each other and planned for the event. None of us were entirely sure how the caravan would turn out as we kept hearing in the news that local restrictions were getting tighter and tighter as the day neared.
May 19th, the day before the caravan, I definitely got a taste of the traffic restrictions as I was suddenly stranded for over an hour without warning in Hiroshima City. I saw in front of me several police cars and motorcycles passing by slowly and behind them were black cars with “some important people” on board. We had no choice but to endure the sudden restrictions. The following day, as we rode bicycles through the city, it felt like a ghost town with very few people despite the weekend. The citizens of Hiroshima had been advised repeatedly prior to the weekend to refrain from unnecessary outings due to the traffic restrictions.
In this report, I, as a citizen of Japan, would like to share with the readers what I felt and thought about the G7 Hiroshima Summit based on some media coverage and articles I came across. For a full and comprehensive report on the caravan action, please read the article written by Joseph Essertier, the Coordinator of the WBW Japan Chapter.
After the caravan action, and 24 hours of reflection on the event, members of the WBW Japan Chapter exchanged thoughts and we all agreed that engaging in a direct action had been positive and meaningful. I participated with my whole family, and I believe that people carrying messages and exercising their rights to freedom of expression in a public space, which is a sight rarely seen in this democratic nation of Japan, left an impression upon my children. At the same time, however, I was made acutely aware once again that the response of Japanese society to the G7 Hiroshima Summit was far from what I had hoped. Very few people around me took an interest in the G7 Hiroshima Summit, and all I saw through the media were reports from experts and intellectuals who discussed in all seriousness Japan’s military buildup in line with other G7 countries, while the general public were constantly showered with festive images and gossip about events taking place during the G7 summit as if celebrities were in town. Unfortunately, such was typical of the news coverage that I saw.
Although there were high hopes for great progress toward nuclear abolition, the closing of the conference was greeted by such comments as “It is unacceptable for Hiroshima, a place where an atomic bomb was dropped, to send out a message that affirms its own nuclear weapons and only condemns those of opposing nations.” These words were from Setsuko Thurlow, the atomic bomb survivor. “My hopes were shattered”—voices like this from Hiroshima indicated that the outcome of the summit was hardly satisfactory, to say the least. I then came across an article that described Setsuko Thurlow’s statement as “self-contradictory nonsense” and that wished that the visits to Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum made by leaders of the world, in the author’s words, “would be a butterfly effect that would avert nuclear war.”
Why is it that the voices for nuclear abolition have failed so miserably to reach the leaders of the world?
In Japan, since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the mass media has continued to propagate narratives of the war against Russia disseminated by the U.S., without a thorough discussion of the origins of the war, and this has largely shaped public opinion. However, if we look at the war in Ukraine from a perspective that is not reported in the major media in the U.S. and mostly Western countries, a different story, of a U.S.-led proxy war (and its military industry) emerges. I believe that what is happening in the world today is the emergence of a parallel universe, i.e., two worlds with different interpretations of history that do not intersect, and that this parallel universe is causing a twist in the anti-war movement.
I will give an example. A press conference was held before the opening of the G7 Hiroshima summit titled “Ceasefire Now.” It was led by people like Kenji ISEZAKI, former Special Envoy of Japanese Government for DDR (Disarmament, Demobilization & Reintegration) in Afghanistan and others who, though they represent a minority view, have consistently made it their top priority since the beginning of the war to create a negotiating table and save human lives. And, as we saw in the question-and-answer session at the press conference, there are those in the audience who question the ceasefire and claim that we should not ignore Ukrainian people’s desire to fight for their homeland. This view is shared by many people in the West, especially in the U.S., where Russia is viewed as the root of all evil. In other words, they insist that they will continue to fight Russia no matter how many lives are sacrificed and cannot let the evil Russia have its way. Against such evil, the possession of nuclear weapons will serve as a deterrent, in their view. In fact, this rhetoric was used at the G7 nations to justify the possession of nuclear weapons. This rhetoric of deterrence has often been used to justify Japan’s military expansion against “the threat” of China. The argument that the possession of nuclear weapons and arms buildup are justified in order to fight evil is the opposite of what an anti-war movement should be about.
The anti-war movement has always rejected all wars. However, in today’s world governed by a parallel universe, we are witnessing a twisted situation where even many of the anti-war activists are pushing for more arms support and continuation of war, in order to fight for peace.
We all want peace.
Do we achieve peace by rejecting war, pushing for nuclear abolition, and engage through dialogue in order to build mutual understanding? Or do we achieve peace by arming ourselves, by relying on deterrence through the possession of nuclear weapons, and inciting fear?
If I had to choose who I want for my neighbor, I, as a mother, would choose the former.
I will continue to reject all wars for the sake of peace.
I will continue to imagine and take action towards creating a world beyond war.
Simply because there is no other way.
Now the task we have in front of us is to figure out how we can, through dialogue and non-violent direct actions, prevent this parallel world from falling apart even more.
パラレルユニバース
G７広島サミットが終わり１週間が経ちました。
５月２０日（日）、私は母として、民主国家日本の一有権者として、核廃絶のメッセージをWorld BEYOND War日本支部のメンバーと共に現地広島で自転車キャラバンという抗議行動で表明してきました。
事前にオンラインで顔を合わせ準備の為の話し合いを重ね、現地での規制が厳しくなるというニュースに一体どんなキャラバンになるのか多少の不安を持ちながら当日を迎えました。
キャラバン前日の１９日には私も広島市内の交通規制に立ち往生させられました。パトカーや白バイの後ろを黒い車が連なりながらゆっくり走行、通行人は突然の規制に為す術もなく耐え忍ぶ。規制があるという事前情報から広島市民の大半が行動を自粛した模様で、２０日に自転車キャラバンで市内を走る中週末なのに人手がとても少なくゴーストタウンの様でした。
抗議行動の振り返りはWBW支部局長のエサティエ ジョセフさんが記事にしてくださいました。私はG７広島サミットに関する幾つかの記事をもとに閉幕後に感じたこと思ったことを皆さんと共有したいと思います。
抗議行動を終えWBW日本支部のメンバーと意見を交わし実際に行動するという事の大切さやそれが有意義な時間であった事を共有しました。私は家族全員で参加しまし一緒に参加した子供達は言論の自由をもとに想い想いのメッセージを掲げ行動をする人達の姿を見て何かを感じ取ったのではないかと思います。しかし一方で、日本社会のG7広島サミットへの反応は私の想っているものとはかけ離れていると改めて痛感させられました。私の周りにG７広島サミットへ関心を寄せている人は少なく、マスメディアを通して目にするのは重要な事案においては専門家や知識人が他国と足並みを揃えて軍備増強で盛り上がり、一般庶民はG７をお祭り騒ぎにし各国の要人を芸能人でも取り上げる様に盛り上がる、残念ながらそんな報道ばかりでした。
そして核廃絶へ大きく前進の期待が寄せられるも、閉幕を迎えて聞こえてくるのは「自国の核兵器は肯定し、対立する国の核兵器を非難するばかりの発信を被爆地からするのは許されない」という被爆者のサーロー節子さんの声や、「望みを打ち砕かれた」という広島からの声など、とうてい満足できる内容ではなかった事を表しています。そんな中、サーロー節子さんを「自己矛盾だらけの戯言」とし各国首脳が原爆資料館を訪れ記帳した事が「核戦争を回避するバタフライエフェクトになることを祈っている」と締めくくる内容の記事も目にしました。
何故、核廃絶という声がこうまでも届かないのか。
日本ではウクライナ戦争が勃発した当初から事の発端がしっかりと議論されないままマスメディアはアメリカが描くロシアは悪というシナリオをひたすら流し続け世論を形成してきました。しかし、アメリカや西欧諸国の主要メディアでは報道されない視点からウクライナ戦争を紐解くと、そこにはアメリカ主導の代理戦争という異なった物語が見えてきます。私は、今世界で起こっていることは、歴史の異なった解釈を持つ二つの交わらない世界、パラレルユニバース（並行宇宙）が出来上がり、このパラレルユニバースが反戦運動に捻れを起こしているのではないかと思います。
その捻れが感じられる一つの例をここに挙げます。ウクライナ戦争が始まった当初から一貫して交渉のテーブルを作り人命を救う事を最優先に声をあげてきた伊勢崎賢治氏（元アフガン武装解除日本政府特別代表）らが、「今こそ停戦を」という題でG7各国首脳へ向けてサミット開幕前に記者会見を開きました。その記者会見の質疑応答の場面で見られたのが祖国の為に戦いたいというウクライナ人の想いを横に置いての停戦はあり得ないという声です。これはロシアを諸悪の根源とするアメリカを筆頭に西欧諸国に往々にして見られます。別の言い方をすれば、どれだけ多くの人命を犠牲にしても悪のロシアの思う壺にさせてはいけないという主張です。G７広島サミットでもロシアや中国の威嚇が核保有を正当化するレトリックとして使われました。このレトリックは日本が当事者になり得る対中戦争でも利用され軍拡を容認する動きにも繋がっています。武器支援も核保有も軍備増強も悪と戦う為には正当化されるという主張が世論を支配し始めていると感じています。
反戦運動はこれまで一貫して全ての戦争を拒否してきました。しかし、パラレルユニバースに支配される今の世界では、これまで反戦を掲げてきた運動家も停戦を拒否し武器支援を後押しています。平和の為に戦うという捻れた主張が広められています。
私たちは皆平和を望んでいます。
戦争を拒否し核廃絶を推し進め対話により生まれる相互理解の先にある平和を求めるのか、あるいは核保有による抑止力に頼り軍備増強をし恐怖心を煽る事で平和を強いるのか。私はどちらかをもし隣人として選ぶならば前者を選びます。
私は平和の為に全ての戦争を拒否し続けます。
私は戦争のない世界 (World BEYOND War)を想像し創造する為に行動し続けます。
G7広島サミットで行った自転車キャラバンを通して公の場で行動をし意見を発信していく事の大切さを改めて実感したと同時に、反戦を掲げる私達がこのパラレルユニバース（並行宇宙）にどの様な働き掛けをしていく事が出来るのかがこれからの重要な課題ではないかと思います。
