6-3-1-2Communicating the Message of Hiroshima to the World

Mayor Hiraoka speaking at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands
November 7, 1995 Courtesy of The Chugoku Shimbun

Hiroshima City has long conveyed the horrors of the atomic bomb and called for a ban on nuclear weapons. In 1976, Hiroshima and Nagasaki cities together submitted a petition to the United Nations calling for abolition of nuclear weapons and complete disarmament.
   As part of the World Court Project that began in 1992, Hiroshima Mayor Takashi Hiraoka gave an oral statement in The Hague, Netherlands that stressed the inhumanity of nuclear weapons. In 1996, the International Court of Justice handed down an advisory opinion stating that the threat or use of nuclear weapons would generally be contrary to the rules of international law.
   Another project is atomic bomb exhibitions, which Hiroshima holds throughout the world to convey the truth about the bombing in photographs. These exhibitions convey the tragedy of the bombing to thousands of visitors in other countries.