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Survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan on Wednesday expressed concerns that former President Donald Trump, who has won the U.S. presidential election, would be passive about global nuclear abolition and called for the incoming leader to embrace a nuclear-free world.
Toshiyuki Mimaki. (Kyodo)
“Trump may believe that the world is stable because of nuclear weapons,” said Toshiyuki Mimaki, 82, who heads the Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A-bomb Sufferers Organizations. “It’s difficult to predict in which direction the United States will move, but as hibakusha, we just want him to aim for a world without nuclear weapons.”
U.S. media outlets have projected victory for Republican Trump, who is slated to return to the White House in January following a four-year hiatus.
His victory follows the awarding of the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize to Nihon Hidankyo, Japan’s leading organization of atomic bomb survivors, by the Norwegian Nobel Committee last month amid growing concerns that the taboo of nuclear weapons was coming under pressure.
“He seems like a conservative and belligerent person. Based on his past behavior, I believe he is unlikely to take a stance toward nuclear abolition, and the road toward peace and abolition will move backward,” said Koichi Kawano, chairman of the Hibakusha Liaison Council of the Nagasaki Prefectural Peace Movement Center, said.
“I believe (Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba) needs to keep his distance and be clear about what’s right and what’s wrong, rather than simply following him,” the 84-year-old added.
Also on Wednesday, the younger brother of Megumi Yokota, a symbol of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea in the 1970s, expressed hope that Trump’s projected election victory could bring progress on the abduction issue.
“Improving North Korea’s relations with the United States is of our utmost interest, and we hope the change in government will bring fundamental improvements and progress on the abduction issue,” said Takuya Yokota, 56, who represents a group for abductees’ families.
Takuya Yokota, head of a group representing the families of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea and whose sister Megumi was taken away in 1977 at age 13, speaks during a meeting in Tokyo on Oct. 4, 2024, hosted by a group working for the return of Japanese abductees. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
In his previous administration, Trump engaged in unprecedented summit diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. They met in person three times in 2018 and 2019 in a bid to persuade Pyongyang to abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons.
Contact between the two nations had stalled after their second summit in Hanoi produced no deal.
Trump said in his July Republican Party nomination acceptance speech that he plans to “get along” with Kim if he returns to the White House. North Korean state media later said Trump has a “lingering desire” for better relations but that his previous efforts “did not bring about any substantial positive change.”
Yokota also urged the Japanese government to exercise its leadership on the issue, saying he hopes it will “realize the return of all abductees immediately and their reunion” with their families while their parents’ generation remains healthy.
His older sister was 13 when she was abducted by North Korean agents in Niigata Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast in 1977 on her way home from junior high school badminton practice. Their father, Shigeru, died at 87 in 2020, while their mother, Sakie, is 88.
Japan officially lists 17 people as having been abducted by North Korea, with five already repatriated in 2002. However, Pyongyang maintains that the issue has been resolved.
Meanwhile, in Okinawa Prefecture, residents urged Trump to heed their voices on issues regarding U.S. military bases and concerns over China-Taiwan tensions.
Despite strong local opposition, the Japanese government is pushing ahead with its plan to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from the residential area of Ginowan to the less populated coastal area of Henoko in Nago.
File photo taken in August 2024 shows U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, Okinawa. (Kyodo)==Kyodo
Takemasa Kinjo, a 67-year-old resident who is against the plan, said the U.S. and Japanese governments “should be choosing a road to peacebuilding in the area, not building a new base” in Okinawa, which hosts some 70 percent of U.S. military bases in Japan.
Local anger has also flared after it came to light earlier in the year that the Japanese government held off on disclosing allegations of an attempted rape and a sexual assault involving U.S. military personnel.
Trump’s return to the White House comes amid heightened tensions over China’s stance on Taiwan and the Japanese-controlled, Chinese-claimed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.
Masaaki Gabe, an honorary professor at the University of the Ryukyus, called for caution.
“For Trump, an America with strong bases on Okinawa is a card to flaunt at the Chinese. While it is unclear what U.S.-China relations will be like in the future, I’m hoping for their efforts to avoid direct conflict,” he said.
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