Protest letter against the US nuclear test (September 19, 2012)

September 19, 2012

His Excellency Mr. Barack Obama
President
The United States of America

His Excellency Mr. John V. Roos
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
of the United States of America
Embassy of the United States of America in Japan

Letter of Protest

Your country has announced that a new type of nuclear test was conducted sometime between April and June of this year at a research facility in New Mexico.

Though the test did not involve a nuclear explosion, a series of such experiments, one in November two years ago, one each in March, September and November of last year and yet another one this time, can be understood as evidence that the U.S. intends to cling to its nuclear stockpile. Coupled with the fact that you revealed the testing only several months after the fact, in the same fashion as the subcritical nuclear tests you conducted in December 2010 and in February 2011, the test has aroused suspicion regarding your intentions. It has betrayed the hopes of the hibakusha and the millions of others who seek a nuclear-weapon-free world. Such actions are completely unacceptable, and on behalf of the A-bombed city of Hiroshima, I vehemently protest.

We have been sending similar protest letters to your country for each nuclear test, and yet, we find that another test has been conducted. This fact disappoints me greatly because it means that our wish for peace has not reached you. I urge you to stop betraying our expectations. Please contemplate the agonizing experience of the survivors who witnessed the bombing, understand their sincere wish for peace, and strive for the earliest possible realization of a world free from nuclear weapons.

MATSUI Kazumi
Mayor
The City of Hiroshima

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