Japan remains ‘noncommittal’ amid calls to attend nuclear ban meeting

ISTANBUL

Japan, the world’s only nuclear-hit nation, has remained “noncommittal” to calls for Tokyo’s participation in a UN meeting on nuclear weapons ban.

It was revealed on Wednesday when a group of Japan’s atomic bomb survivors met with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, and requested that Tokyo should take part in the Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the Kyodo News reported.

The meeting is set to be held in New York in March.

Nobel Peace Prize-winning atomic bomb survivors group, known as Nihon Hidankyo, however, said Ishiba “remained noncommittal” to their request.

Their leader Terumi Tanaka said the 30-minute-long meeting "did not yield results.”

Another participant, Toshiyuki Mimaki, described Ishiba's reticence as "regrettable."

Ishiba received the group to congratulate them on winning the Peace Prize last year.

“I'd like to express my respect and appreciation for your efforts over the years" that led to the award of the prize, Ishiba told the group.

The government has, however, said it would keep considering “what would be the realistic and practical approach” with regard to the request to attend the meeting.

During World War II, the US dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, killing 140,000 victims.

Three days later, another bomb hit Nagasaki, killing an additional 70,000. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945, ending World War II.