原爆忌 被爆地訪問で核軍縮に弾みを

The Yomiuri Shimbun
For sake of peace, world leaders should visit Hiroshima in person
原爆忌　被爆地訪問で核軍縮に弾みを

Thursday marks the passage of 70 years since an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. On Sunday, Nagasaki will also mark the 70th anniversary of becoming a victim of an atomic bomb during the war.
　広島に原爆が投下されてから、６日で７０年が経過した。長崎は９日に原爆忌を迎える。

Many years have passed since the day when a nuclear weapon was used for the first time in human history. The average age of atomic bomb survivors is now above 80.
　人類史上、初めて核兵器が使用されたあの日から長い歳月が流れ、被爆者の平均年齢は８０歳を超えた。

About 70 percent of Japanese people do not know the dates when atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This finding came through a public poll taken by NHK. The importance of handing down the memory of the atomic bombings from generation to generation has grown greater than ever.
　今や、広島、長崎への原爆投下の日付を知らない人が約７割を占める。ＮＨＫの世論調査の結果だ。被爆の記憶を語り継いでいく重要性は一段と増している。

Rose Gottemoeller, U.S. undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, will attend this year’s peace memorial ceremonies in Hiroshima and Nagasaki — the first time for a senior U.S. government official to be sent from Washington to attend an annual ceremony.
　広島と長崎の式典には今回、米国のゴットムラー国務次官が参列する。ワシントンから高官が派遣されるのは初めてだ。

In a peace declaration to be announced at the peace ceremony, Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui will call on U.S. President Barack Obama and other leaders from across the world to visit the sites of the atomic bombings.
　松井一実・広島市長は平和宣言で、オバマ米大統領ら各国指導者に被爆地訪問を呼びかける。

Next spring, a summit meeting of the Group of Seven major nations (the Ise-Shima summit) will be held in Japan, and Hiroshima is slated to host a related meeting of foreign ministers. It will be a good occasion for them to encounter the reality of a place where an atomic bomb was dropped.
来春、日本で主要国首脳会議（伊勢志摩サミット）が開かれ、広島は外相会合の会場となる。被爆地の実相に接する好機となろう。

Presently, an atomic bomb exhibition, sponsored by the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and other entities, is being held in Washington, the first such exhibition there in 20 years. Included on display are a watch whose hands stopped at the time when the atomic bomb was dropped on the city, and the Hiroshima Panels, joint works by the artists Iri Maruki, a Hiroshima native, and his wife Toshi Maruki.
　ワシントンで、広島、長崎両市などが主催する原爆展が２０年ぶりに開かれている。原爆投下の時刻で止まった時計や、広島出身の画家、丸木位里、俊夫妻の「原爆の図」などが展示されている。

Fraught topic in U.S.

When a similar exhibition was held in the United States 20 years ago, there was controversy over what was to be displayed. The organizers planned to display some mementos of the atomic bomb victims, together with Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb. But war veterans and others in the United States strongly opposed the proposed exhibit, calling it “an insult” to all U.S. soldiers.
　２０年前には、展示内容を巡る論争があった。原爆を投下した爆撃機「エノラ・ゲイ」と共に、被爆者の遺品を展示する企画に対し、退役軍人らが「全米兵への侮辱だ」と猛反発した。

The proposed plan fell through, and the mementos were put on display at another event.
企画は頓挫し、遺品は別の催しで公開された。

In the United States, there is a deep-rooted historical perspective that the atomic bombing brought the war to a quick end, thus saving the lives of many American soldiers.
　米国では、原爆投下で戦争終結が早まり、多数の米兵の命が救われた、という歴史観が根強い。

In recent years, however, changes in that perception appear to be occurring.
　近年、変化もうかがえる。

The U.S. government plans to turn facilities related to the Manhattan Project — a program that led to the development of atomic weapons in the United States — into a national historical park. Emerging as part of the establishment of the park is a proposal to put some materials related to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on display within the park.
　米政府は、原爆を開発したマンハッタン計画の関連施設を国立歴史公園にする予定だ。そこに広島、長崎の被爆資料を展示する案が浮上している。

The idea came as the U.S. government has taken into consideration the wishes of the two cities for the park to convey correctly the realities of the damage wrought by the bombings.
原爆被害の実態を正確に伝えてほしいという両市の要望に配慮したものだ。

There are still more than 15,000 nuclear warheads in the world. President Vladimir Putin of Russia, which annexed the Crimean Peninsula of Ukraine last year, said later that Russia was ready to put its nuclear forces on alert over the crisis there.
　世界には今なお、１万５０００発以上の核弾頭が存在する。昨年、ウクライナのクリミア半島を編入したロシアのプーチン大統領は後に、「核戦力を戦闘態勢に置く準備があった」と述べた。

China is building up its nuclear capability. During the process of working to compile final documents of agreement at the Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in May, China had some of the original wording deleted from the draft. The wording, based on a Japanese request, called on leaders and young people of the world to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
　中国は核戦力を増強している。今年５月には、核拡散防止条約（ＮＰＴ）再検討会議の最終文書案の作成過程で、世界の指導者や若者に被爆地訪問を呼びかける日本提案の記述を削除させた。

China criticized Japan, saying it was trying to depict itself as a victim. But issues related to historical perceptions should not be linked with nuclear disarmament.
　中国は、日本が被害者の立場を取ろうとしていると非難した。核軍縮に歴史認識問題を絡めてはならないだろう。

Teaching the world about the misery wrought by nuclear weapons, and linking the appeal to nuclear disarmament and nuclear nonproliferation. This is a mission Japan, the sole country where atomic bombs were dropped, is obliged to assume.
　核兵器がもたらす惨状を世界に訴え、核軍縮や核不拡散に結びつける。それが唯一の被爆国である日本に課せられた使命だ。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Aug. 6, 2015)