Survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki rejoiced as a United Nations treaty banning nuclear weapons took effect Friday, hoping it will advance the cause of denuclearization, while some reiterated their disappointment with the Japanese government, which has not ratified it.
Speaking at a news conference in Tokyo attended by government officials, Terumi Tanaka, co-chairperson of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, celebrated the first multilateral nuclear disarmament treaty in decades and said the group had handed requests to the government and political parties to sign and ratify the agreement.
"This will be a day that is engraved in history," Tanaka said, adding, "We have now come halfway to abolishing" nuclear weapons.