Japan to work for elimination of n-arms

By Gautaman Bhaskaran

TOKYO, AUG. 7. Japan is strongly anti-nuclear, and some examples of this leave nobody in doubt. An Indian IT specialist, who came to Tokyo immediately after the 1998 Pokhran explosion, says that he could not hire an apartment for months. Landlords refused to entertain him. Even ordinary housewives tended to shut the door on his face when he mentioned that he was an Indian. That he eventually got one is another story.

For a country like Japan which faced - and still does face - the crippling effects of the atomic bomb, passions run high when one talks about the issue.

A college girl asked this correspondent how India, which calls itself an icon of peace and the land of Gandhi, could possibly justify entering the nuclear club. Later, she dissuaded this writer from visiting Hiroshima or Nagasaki. ``Do not go there,'' she said, ``they are very sad places, and I am sure you would not want to take back home the memory of a cruel chapter from our history''.

On Monday, Hiroshima commemorated the 56th anniversary of the atomic bombing. It vowed to make this earth free of such destructive weapons.

The Japanese Prime Minister, Mr. Junichiro Koizumi, told a large gathering at Hiroshima that his country would continue ``taking the lead in pushing for global elimination of nuclear arms''. Japan would try and ensure that the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty came into force sooner rather than later.

Meanwhile, Mr. Koizumi is still undecided whether to visit the Yasukuni Shrine on August 15, the anniversary of Japan's surrender during World War II.

It is felt here that should Mr. Koizumi decide to visit the shrine, it might affect Japan's relationship with China and South Korea. They could see the visit as a justification of Japanese war crimes.

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Section  : International
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