79回目の8月6日を迎えるにあたり、原爆犠牲者のみたまに、広島県民を代表して謹んで哀悼の誠をささげます。そして、今なお、後遺症で苦しんでおられる被爆者やご遺族の方々に、心からお見舞いを申し上げます。

　原爆投下というこの世に比類無い凄惨（せいさん）な歴史的事実が、私たちの心を深く突き刺すのは、「誰にも二度と同じ苦しみを味わってほしくない」という強い思いにかられた被爆者が、思い出したくもない地獄について絞り出す言葉があるからです。その被爆者を、79年を経た今、私たちはお一人、お一人と失っていき、その最後の言葉を次世代につなげるべくさまざまな取組を行っています。

　先般、私は、あまたの弥生人の遺骨が発掘されている鳥取県青谷（あおや）上寺（かみじ）地（ち）遺跡を訪問する機会を得ました。そこでは、頭蓋骨（ずがいこつ）や腰骨に突き刺さった矢尻など、当時の争いの生々しさを物語る多くの殺傷痕を目の当たりにし、必ずしも平穏ではなかった当時の暮らしに思いを巡らせました。

　翻って現在も、世界中で戦争は続いています。強い者が勝つ。弱い者は踏みにじられる。現代では、矢尻や刀ではなく、男も女も子供も老人も銃弾で撃ち抜かれ、あるいはミサイルで粉々にされる。国連が作ってきた世界の秩序の守護者たるべき大国が、公然と国際法違反の侵攻や力による現状変更を試みる。それが弥生の過去から続いている現実です。

　いわゆる現実主義者は、だからこそ、力には力を、と言う。核兵器には、核兵器を。しかし、そこでは、もう一つの現実は意図的に無視されています。人類が発明してかつて使われなかった兵器はない。禁止された化学兵器も引き続き使われている。核兵器も、それが存在する限り必ずいつか再び使われることになるでしょう。

　私たちは、真の現実主義者にならなければなりません。核廃絶は遠くに掲げる理想ではないのです。今、必死に取り組まなければならない、人類存続に関わる差し迫った現実の問題です。

　にもかかわらず、核廃絶に向けた取組には、知的、人的、財政的資源など、あらゆる資源の投下が不十分です。片や、核兵器維持増強や戦略構築のために、昨年だけでも14兆円を超える資金が投資され、何万人ものコンサルタントや軍・行政関係者、また、科学者と技術者が投入されています。

　現実を直視することのできる世界の皆さん、私たちが行うべきことは、核兵器廃絶を本当に実現するため、資源を思い切って投入することです。想像してください。核兵器維持増強の10分の1の1・4兆円や数千人の専門家を投入すれば、核廃絶も具体的に大きく前進するでしょう。

　ある沖縄の研究者が、不注意で指の形が変わるほどの水ぶくれの火傷を負い、のたうちまわるような痛みに苦しみながら、放射線を浴びた人などの深い痛みを、自分の痛みと重ね合わせて本当に想像できていたか、と述べていました。誰だか分からないほど顔が火ぶくれしたり、目玉や腸が飛び出したままさまよったりした被爆者の痛みを、私たちは本当に自分の指のひどい火傷と重ね合わせることができているでしょうか。人類が核兵器の存在を漫然と黙認したまま、この痛みや苦しみを私たちに伝えようとしてきた被爆者を一人、また一人と失っていくことに、私は耐えられません。

　「過ちは繰り返しませぬから」という誓いを、私たちは今一度思い起こすべきではないでしょうか。

　※「ある沖縄の研究者」の言葉として紹介した内容は、中国新聞の2024年6月18日朝刊に掲載された上間陽子氏執筆の「論考2024誰かの痛み忘却しない」から引用して要約。


　　〜「私は耐えられません」 原爆の日、広島知事が世界に突きつけた現実　〜毎日新聞2024/8/6 16:20（最終更新 8/6 16:20）



English version

On this day, in marking the 79th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, on behalf of all people of Hiroshima Prefecture, I wish to offer my humble and sincere prayers for the souls of those who lost their lives in the atomic bombing. I would also like to extend my deepest condolences to the bereaved families and express my heartfelt sympathies to the hibakusha, the atomic bomb survivors, who even today suffer from the aftereffects of the bomb.

The atomic bombing brought about unparalleled devastation. This historic fact pierces our hearts deeply because of the testimonies of the hibakusha about the hellish anguish they had experienced. Even though it was unbearable for them to recall such memories, they have continued to describe the misery, driven by a strong aspiration that no one else should suffer it. At present, 79 years after the bombing, we are losing hibakusha one by one. To pass on their last words to the next generation, we take various initiatives.

The other day, I had the opportunity to visit the Aoyakamijichi site in Tottori Prefecture, an archaeological site where a great many remains of people in the Yayoi period in Japan's prehistoric age have been excavated. There, I saw arrowheads stuck deep in skulls and hipbones, all vividly illustrating the cruelty of battles. These wounds made me ponder about the life of the people living in those days, which were not always peaceful.

At present, we still see wars in various parts of the world. The strong defeat the weak. The weak are trampled down. In contemporary wars, men and women, young and old, are shot by bullets or torn into pieces by missiles, rather than by arrowheads and swords. Great powers, which are expected to protect international order established by the United Nations, overtly attempt to invade other countries by violating international laws and changing the status quo by force. This is the reality that humans have continued to see since the prehistoric age.

In this context, so-called realists suggest a policy of "force for force" and "a nuclear weapon for a nuclear weapon." When they suggest this policy, however, they deliberately ignore another piece of reality or the fact that once people invented a weapon, they used it without exception. Chemical weapons, for example, have continued to be used even though their use is banned. As long as nuclear weapons exist, they will surely be used again someday.

We must become genuine realists. Nuclear weapon abolition is not an ideal to achieve far in the future. Instead, it is a pressing and real issue that we should desperately engage in at this moment since nuclear problems involve an imminent risk to human survival.

Despite this fact, only limited resources are invested in initiatives for nuclear weapon abolition, including intellectual, human, and financial resources. On the other hand, in the single year of 2023, more than 14 trillion yen (about US$95.5 billion) was invested in maintaining and increasing nuclear weapons and building related strategies. Moreover, tens of thousands of people were involved in such programs serving as consultants, members of military forces and governments, scientists, and engineers.

To all in the world who can face reality, what we must do is to allocate much more resources to related initiatives in order to truly realize the total elimination of nuclear weapons. Please imagine, if we invest just 10% of the budget for maintaining and increasing nuclear weapons, that is, 1.4 trillion yen and thousands of specialists, in the total elimination of nuclear weapons, this will surely make a major advancement toward nuclear weapon abolition.

I would now like to introduce the words of a researcher in Okinawa.* She mentioned her own experience of burning her fingers by mistake. She got a terrible blister, which almost deformed her fingers. While writhing in pain, she thought of the exceptional pain of the people who had been exposed to the radiation of the bombing and wondered if she had understood the magnitude of their pain correctly. Some hibakusha had blisters on their faces that made it impossible for them to be identified, and others wandered about with their eyeballs and stomachs popped out. Even when we severely burn our own fingers, can we truly imagine the pain of the hibakusha?

I cannot bear losing any more hibakusha, who have tried to pass on their memories of pain and suffering to us, while humanity has remained unconcerned and silent about the existence of nuclear weapons.

On this day, we must remember once again the following pledge: "For we shall not repeat the evil."

* Ronko 2024 Dareka no itami wo bokyaku shinai (Discussion 2024: Never forget the pain of someone else) by Yoko Uema (pedagogist and professor at the University of the Ryukyus) quoted in the Chugoku Shimbun newspaper, issued on Tuesday, June 18, 2024


　The above is quoted from the Mainichi Shimbun article, "'I cannot bear it': Full text of Hiroshima Governor's Peace Message on 79th anniversary of atomic bombing" published at 4:20 p.m. on August 6, 2024.