On April 12th, the first day of the G7 summit, a Buddhist monk held a protest near the International Media Centre in Hiroshima, Japan. The monk chanted “No more Hiroshimas! No more Nagasakis!” for about an hour and waved a banner that read “No Nuclear Weapons”. He was joined by several laypeople who carried signs with slogans such as “No Nuclear Armament” and “No More Hiroshimas. No More Nagasakis. Satoyama Peace”.
The monk’s protest was in response to the G7 leaders’ failure to agree on a plan to reduce and eliminate nuclear weapons despite their pledge to do so last year. He was also calling upon the leaders to recognize the suffering that atomic weapons have inflicted on the citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is hoped that this protest will help to highlight the importance of shunning the use of nuclear weapons at the summit and that it will ultimately result in the leaders taking action to reduce and eliminate the stockpiles of nuclear weapons in the world.