Sixty-six years ago, on 9 August 1945, the city of Nagasaki gained worldwide notoriety as the second Japanese city targeted by atomic bombing. Thanks partly to the Sata Foundation’s campaign, the charred head of the statue of the Madonna, lying among the wreckage of the Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki at the epicentre of the atomic bombing, has gained global recognition. It was exhibited in the Spanish city of Guernica on 26 April 2010 and in New York during the Review Conference on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) at the United Nations Headquarters on 3-28 May 2010. (See, for example: http://www.dreamstime.com/our-lady-of-nagasaki-rimage14284393-resi1420233). I explained in my message for the 65th Anniversary of the Atomic Bombing of Nagasaki how, like Pablo Picasso’s painting Guernica, the Madonna of Nagasaki is truly a powerful symbol to deter future wars and a symbol for a nuclear-weapon-free world. Over 20,000 people from around the world have considered the Madonna of Nagasaki as having the same stature as the Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome), which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage since 1996.

The threat of a nuclear weapons catastrophe is still with us today, when certain countries still continue to arm themselves with nuclear weapons, and terrorists are capable of engineering as well as exploding nuclear devices. Even former US Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George Shultz, former US Secretary of Defence William Perry, and former US Senator Sam Nunn have joined forces in calling for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons which they used to consider as a crucial means to protect the very survival of their nation. This is because, “[w]ith the spread of nuclear weapons, technology, materials and know-how, there is an increasing risk that nuclear weapons will be used”. They conclude that “nations should move forward together with a series of conceptual and practical steps towards deterrence that do not rely primarily on nuclear weapons or nuclear threats to maintain international peace and security.” (“Deterrence in the Age of Nuclear Proliferation”, Wall Street Journal, 7 Mar. 2011: http://www.nti.org/c_press/Deterrence_in_the_Age_of_Nuclear_Proliferation.pdf).

This year, since 11 March, Fukushima in Japan, has attracted almost the same level of notoriety as Nagasaki in August 1945. While 40,000 - 75,000 human beings were immediately killed by the atomic bombing of Nagasaki 66 years ago, more than 14,000 persons have perished after the 8.9 magnitude earthquake and its consequential tsunami hit Tohoku in northeastern Japan on 11 March 2011. Millions still live under threat from the nuclear radiation leakage from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. This was the worst natural disaster ever suffered by Japan in its modern history. Although civil nuclear energy, unlike nuclear weapons, is intended for peaceful purposes, it shows that science has a double edge. This is why the Sata Foundation’s slogan “Science is for living, not for killing” should be carefully heeded if we want to live in a better and more humane world.

In the context of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, I have set up the Rentai Tohoku Foundation (which can be translated as the Solidarity Tohoku Foundation), that provides support to the disaster affected areas in Tohoku. Our website (http://www.rentaitohoku.org/) has been launched to appeal for co-operation from all those who care.

Since 2005, the Sata Foundation has organized the “Run for Peace” cycling rally in France every August to commemorate the anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This year, it will be held on 30 July, with Mr. Bernard Hinault, five-time winner of the Tour de France and the “Godfather of the cycling rally”, participating for the sixth consecutive time side by side approximately 500 other cyclists including 7 entries from Japan. Proceeds from the Rally go to charities whose work falls within the Sata Foundation’s mission.

Your kind support for the Sata Foundation’s causes would be most appreciated.