Dear Friend of Hiroshima, Friend of the Hibakusha,

I cannot thank you enough for signing on to the Appeal I wrote to the adversaries in the war being fought in Ukraine. On behalf of the atomic bombing survivors, the Hibakusha of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we have appealed for no use of nuclear weapons in that conflict, as well as a commitment to no first use of nuclear weapons ever.

With your help, the Appeal has attracted nearly 100,000 supporters.

“Nearly!”

At 97,475 signatures, we need just 2,525 to make it to that beautiful, impressive round number.

But we urgently need a boost to get this job done. That is why I am turning to you to ask a very special favor: please, try recruiting one (1) person to sign on.

I believe that enough of you will do it and will succeed so that we get over the top.

(By the way, there is no rule that you reach only one; the more the merrier.)

So please pop off an email to someone that you know who is concerned about the risk of nuclear war in Ukraine. Give them the chance to be part of this powerful Appeal. Do not put this off, do it now, please!

Once we make the mark, I will send a letter to President Putin and Prime Minister Kishida again to press the points of the appeal. In addition, I will send the same letter to the heads of the rest of the nuclear-weapon states.

Further, I will record a video message to the diplomats who will be gathering at the United Nations in New York during nearly all of August (including the anniversary dates of the atomic attacks!) to review the operation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The Treaty is in deep trouble and the adoption of no-first-use policies is the most direct means of nursing it back to health.

I will put my message up on YouTube and send you the URL (provided we actually make the grade).

I am counting on you. Please do not let the Hibakusha down; rather, stand with them in these dark hours. Let us bring some light to the whole world.

Respectfully yours,

Tadatoshi Akiba

Mayor of Hiroshima, 1999-2011