広島市原爆死没者慰霊式並びに平和祈念式における知事あいさつについて

広島市原爆死没者慰霊式並びに平和祈念式における知事あいさつについて

　毎年８月６日，広島市において，原爆死没者の霊を慰め，世界の恒久平和を祈念するための式典が執り行われています。
  令和３年８月６日に実施された式典における広島県知事の「あいさつ」は次のとおりです。

  【あ  い  さ  つ】
　本日，被爆７６年を迎えるにあたり，原爆犠牲者の御霊(みたま)に，広島県民を代表して，謹んで哀悼の誠を捧げます。そして，今なお，後遺症で苦しんでおられる被爆者や，ご遺族の皆様に，心からお見舞い申し上げます。
　我々は，被爆者の証言，平和記念資料館に展示された原爆の記憶などから，この地で，多くの無辜の市民が，苦しみながら，水を求め，亡くなったことを知っています。これは，思い出すことすら耐えがたい当時の記憶を呼び覚まし，現実に基づいて証言を続けてきた被爆者の方々の存在があるからです。
　今年１月に発効した核兵器禁止条約は，被爆者の証言が大きな原動力になったと言われています。しかし，次世代に連綿と記憶をつないできた証言者は高齢化し，私たちの想像や関心をつなぎとめ，時に世界のリーダーを突き動かす記憶の伝承が危機に瀕しています。今こそ，一刻を争う事態として，核兵器と向き合う必要があります。

　一人ひとりの行動は小さなものでも，予想もできないような連帯をつくり出し，世界の時流を変える力となる例もあります。
　地球環境問題では，北欧の１５歳の少女が，国会前で学校ストライキを始めたことに端を発し，世界中の若者を巻き込みながら，ついには各国の大臣や国連事務総長まで動かす力となり，地球環境問題の進展に大きな影響を与えました。重要なことは，このグレタ・トゥンベリさんの第一歩のみならず，若者の一人ひとりがそれを他人事とせず，声をあげていったことです。人々の関心が呼応すると，様々な社会活動を通じ，論争も巻き起こしながら，より良い社会を共に築いていく原動力が生まれます。気候変動や教育，ジェンダー平等への関心の高まりは，一国一国のリーダーの考え方を改めさせ，ＳＤＧｓとして世界の共通言語となり，大きな潮流となっています。
　力がないと思われるかもしれない一人ひとりが関心を高め，小さな行動を始めることで，叡智が集まり，共感を広げ，国のリーダーの行動を促し，世界の枠組みをも変えていきます。

　世界はこの一年半，新型コロナウイルス感染症と闘ってきました。このようなパンデミックは，専門家が警鐘を鳴らしていたにも関わらず，我々は十分な注意を向けていたとは言い難く，準備はできていませんでした。その結果，これまでに世界で約２億人がこの感染症にかかり，４００万人を超える人々が命を落としています。
　核兵器も，その運用の責任を負っていた核兵器国の大臣や軍人を含め，多くの専門家が，人類と地球全体に存亡の危機をもたらす，今，そこにある現実的危機だと警鐘を鳴らしています。我々は，核兵器についても，パンデミックと同様にその危険性を見過ごし，いずれその報いを，人類と地球の破滅という形で受けるのでしょうか。

　人類存続への道を啓くためには，一人ひとりが関心を持ち，核兵器存続という愚行へ対峙するほかありません。広島からも，新たな行動を始めます。核兵器廃絶が，国連における一致した目標となるよう，働きかけを強めていきます。このパンデミックで苦しんでいる今こそ，一人ひとりが立ち上がり，力を合わせ，人類存続の危機に立ち向かっていきましょう。

令和３年８月６日

広島県知事　湯崎　英彦

 【Peace Message】

On this day, marking the 76th 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 to 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 are even today enduring long-term health effects.
We know well that many innocent civilians died here, suffering from pains and terrible thirst. We know this fact from testimonies of the hibakusha and the exhibits of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. We owe this to the hibakusha who have awakened memories of those days—which are intolerable even to recall—and have continued to give testimony based on their direct experience. It is said that the testimonies of the hibakusha were a major driving force behind the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in January of this year. However, the witnesses who have passed on their memories to the next generation are aging, and the transmission of memories that hold our imagination and interest, and sometimes inspire world leaders, is in danger of being lost. Now is the time to confront nuclear weapons as a matter of urgency.

Even though an act of an individual citizen seems to have only limited power, by involving many people, it can sometimes create an unpredictable surge of action and change the world. Regarding global environmental issue, for example, a 15-year-old Swedish girl has been in the vanguard of progress in environmental protection. The School Strikes for Climate, which she began in front of the Swedish parliament, involved many young people from various parts of the world; she has subsequently grown more and more influential, until she finally drove ministers of several countries and the Secretary-General of the United Nations to take action. This girl, Ms. Greta Thunberg, took the first step, but what is equally important is that many young people shared her concerns and joined forces with her. When many people respond to a call and join social movements, they can propel efforts to build a better society together while prompting debate. Growing attention on climate change, education and gender equality has changed the approaches of national leaders in their respective countries, making the SDGs a globally common concept and creating a great surge of action all over the world.
Even though an individual person may seem to have only limited power, by raising our own awareness and taking small steps, we can change the global paradigm.

Over the past one-and-a-half years, the world has been battling against COVID-19. Even though some specialists had sounded the alarm on the risk of a pandemic, we were not prepared for such an outbreak because we did not pay sufficient heed to their warnings. As a result, around 200 million people around the world have been infected with the disease to date, and more than four million people have died.
Concerning nuclear weapons, many specialists, including ministers and military officers of nuclear-weapon states who were formerly responsible for nuclear operations, warn that nuclear weapons endanger the very survival of humanity and the whole earth. Just as we overlooked the risk of the present pandemic, are we overlooking the risk of nuclear weapons, the pressing risk that faces us at this very moment? If so, this will lead to the destruction of humanity and the earth.

The only path we can take to ensure human survival is to make each and every person aware of this risk and confront the insanity of retaining nuclear weapons. Hiroshima is determined to take new action. We will work even harder to make nuclear abolition a unanimous goal of the United Nations. Now is the time to take action, amid the pandemic that engulfs all people around the world. I would like to encourage every single person to stand up and work together to ensure the very survival of the human race.

August 6, 2021

YUZAKI Hidehiko
Governor of Hiroshima Prefecture